What's New in WCAG 2.1?

WCAG 2.1 extends WCAG 2.0 -- so what's new? There are 17 new Success Criteria items in WCAG 2.1. Twelve of these 17 are level AA -- which is the level that most websites strive to meet. See http://intopia.digital/articles/whats-new-in-wcag-2-1/ for a For a quick overview of what's new  in WCAG 2.1.

WCAG 2.1 is an Official W3C Standard!

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.1 recently reached Recommendation status. WCAG 2.1 extends and expands WCAG 2.0 success criteria.

Here are some helpful resources:

• Understanding WCAG 2.1 
• WCAG 2.1 At a Glance 
• Quick Reference: How to Meet WCAG 2.1

WCAG 2.1 Working Draft Available

Mobile devices were in their infancy back when the WCAG 2.0 guidelines were developed. The W3C has just released a first draft of a long-awaited update: WCAG 2.1 for public comment. The purpose of WCAG 2.1 is to extend WCAG 2.0 and introduce additional success criteria including mobile device accessibility, low vision accessibility, and cognitive and learning disability accessibility. WCAG 2.1 supports all WCAG 2.0 accessibility success criteria. So, if a web page meets WCAG 2.1 success criteria, the page also meets WCAG 2.0 success criteria. The W3C invites you to read the working draft of WCAG 2.1 and submit feedback.

Section 508 Refresh

The US Access Board has released a final rule that updates the Section 508 requirements to harmonize with WCAG 2.0 Level AA Success Criteria. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Standards and Guidelines were published on 1/18/2017. The standards apply to “electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by Federal agencies covered by section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.” The Web Development & Design Foundations with HTML5 and Basics of Web Design: HTML5 & CSS3 textbooks follow the WCAG 2.0 Level A & AA Success Criteria so students are prepared to create accessible websites. (post updated 2/1/17)

Essential Guide to Digital Accessibility Infographic

When you provide for digital accessibility you design and configure mobile applications, digital documents, and web pages so that everyone, including those with disabilities, can have a similar user experience. Check out Deque's The Essential Guide to Digital Accessibility Infographic.

Choose Accessible Colors Palettes with Color Safe

Try out the Color Safe web app for help with choosing background and text colors with enough contrast to meet WCAG 2.0 requirements.

Using Color Theory to Improve Website Accessibility

Great tips on color selection and use in the article Using Color Theory to Improve Website Accessibility! Topics include: color combinations to avoid, importance of contrast (including warm/cool contrast), selecting complementary colors, using a monochrome color scheme, creating accents with texture and thickness, and an overview of tools and resources.

Google Moving Forward on YouTube Accessibility

Google recently announced that their pilot auto-captioning project will be expanded to include all English language videos on YouTube. Not only is this a huge step in increasing the accessibility of YouTube content, auto-captions are also useful in searching for video content. Although speech-to-text technology is not perfect, the owner of the video has the option to download the auto-generated captions and improve them. The service will expand to include more languages in the future. More information on the announcement. More information on YouTube captioning.

Universal Design for the Web

The Center for Universal Design defines universal design as "the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design." See http://terrymorris.net/universaldesign for a video overview of universal design for the web.

Awareness of universal design by web developers has been steadily increasing. Web accessibility — often left until the last moment — has garnered increased attention and is now more typically integrated into the design and coding process. Accessible web sites, with alt text for images, heading tags used in an organized manner, text navigation links, and captions or transcriptions for multimedia are more easily used not only by visitors with disabilities but also by visitors using a mobile browser. An accessible web site may also help with search engine optimization.

Here are some resourcs to jumpstart your accessible design skillset:

• Web Accessibility: 6 Reasons Why Its Important


• Accessibility Jargon Overvidew


• Tools for Conducting an Accessibility Review

WCAG 2.0 Resources

Check out Patrick Lauke's presentation, "What you need to know about WCAG 2.0" for an overview of how WCAG 2.0 differs from WCAG 1.0 and, well, what you need to know about WCAG 2.0. :) The ATRC Web Accessibility Checker is now available — it's an online testing tool that checks for WCAG 2.0 compliance. The tool conducts a number of automated tests and also notes areas that must be checked manually.

Web Standards Project InterAct Curriculum Framework

The Web Standards Project (WaSP) recently announced a new web design curriculum framework, InterAct, intended to be a living curriculum to help schools, colleges and universities bridge the gap between educators and industry best practices. There is a wealth of course materials that educators can adapt or adopt as best meets their needs — including assignments, projects, exam questions, resource links, and even learning modules.

It was a great experience to work with my fellow WaSP Education Task Force members during 2008 and 2009 as the curriculum framework took shape. Web Development & Design Foundations is one of the recommended reference books for the Web Design 1 course. Also check out the Accessibility course — I spent many hours developing this course and organizing materials for it. A shout-out of thanks goes to course reviewers Glenda Sims, John F. Croston III, Virgina DeBolt, Mark DuBois, and Jon Gunderson.

WCAG 2.0

A new day has dawned for web accessibility -- the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Web Content Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) has finally reached W3C Recommendation status it's now an official web standard. The WCAG 2.0 Guidelines are organized around the following four principles (use the acronym POUR to remember them):

1. Content must be Perceivable
   
2. Interface components in the content must be Operable
   
3. Content and controls must be Understandable
   
4. Content should be Robust enough to work with current and future user agents (including assistive technologies)

Check out the WCAG 2.0 Quick Reference and Understanding WCAG 2.0 to learn more about these guidelines.

Target's Lack of Web Accessibility == SIX Million Dollars

Look for more organizations to increase their focus on web accessibility — Target and NFB just reached a $6 million dollar settlement. See http://webaim.org/blog/target-lawsuit-settled/ for an overview.