1 / 12

Enhancing Web Accessibility Training in Australia: Industry-based Approach

Learn about the evolution of web accessibility training in Australia, challenges faced by the government, market research findings, curriculum modules, course assessment, and student evaluations. Discover successes, changes, and the future outlook for enhancing web accessibility.

sswartz
Download Presentation

Enhancing Web Accessibility Training in Australia: Industry-based Approach

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Path to WCAG 2.0 Through IndustryBased Training Dr Scott Hollier A/Professor Denise Wood

  2. Web accessibility in Australia • Australia a signatory to UNCRPD • 18.5% people have some form of permanent disability • Government policy on web accessibility ad-hoc and inconsistent until 2010 • Catalysts for change: • WCAG 2.0 release in 2008 • National Broadband Network (NBN) • Gov 2.0

  3. National Transition Strategy (NTS) • In June 2010, Australian Federal government released NTS • Three phases: • Preparation phase second half of 2010 • Transition phase: 2011 • Implementation phase: • WCAG 2.0 Level A by end of 2012 • WCAG 2.0 Level AA by end of 2014

  4. Government implementation issues • Lack of resources • Few staff overseeing NTS • Lack of training and internal materials • Need to up-skill staff • ICT professionals need WCAG 2.0 training • Unaware of accessibility in authoring tools • Little practical understanding of how people with disabilities interact online • Potential solution: create University-backed web accessibility course based on W3C standards

  5. Market research key questions • What are the key objectives of the course? • Who is the target audience? • How long should the course run? • Face-to-face component or online only? • What types of assessment would help students? • Are we reinventing the wheel?

  6. Research results • Need: to understand how to incorporate accessibility into existing work practices using existing authoring tools • No obvious existing tertiary-backed course • Basic HTML pre-requisite • Full semester too long, about half the time would be helpful • Online delivery and flexible with work • Learning to caption video: big priority

  7. CurriculumModules • How people with disabilities access the Web • Policy and legislation • WCAG 2.0 Level A (time priority) • WCAG 2.0 Level AA & AAA • ATAG 2.0 (draft) • Basic auditing, good V bad design, future technologies (WCAG-EM, WAI-ARIA, HTML5, cloud)

  8. Course assessment and discussion • Assignments: • Screen reader use with monitor turned off and WCAG POUR/Guidelines introduction • Captioning of any 2 minute video, ATAG review on an authoring tool • Creating an accessible website template and audit report • Forum: • Includes introductions, general discussion, reflections on modules • Feedback indicates forum discussion is as important as curriculum and assessment

  9. Successes and challenges What worked: • Successful pilot in 2011, three intakes in 2012, three this year • Integrated accessibility into work practices • Alumni discussion forum created What’s changed: • Three assignments in six weeks too much, provided extra time • Refining admin processes

  10. StudentEvaluations • Before and after: definite shift to advanced knowledge • Little increase in experts

  11. The future Course: • Three offerings this year • Ongoing curriculum updates • Incorporation of emerging technologies W3C: • Looking to support WAI curriculum initiatives and approval processes

  12. Further information • Course: • www.mediaaccess.org.au/learn • Dr Scott Hollier: • E-mail: scott.hollier@mediaaccess.org.au • Website: www.mediaaccess.org.au • A/Prof Denise Wood: • E-mail: denise.wood@unisa.edu.au • Website: www.unisa.edu.au

More Related