Copyright © 2009 W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio)
Government for All:Including People with DisabilitiesShadi Abou-ZahraW3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)http://www.w3.org/People/shadi/
Copyright © 2009 W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio)
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
“Leading the Web to its full potential”
• Initiated and directed by Tim Berners-Lee• International, vendor-neutral consortium• Multi-stakeholder, consensus process• Develops open and royalty-free standards:
• HTML, CSS, XML, SVG, SMIL, ...
Copyright © 2009 W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio)
W3C Internationally
Copyright © 2009 W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio)
The Web of Today
Copyright © 2009 W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio)
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Develops strategies, guidelines, and resources to make the Web accessible for people with disabilities:
• Accessibility support in W3C technologies• Guidelines for implementing accessibility• Methods for evaluating web accessibility• Conducting education and outreach• Coordinating with research and development
Copyright © 2009 W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio)
Barriers on the Web
Web accessibility barriers for people with hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive disabilities include:
• Images, video, audio with no alternative text• Layout and font do not expand and shrink well• Controls can not be used by keyboard alone• Inconsistent and overly complex navigation• No user control, no language identification, ...
Copyright © 2009 W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio)
Relevance of Web Accessibility
The Web has become an essential medium for:
• news, information, commerce, entertainment,• education, employment, workplace interaction,• civic participation, government services, …
Access to information, including on the Web, has been recognized as human right by the UN.
Copyright © 2009 W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio)
Business Benefits
Web accessibility benefits many more users:
• People with ageing-related limitations• People with low literacy or computer skills• People experiencing temporal limitations• Limiting situational or external influences• Reduced bandwidth or processing power• Mobile technologies and access devices
Fact: up to 65% of the population can benefit from accessibility features (source: Microsoft Research)
Copyright © 2009 W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio)
Essential Components
Copyright © 2009 W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio)
Accessibility Standards
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) develops:
• ATAG – Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines • http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/atag
• UAAG – User Agent Accessibility Guidelines• http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/uaag
• WCAG – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines• http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag
Copyright © 2009 W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio)
Implementation Steps
Steps needed to successfully implement accessibility:
• Awareness raising and educating all stakeholders• Development of policies and implementation plans• Translation of standards and educational resources• Providing trainings and capacity building programs• Conformance assessment and progress monitoring
Fact: solutions exist, it is a matter of adopting them.
Copyright © 2009 W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio)
Thank You
Shadi Abou-Zahra, W3C/WAIActivity Lead, WAI International Program Officehttp://www.w3.org/People/shadi/[email protected]