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The Path to WCAG 2.0 Through Industry Based Training. Dr Scott Hollier A/Professor Denise Wood. 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
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The Path to WCAG 2.0 Through IndustryBased Training Dr Scott Hollier A/Professor Denise Wood
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
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
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
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?
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
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)
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
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
StudentEvaluations • Before and after: definite shift to advanced knowledge • Little increase in experts
The future Course: • Three offerings this year • Ongoing curriculum updates • Incorporation of emerging technologies W3C: • Looking to support WAI curriculum initiatives and approval processes
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