Support-EAM Supporting the creation of an eaccessibility Mark SIXTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME Project/Contract no. : IST-2-004754-SSA Project acronym: Project full title: Instrument: Thematic Priority: SUPPORT- EAM Supporting the creation of an e-accessibility Mark Specific Support Action Information Society Technologies of the 6th Framework Programme Publishable Executive Summary Period covered: from 01/04/05 to 31/07/06 Date of preparation: 30 August 2006 Start date of project: 01/10/04 Duration: 18 months (extended to 22 months) Project coordinator name: Dominique BURGER Project coordinator organisation name: Association BrailleNet Revision 1 Publishable Executive Summary (Support EAM, 01/04/05 31/07/06) Page 1 / 6
Table of Contents 1 PUBLISHABLE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...3 1.1 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE ADDRESSED...3 1.2 SUMMARY...3 1.3 CO-ORDINATOR, PARTNERS INVOLVED AND FUNDING...3 1.3.1 Co-ordinator...3 1.3.2 Partners...3 1.3.3 Funding...4 1.4 CONTEXT...4 1.5 WORK PERFORMED AND MAIN RESULTS ACHIEVED...4 1.5.1 WP1: Project Management and Quality Assurance...4 1.5.2 WP2: Evaluation Methodology...5 1.5.3 WP3: European Authority Quality Mark...5 1.5.4 WP4: Dissemination - Exploitation...6 1.6 PLAN FOR USING AND DISSEMINATING THE KNOWLEDGE...6 Publishable Executive Summary (Support EAM, 01/04/05 31/07/06) Page 2 / 6
1 Publishable executive summary 1.1 Strategic objective addressed The objective of Support-EAM (Supporting the creation of a e-accessibility Quality Mark) was to propose a strategy for creating a Web Accessibility Quality Mark for Web services by the end of 2005, as part of the Action Plan eeurope 2005: An information society for all. It clearly referred to the Council Resolution on "eaccessibility" - improving the access of people with disabilities to the Knowledge Based Society (doc. 5165/03), inviting the Commission and the member states "to consider the provision of an "eaccessibility mark" for goods and services which comply with relevant standards for eaccessibility". 1.2 Summary The e-europe 2005: an information society for all calls upon Member States and invites the Commission to tap the Information Society's potential for people with disabilities and tackle the removal of technical barriers for their effective participation in the Knowledge Economy and Society. It also refers to the background work of the W3C/WAI on eaccessibility recommendations. Making the thousands of applicable Web services (both public and private) accessible within the next few years will require major effort across Europe. This implies a considerable effort in R&D and Industry for providing a variety of technical e- accessibility solutions, like access technologies, tools for creating accessible contents, tools for evaluation, accessibility standards, etc. This has to be prepared and supported by an in depth reflection on how e-accessibility should be implemented in harmony all over Europe, where quite valuable initiatives have still produced different interpretations in different countries. Thus, the Support-EAM project proposed: To harmonise the methodologies used for evaluating Web Accessibility (single-site or large-scale) and validate it with experts from two other IST projects, namely BentoWeb, EIAO, which constitute the WAB Cluster (Web Accessibility Benchmarking) with Support-EAM. To recommend requirements for a Web Accessibility certification scheme. To disseminate results over Europe. 1.3 Co-ordinator, partners involved and funding 1.3.1 Co-ordinator Dr. Dominique Burger Association BrailleNet - UPMC B23 9, quai Saint Bernard - 75252 Paris cedex 05 - France tel: +33 (0)1 44 27 34 35 fax: +33 (0)1 44 27 34 38 e-mail : dominique.burger@snv.jussieu.fr 1.3.2 Partners Association BrailleNet (Coordinator, France) Publishable Executive Summary (Support EAM, 01/04/05 31/07/06) Page 3 / 6
Fundosa Teleservicios (Spain) Bartimeus Accessibility Foundation (Netherlands) Dublin City University (Ireland) Universität Linz (Austria) Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) AccessInMind Ltd (United Kingdom) 1.3.3 Funding Support-EAM is a Specific Support Action Project (contract number 004754) co-funded by the INFSO DG of the European Commission within the RTD activities of the Thematic Priority Information Society Technologies of the 6th Framework Programme. Its duration was initially 18 months from 01/10/04 to 31/03/06. It was extended to 22 months until 31/07/06. 1.4 Context Support-EAM took part in the WAB Cluster (Web Accessibility Benchmarking) with two other IST projects, namely EIAO and BentoWeb, in order to develop and validate a Unified Web Evaluation Methodology (UWEM) for assessing Web accessibility of Web sites. This methodology is based on the W3C/WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the version 1.0 was released on 5 th July 2006 (based on WCAG 1.0, priority 1 and 2). The project activity was intended to provide inputs to the WAI working groups. The project co-operated with the CEN/CENELEC in order to make its certification schema a first step towards a real standard that would enforce national or international policies. 1.5 Work performed and main results achieved The Project Work Plan was organised in 3 packages of technical tasks and one for management. Each package was co-ordinated by an organisation having the necessary experience. Work package Work package title Lead No 1 contractor No 2 WP1 Project Management and Quality Assurance BNET WP2 (WAB1a) Evaluation Methodology ACC WP3 European Authority Quality Mark BNET WP4 Dissemination - Exploitation TSERV 1.5.1 WP1: Project Management and Quality Assurance This work package aimed at the quality of the project and the delivery of high standard results. It was designed as to include also tasks related to internal and external communication. 1 Workpackage number: WP 1 WP n. 2 Number of the contractor leading the work in this workpackage. Publishable Executive Summary (Support EAM, 01/04/05 31/07/06) Page 4 / 6
For the second period, the 3 major changes have been : the new repartition of budget between all partners to take into account in particular the involvement of Cap Gemini in the CWA. the creation of internal reporting periods to allow a better management. the extension to 22 months of the duration of the project to allow more dissemination actions, active participation in the achievement of UWEM 1.0 and writing of latest deliverables and reports. All partners have ended their work end of April 2006 excepted BNET and DCU they have worked until end of July: Support EAM demonstrator, UWEM 1.0 translation into French, BrailleNet/Support EAM seminar on 26 June in Paris, ICCHP at Linz in July 2006. 1.5.2 WP2: Evaluation Methodology This work package concerned the development of the Unified Web Evaluation Methodology (UWEM) whose description can be found in the documents of the WAB Cluster (www.wabcluster.org). On 5 th July 2006, UWEM 1.0 was released compliant to WCAG 1.0, priority 1 and 2 (http://www.wabcluster.org/uwem1/). This methodology is the result of a joint effort by 23 European organisations in three European projects combined in a Cluster (WAB Cluster) established to develop a Unified Web Evaluation Methodology. It is based on the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG10] and fitted for future migration from WCAG 1.0 to WCAG 2.0 [WCAG20]. It offers an interpretation of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 1.0 priority 1 and 2 guidelines which is agreed among stakeholders within the projects. Thus UWEM1.0 constitutes a basis for building a unified inspection process as part of a European certification scheme for Web accessibility. It can be estimated that such a certification scheme should take place within the eeurope 2010, with some significant influence of the mandate to standardisation bodies concerning a standard for eaccessibility. 1.5.3 WP3: European Authority Quality Mark The objectives of WP3 were: To identify the Needs of Stakeholders concerning e-accessibility services To get a CEN Workshop Agreement on a Certification Schema for Web Accessibility To create a Quality Mark for e-accessibility evaluation To propose a strategy for a European Authority To propose an Exploitation Plan for exploiting the results beyond the term of the project Support-EAM launched in April 2005 and conducted a CEN Workshop which produced a CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA n 15554:2006). This agreement has been published by the CEN as a first level European agreement on how standard conformity assessment schemes commonly used in Europe can apply to Web accessibility conformity assessment. This CWA can be downloaded from the CEN Workshop Web site at: http://www.cenorm.be/cenorm/businessdomains/businessdomains/isss/cwa/design+for+all+in+ict.asp This agreement reflects three types of demands that were identified, namely supplier s declaration of conformity, inspection and product certification. Supplier s declaration of conformity is supported by industry groups like EICTA, while inspection seems very close to the existing labelling schemes. The agreement also proposes a reasonable way for existing labelling schemes to improve and to harmonise. An important recommendation of this workshop is the creation of a central European institute whose mission is to organise, harmonise and control practices in liaison with international bodies concerned. Publishable Executive Summary (Support EAM, 01/04/05 31/07/06) Page 5 / 6
The project elaborated a concrete documentation for helping people in the creation of such a scheme. The description of this strategy for implementing a Web accessibility conformity assessment scheme and the supporting documentation are compiled D3.4: CWA Implementation Plan. This report can be downloaded at : http://www.support-eam.org/supporteam/about_supporteam/documents.asp Besides, an online questionnaire about Stakeholders' needs for a European Authority was conducted during this second period and the resulting report can be downloaded at the same url. In conclusion, the survey shows clearly that: 1. Web accessibility is raising more and more concrete concerns in Europe; 2. third party certification is often regarded as a more trustful certification method than Supplier Declaration of Conformance; 3. avoiding fragmentation of interpretation of web accessibility guidelines and harmonisation should be the key activities of a European Authority; and, 4. there is a huge need for objective criteria and good practices concerning web accessibility. 1.5.4 WP4: Dissemination - Exploitation The objectives of WP4 were : To increase the awareness about needs for harmonisation and certification on Web accessibility To disseminate the results of the project To prepare the implementation of a Certification Scheme During the second period, Support-EAM has developed a Curriculum and contents for training expert reviewers. The objective was to demonstrate that it is feasible to provide a unified training resource for people willing to assess websites against an evaluation methodology that has been harmonised at a European level and in the context of Web Accessibility certification. Basic knowledge about Web Accessibility in general and evaluation of website accessibility in particular is assumed for a good understanding of this Curriculum. The Support-EAM Curriculum is available on-line in 5 languages, namely Dutch, English, French, German, and Spanish, at : http://www.support-eam.org/waec/en/index.html. 1.6 Plan for using and disseminating the knowledge The project disseminated knowledge through seminars, workshops, conferences. The major events organised by he project in the second period are: European Workshop on Instruments for Making Web Accessibility a Reality, organised by the Association BrailleNet on behalf of Support EAM and la Cite des Sciences et de l Industrie, January 30, 2006, Paris (France): http://inova.snv.jussieu.fr/actes/colloques/instruments/ Seminar on Web Accessibility in the day-to-day life, organised by the Association BrailleNet on behalf of Support EAM and la Cite des Sciences et de l Industrie, June 26, 2006, Paris (France). European Workshop on Web Accessibility Conformance and presentation of the main Support EAM results (CWA, UWEM, Curriculum) and a demonstration of the Support EAM prototype was organised at ICCHP 2006 by Support EAM, July 13-14, 2006, Linz (Austria) The project has a public Web Site : http://www.support-eam.org. Publishable Executive Summary (Support EAM, 01/04/05 31/07/06) Page 6 / 6