MSD Principles for Client Accessibility:

1. MSD Principles for Client Accessibility: An interpretation of SSC Guidelines

2. MSD Principles for Client Accessibility Differing views within MSD as to what constituted conformance to the Web Standards. Primarily the issue has been whether: • the highest technically achievable level of compliance is an absolute requirement or • whether compliance is a journey of progressive improvement influenced by other business factors

3. MSD Principles for Client Accessibility: • In order to appropriately marshall our resources we need to consciously balance our level of accessibility compliance with the impact on our legacy technology. • Business must decide that balance based on Accessibility and Vendor Management Plans developed by IT as part of the normal Project Management Process. • We should establish that balance upfront for each project to avoid compliance disputes.

4. Accessibility Principles A set of principles to guide our implementation of the SSC Web Standards. Covering: • Minimum Technological Environment • Assistive Technology • Alternative Communication Channels

5. Review of Disability Strategy • A review of the motivation for the SSC accessibility standards was conducted. • From this review a number of principles were established for interpreting the SSC guidelines.

6. Minimum Technological Environment • No backward steps • Prerequisite Technology

7. Assistive Technology • Progressive Improvement • Support WCAG Industry Standards

8. Alternative Communication Channels • Substitutability • Audience Differentiation

9. Applying the Principles Accessibility Plan • Developed to indicate how the service embodied in the development will be delivered to differently enabled clients, whether by the development itself or by an alternative channel. • Agreed by Business Owner

10. Applying the Principles Vendor Management Plan Whenever a system has been purchased that does not conform to WCAG V2.0 Level AA standards a plan must be developed to encourage the vendor to move to support for those standards. Where the purchase has not yet been finalised the purchase should be conditional on the vendor signing up to the plan.

11. MSD Principles for Client Accessibility: • In order to appropriately marshall our resources we need to consciously balance our level of accessibility compliance with the impact on our legacy technology. • Business must decide that balance based on Accessibility and Vendor Management Plans developed by IT as part of the normal Project Management Process. • We should establish that balance upfront for each project to avoid compliance disputes.