Including Accessibility in Software Project Management Processes

Including Accessibility in Software

Project Management Processes

Panel Discussion with:

Jon Gunderson (Illinois)

Ken Petri (Ohio State, moderator) Brian Richwine (Indiana)

Christian Vinten-Johansen (Penn State) Todd Weissenberger (Iowa)

Project Manager Role

• Allocate resources, assign responsibilities, ensure

accountability of team

• Understand a11y as institutional aspiration and

legal/policy mandate beyond the project

• Inject a11y into purchasing

• Organize training of developers/content creators • Coordinate evaluation and prioritize critical

functionality

• Provide monitoring and reporting • Assess risk

CIC as Collective

• Create shared resources, tools, information,

and instruction on development practices

Navigating Web Accessibility:

Considerations for the Enterprise

Todd Weissenberger

Web Accessibility Coordinator University of Iowa

What is accessibility?

WHAT IS

inaccessibility

ACCESSIBILITY?

?

Web Accessibility is not…

• Accommodation

– A way to address issues that arise from inaccessible or unusable

material

• Assistive technology

– Assistive technologies enable their users to access web content

that is designed with accessibility in mind

• A new trend in web design

– Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 1.o was published

as a standard in 1999

• For disabled users only

– Accessible web design can benefit users with disabilities, users

of mobile and other technologies, technical staff, and the bottom line

Web accessibility is…

• The development and deployment of websites

that can be used by anyone in any situation, regardless of disability, technology, or

Web accessibility is POUR

• Perceivable

• Operable

• Understandable

Web Accessibility is intentional

•

…the goal of a

managed

process

made up of many

intentional

design

and development

decisions

, based

on

real-world

practice,

institutional

policy, common

standards

, and

awareness

of the

diversity

of user

WHY ADOPT ACCESSIBLE WEB

PRACTICES?

Barriers in theory and in practice

THEORY PRACTICE

Can't read or perceive your content _{Can't find your contact information} Can't read your product catalog

Can't determine the purpose of a form field Can't register to use your site

Can't see video or hear audio Can't complete your orientation

Can't activate forward/back controls Can't move through multistep wizard

Accessibility benefits users with

disabilities

No two users are alike. Although these categories are useful in a broad

understanding of potential barriers to web access, each encompasses a number of conditions and ability levels.

Accessibility also benefits users

experiencing…

Accessibility benefits the enterprise

• Site Owners and Sponsors

– Increase overall traffic to sites

– Comply with policy or legal requirements – Build good will in the community

– Improve website bottom line

• Developers

– Increase understanding of development issues

Accessible Design Factors

– Progressive enhancement – Responsive design

– Universal design

• Accessibility can provide social returns

– Corporate citizenship – Good will

– Benefits that extend beyond communities of people with disabilities

• Accessibility can provide a real ROI

– Reduced long-term development and maintenance costs – Expands potential audience/recruitment and retention

• Technical considerations

– Ease of maintenance and management

– Content available across a variety of technologies and platforms

HOW DOES THIS WORK?

Web Accessibility myths

• Myth: Accessibility means extra work

– Accessible sites have the potential for better search results, increased

audience, greater versatility, lower maintenance costs, and a longer lifespan

• Myth: Accessibility means text-only

– While text is an important part of accessibility, well-designed sites can

be feature-rich and entirely accessible

• Myth: Accessibility is an technical challenge for designers and

developers

– Every stakeholder can influence or implement accessibility

• Myth: Accessibility is handled by assistive technology

– Assistive technology can help users interpret information that is

designed with accessibility in mind

• Myth: Web accessibility benefits a few specialized users

The two biggest myths of all…

• Conformance with WCAG 2.0 guarantees an accessible

website

– There are no guarantees; practical accessibility means

designing agile, versatile, robust sites with POUR in mind

• Accessibility is an achievable end goal for any website

– Accessibility is an optimization process, more like

gardening than construction—think security

Program testing can be used to show the presence of bugs, but never to show their absence.

Strategies to promote accessibility

– Develop an accessibility policy

– Adopt accessibility standards and definitions – Gather baseline information

• People

– Increase awareness and identify accessibility champions – Develop technical skills and expertise

– Include accessibility in position descriptions

• Projects

– Position accessibility as an early and ongoing project requirement – Prioritize assets for remediation or rebuilding

• Procurement

– Include accessibility in development and procurement requirements – Review VPATs (Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates)

Don’t forget your vendors

• Include accessibility in purchasing

requirements

• Ask to review vendor’s VPAT (Voluntary

Product Accessibility Template)

• Test product against in-house accessibility

guidelines

• Ask vendors to include developers in

negotiations, along with sales and support staff

2009: Late to the game

• Iowa ranked near the bottom in a comparison

of 160 American universities

• Potential issues:

– Challenge to core values: diversity, inclusion – Recruitment/retention of PWD

– Potential legal exposure

• Problem caught the attention of executive

Challenges

• Leadership in transition

– No policy or guidelines

• Decentralized IT community

– Diverse development environments – No clear path to influence

• Unfamiliarity with accessibility issues

A strategic approach

– DPAC, ITS, University Communications

• Policy

– 508 or WCAG?, timelines, roles and responsibilities, – What is accessibility anyway?

• Resources

– Staffing, training, consulting, promotion, advocacy

• Organizational roles

– Support from leadership

Web Accessibility Policy

• Ratified Fall, 2011

• Official web resources

– In-house, Vended, Blended

• Accessibility Standard

– WCAG 2.0, Level AA

• Implementation

– New sites, new apps, revisions

Staffing

• Staff located in Information Technology

Services

– Full-time web accessibility coordinator – Half-time IT accessibility coordinator

• Proximity to core web developers

– Coincided with Drupal rollout

• Access to other IT groups

Training and support

• Broad-based accessibility training for IT staff

– “Accessibility 101” introduced Summer 2013

• Technology-based training

– PDF, Office, Media

• Role-centered training

– Designers and developers, Content providers,

Project managers

• web.accessibility.focus

Outreach and community

– UCM, ITS

• Web and IT communities

– App developers, media developers, content pros – Colleges, libraries, research

• Partnerships

– Student, Faculty/Staff Disability Services – Diversity Office, DPAC

• Community PWD, advocates

Into the future

• Increased outreach

– Including PWD in accessibility processes

• Project management

• Software acquisitions

• Advocacy and outreach

Think beyond the project

• Acknowledge your institutional commitment

to accessibility

• Provide top-down support for accessibility

• Educate people

• Reach out to affinity groups and communities

of practice

Moving forward

• Increased outreach

– Including PWD in accessibility processes

• Project management

• Software acquisitions

• Advocacy and outreach

• Refined assessment techniques

A Performance Conversation

• Please,

– pursue accessibility – by year’s end

Penn State’s Accessibility Initiative

Christian Vinten-Johansen TLT Accessibility Group

[email protected] @cjohansen

Lessons Learned (so far)

Lessons Learned (so far)

Institutional support is absolutely required

Lessons Learned (so far)

Institutional support is absolutely required Focus on Communities of Practice

Lessons Learned

Institutional support is absolutely required Focus on Communities of Practice

Triage brings organization over chaos

Institutional Support

Top-down

Horizontal, cross-unit support Bottom-up support

Communities of Practice

Each CoP plays different roles Each CoP has different skill sets

’Scuze my Meme

But all CoPs need the same vocabulary:

“Buggy” (e.g., web pages) “Triage”

“Blockers” and “Fix the Blockers First!” “PDF Problem”

Triage

Triage reduces confusion and stress Delegation and roles are essential Prioritize web pages and apps

Lessons Learned

Institutional support is absolutely required Focus on Communities of Practice

Triage brings organization over chaos

The Year Ahead

The PDF Problem

Refine purchasing methods Captioning service

The Years Ahead

Vendor Development

for Accessibility

Brian Richwine

Indiana University Bloomington [email protected]

Problems Vendors Have

• Their customers do not have consistent accessibility

requirements (some don’t demand accessibility at all)

• Their customers usually do not provide much usable

accessibility feedback

• Venders don't know where to start (the WCAG 2.0

recommendation and accompanying How to Meet, Understanding, and Techniques and Failures are

over 1000 pages printed)

• Accessibility is not integrated into their culture

• Many managers are convinced that accessibility is

What Suppliers Want

• Clear, consistent, achievable expectations, and

a DOD (Definition of Done)

• Quick-fixes with measurable impact

• Flexibility in resolving issues

• Support

Understand which Accessibility Laws,

Guidelines, and/or Standards apply

Besides Federal Laws like Title II and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, many states have accessibility legislation that affect public higher education institutions and may place requirements on vendors:

• California Government Code 11135

• Illinois Information Technology Accessibility

Determine University and Purchasing

Accessibility Policies

• Make sure you understand the requirements

of any applicable University, Campus, or

Purchasing accessibility policies, practices, and procedures.

Check for Tools from Purchasing

• Recommended RFP and contract language

• Explanation of accessibility requirements

• Accessibility documentation guidelines and

templates

• Procurement accessibility procedure

Clearly Communicate

Requirements and Expectations

• State clearly what you expect and how you will verify

success (external audits, automated and manual tests etc.)

• Provide them with any organizational guidelines or best

practices you have and clearly state what kind of support you will provide

• Clearly state what will happen if they do not meet your

criteria for success (financial penalty, contract termination, etc.)

• Clearly state if they are to assume legal liability for

accessibility complaints

• Make sure the requirements and expectations are

Find Out How Accessibility Aware

the Vendor Is

• Make sure you are all on the same page

• When you mention accessibility, some people

will first think you are talking about making education more convenient or less costly.

Determine How Accessibility Aware

the Vendor Is

Look for:

• Accessibility statements

• Accessibility compliance documentation

• Accessibility support for users in the help

system and documentation

• Do they document workarounds for

accessibility issues?

Determine How Accessibility Aware

the Vendor Is

Ask:

• For examples of previous work, testimonials

• What their accessibility goal is (look for

functional accessibility for people with

disabilities and technical compliance with WCAG 2.0 Level AA and ATAG 2.0 AA - if applicable)

• How they to train their staff (and who they train)

• How, where, and when they test internally

• How they integrate accessibility into their

Win The Vendor Over - Arguments

with disabilities and different learning styles in educational settings is a core need (and a legal or policy requirement) of educational institutions

• Accessibility as a social responsibility

consideration

• Reduction of risk and the need to comply with

existing laws and regulations

• Gently try to get them out of the mindset that

accessibility is “extra” – that it is something beyond what should be expected. Make it a quality of work issue

Win The Vendor Over - Enlightenment

• Don’t underestimate the power of a

demonstration to tug at hearts and provide “Ah-hah!” moments

• If possible, meet with the vendor and have

users with disabilities demonstrate the issues

• If a live demonstration is not possible, try to

prepare short video demonstrations

• Be sure to contrast negative experiences with

Win The Vendor Over - Persuasion

• Make sure the vendor is hearing that

accessibility is an important requirement from as many people as possible – especially the

people who make the purchasing decisions

• Are you asking for accessibility?

Setting Expectations

• Try to get them to develop an accessibility

statement or an accessibility policy that sets and communicates the accessibility goal

• Make sure they care about functional

accessibility and not just compliance with the technical criteria

• To manage expectations, it helps to develop

an Accessibility Roadmap (milestones, timelines)

It May Be a Long Term Relationship

When addressing accessibility for the first time you’ll likely be facing:

• lack of accessibility expertise

• content that wasn't designed to be accessible

• technologies that do not support accessibility

• organizational “status quo” (accessibility not

integrated into their business culture)

• stakeholders on the defensive

When to Begin

• Get involved in accessibility now

• Instead of waiting for the product to be finished

before testing it, advice should be given during design phases and product features should be tested during development

• Product specifications, wire-frames, and

prototypes can be reviewed for accessibility

• Even the design and development methodology

can be reviewed for the integration of accessibility

How to Begin

• Find any opportunity to assist management,

design, and development staff to understand accessibility

• Prioritize remediation efforts by considering the

criticalness of the accessibility issues and the realities of the development environment.

• The collaborative and iterative approach can be

used to integrate accessibility with reduced chance of resistance

How Not to Begin

• Unless forced to, do not put together an

exhaustive and lengthy list of accessibility issues and require resolution to all possible issues all at once

• To the project manager, this will make

accessibility seem like an insurmountable barrier and their immediate reaction will be concern for their timeline and budget

• Fixes will be rushed and may be ineffective • Effort may be wasted on minor issues

Accessibility Is Not Optional

• For public institutions of higher education the

requirement to provide accessible programs and services requirements must be met (directly or through equivalent facilitation)

• Plan workarounds that provide an equally

effective alternate form of access until the accessibility issues can be fixed

• Ideally, have the vendor help in the planning

• Have the vendor agree to support workarounds

Develop an Effective

Working Relationship

• Strive for iterative rounds of accessibility audits

on small of code changes until the vendor begins to understand accessibility

• Offer accessibility working sessions where your

accessibility experts are present to directly support their developers

• Strive to develop autonomy through knowledge

transfer

• If you do not have the resources, recommend

Develop an Effective

Working Relationship

• The process of waiting for a major release,

performing a lengthy accessibility review,

writing a lengthy accessibility report, throwing the report over “the wall” to the vendor, and then waiting for the next release is inefficient and costly.

• There is the risk that the time spent in

researching and writing the report was wasted if it does not result in effective change

Benefits of Integrating Accessibility

into the Organizational Culture

Planning for accessibility throughout the process yields:

• More efficient use of time (Gains in production

due to less rework)

• Reductions in cost

• Improved results in handling accessibility • Better trust and expectations management

• First step toward accepting accessibility as “just

Who to Work With

• Designers • Developers

• Quality assurance staff • Support staff

• Project managers • Product managers

• The vendor’s vendor developers!

They all need to have accessibility embedded into their thinking for accessibility to be delivered well

Working with Open Source Projects:

Look for Accessibility Working Groups

• Look for wiki pages documenting the

community’s accessibility work

• Look for an accessibility email list to join

• Check for teleconferences

• Learn their development practices and cycles

• Connect with your local developers and

Working with Open Source Projects:

How to Participate

• Provide feedback on the issues you are seeing

and your institution’s accessible IT requirements

• Help perform accessibility reviews • Help verify fixes

• Join other (non-accessibility) working groups • Participate in conferences:

– Present on Accessibility – Attend Hackathons

– Offer live accessibility testing

Working with Open Source Projects:

Learn to Speak “Developer”

• Unless trained on accessibility, most

developers will not understand how their code affects assistive technologies or causes

accessibility problems

• Simply saying “There are unlabeled form

controls. All form controls must be labeled for assistive technology” and quoting WCAG 2.0 1.3.1 is not enough.

Working with Open Source Projects:

Learn to Speak “Developer”

A developer needs to know:

• How the issue affects the user

• How to reproduce the issue

• How to fix the issue (provide

recommendation, example, or even a patch)

• A test plan for verifying that the issue is fixed

What If a Vendor Does Not Respond?

• Seek collective power

– Seek University resources

– Form an interest group with other users – Form a group within the CIC

– Look for existing collaboration groups. Like the

Access Technology Higher Education Network (ATHEN)

What If a Vendor Does Not Respond?

• Share about the product’s accessibility

publicly

– In support documents – In blogs

Accessibility Work Is Never Done

• Technology is constantly changing

• The product features will likely keep evolving

• The content will keep updating

• The user expectations will keep changing

• Reducing costs, improving quality

• A vendor’s attention to accessibility may waver

• The accessibility of an IT product will need to be

Web Accessibility Analytics

Jon Gunderson

University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign [email protected]

Web Accessibility Analytics

• If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it

• Plausible deniability

• Wait until some one reports a problem

Functional Accessibility Evaluator 1.1

Web Application Accessibility

• Javascript

• HTML

• CSS

• Accessible Rich internet Accessibility 1.0

Functional Accessibility Evaluator:

Auditor Edition

• Evaluates entire campus

• Grouping by college and department

Developer Resources

• Evaluation and inspection tools