A Challenge to Web Accessibility Metrics and Guidelines: Putting People and Processes First

A Challenge to Web Accessibility Metrics and Guidelines: Putting People and Processes First

Martyn Cooper @MartynCooper David Sloan @sloandrBrian Kelly @briankelly

Sarah Lewthwaite @slewthW4A 2012, Lyon, France

Monday 16 April 2012

http://www.flickr.com/photos/purecaffeine/5399530443/

Credit: Flickr user emmarhttp://goo.gl/FmeyuCredit: Flickr user daveybot

Outline

• Progressing our past work exploring how web accessibility strategy can be effectively applied in complex organisations

• BS8878 as a tool to support organisational accessibility strategy

• Case study: using Learner Analytics as an opportunity to identify issues with disabled learner experience

W4A 2012: Cooper, Sloan, Kelly, Lewthwaite 2

1 CONTEXT


Technical accessibility and user experience

• HCI research increasingly focusing on user experience– Beyond testing…beyond task completion

• Accessibility guidelines tend to focus on testing of technical artefacts– Questions of relationship between conformance

and disabled people’s user experience – Emergence of social web accessibility reporting

and repair tools (e.g. Fix the Web, Access Grade)


Supporting organisations optimise online experience for disabled people

• If organisational policy focuses exclusively on technical guideline conformance, is there a risk accessibility efforts can be mis-focused?– Particularly when resource constraints limit what

can be practically achieved

• How can policy address non-technical components of accessibility?– Where the Web is one way to help deliver

experiences and support goal achievement


2 BS 8878


BS 8878

• Published by British Standards Institute in Dec 2010• Aimed at managers rather than developers/authors• Standardises the process of commissioning and

implementing optimally accessible web sites• Gives advice on how to apply technical guidelines in

accessibility strategy• 16 step process, including steps to:– Define goals, tasks, and UX– Consider balance of inclusive design and personalisation– Assure accessibility post-launch


Impact of BS8878

• Uptake and impact unclear yet - case studies being gathered by Jonathan Hassell, the standard’s lead author: http://goo.gl/K3Tza

• Guidance for organisations to think more holistically – and pragmatically - about applying Web accessibility policy– Support for managing the political, social and other

complex factors that will be encountered

• Transferability – could it work under different legal jurisdictions?


3 (LEARNER) ANALYTICS AND ACCESSIBILITY


Analytics and accessibility

• Taking advantage of user activity data gathered automatically by organisations to strategically focus accessibility efforts

• A way of using data to support a BS8878 approach to organisational web accessibility policy and practice


Analytics in e-learningAnalytics in education focuses on:1.Technical – extracting value from large datasets2.Political/economic – improving learning opportunities and results3.Educational – optimising the learning and teaching experience

(Ferguson, 2012: http://goo.gl/UV6F2)


Learner analytics“... the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimising learning and the environments in which it occurs”

(1st international conference on Learner Analytics & Knowledge)


Using organisational data to understand more about accessibility• Open University engaged in distance learning delivery– > 200,000 students; > 12,000 with declared disability– Substantial activity through e-learning platforms and tools –

large dataset

• Data: learner profiles, attainment, VLE activity• Opportunity to assess currently available data and

establish how to identify current areas of concern for disabled learners– e.g. identifying dropout points – Prioritise area of focus for accessibility evaluation and repair


Next steps

• Open University Learner Analytics Project– Establishing what sort of data is useful for

accessibility analytics

• Comparative studies– With other Higher Ed organisations?– With organisations in other sectors?

• Link with learner and resource profiling:– Revision of ISO 24751 well underway


Continue the discussion

• Martyn’s blog post: http://goo.gl/KBlXk• Brian’s thoughts:– Blog post: http://goo.gl/Xwh3T– Youtube video: http://goo.gl/yUTAk– and on publicising our work: http://goo.gl/5uclB

• Sarah’s blog post: http://goo.gl/08QaQ• Dave’s blog: http://58sound.com


Design

A Challenge to Web Accessibility Metrics and Guidelines: Putting People and Processes First