Web Accessibility - Part 6: Accessibility Statements

I’m a fan of website Accessibility Statements. Meaningful ones, at least. They can provide a way of communicating with website users about web accessibility in an understandable way.

Is this website accessible?

There is rarely a short, simple answer to this question. An Accessibility Statement, included on a website, is a place where a business or organisation can answer that question in more detail. It can share what has been achieved to ensure the website can be used by as many people as possible.

The statement can also point out known barriers to accessibility that exist within the site and confirm what action is planned to deal with these and within what time frame. I prefer to read an honest statement along the lines of ....'Okay, we know this is a problem at the moment and this is what we are planning to do to fix it within the next few months'. That's far better than some cut and pasted text that doesn't say anything comprehensible.

The statement can also include details of whether the site has been tested with assistive technologies such as screen readers and magnification tools and confirm any other testing that has been carried out.

Encourage feedback

An Accessibility Statement is a place to encourage feedback from website users and it can indicate a variety of ways this feedback can be easily given.

I was talking with someone recently who was feeling very frustrated with a website they were using. Their comments, with swear words removed, included, 'It’s giving me a headache’, ‘I can’t read half the words as they are on top of a photograph’ and ‘I keep losing the menu’.

I suggested providing this feedback to the website owners via their contact details, but she wasn’t keen. I understand that, but it feels like an opportunity lost. I'd want to know about such things if it was our website. People aren't going to hang around on a site for long if it's that difficult to use.

Conformance is complex

A website may include a logo or statement that the site conforms to an accessibility standard. It’s most likely to be conformance against The World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. Conformance is achieved by satisfying success criteria at three levels A, AA, AAA, with AAA being the highest. WCAG 2.1 is in progress at the moment and this will become an add-on rather than a replacement for 2.0 and includes around 17 new success criteria.

The WCAG standard is important and valuable. Conformance against WCAG is also one of the requirements for UK Government digital services and those of the US Federal Government. The WCAG success criteria in the WCAG standard are also very detailed and won’t mean much to website users unfamiliar with them. This is another reason an Accessibility Statement is of value. The content of it can, to many users, be more easily understood than a conformance statement alone. It supports, rather than replaces conformance claims.

A work always in progress

Conformance against a standard is a moment in time. A website that meets a standard one day, might not the next. Content is being updated all the time, especially on larger sites. Text may be added to a website that previously satisfied the WCAG success criteria at level AAA. The new text might not satisfy those criteria and be difficult for some people to read. This could be because the text is in very long lines, it's all in capitals, it's justified (aligned to the right and left margin) or maybe it's pale coloured text and on a pale background. Each person who adds content to the site needs to be aware of barriers that can so easily be created for users. Ensuring your website can be used by as many people as possible is an ongoing process and that's as it should be.

An Accessibility Statement can be a living document that is regularly reviewed and updated, with those dates included in the statement.

A culture of accessibility

Creating accessible websites and other web products requires commitment from everyone involved - it may be one person or a large team. Accessibility considerations need to be addressed at all stages of the development process including planning, design, build, testing, go-live and the ongoing updating, review and development of the site. An Accessibility Statement can be a place to share information about how the business or organisation achieves this or is striving to achieve this.

It's great to read another site's Accessibility Statement and gain some inspiration. I just hope such statements don't end up as generic templates produced to tick yet another box.

Angela Kilmurray

19 Feb, 2018