Articles & Case Studies

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a set of recommendations published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which are aimed at helping to make content on the web more accessible to people with disabilities (e.g. blindness, low vision, loss of hearing).

WCAG 2.0 is the latest incarnation, and was published on the 11th December 2008. The official recommendation from the W3C is that the previous version (1.0) should be superceeded, and all new/updated content should target WCAG 2.0.

You can find the full (official) document on WCAG 2.0 here. We will not reproduce it's entire content below, but will merely refer to and discuss some of the key elements.

What does complying with WCAG 2.0 mean?

First, it is perhaps useful to mention what compliance does not mean. Even at the highest level of compliance (AAA), the official document can be quoted as saying "[content] will not be accessible to individuals with all types, degrees, or combinations of disability, particularly in the cognitive language and learning areas."

Therefore, it is important we understand that even perfect compliance with web standards does not mean that our content is 100% accessible to people in every imaginable situation.

Quoting again from the official WCAG 2.0 documentation, the aim is to "best address the needs of the widest possible range of users" - that is to say that full compliance with the accessibility guidelines should produce documents that are accessible to the majority of users who suffer from [m]any of the more "widely experienced" impairments (e.g. colour blindness in it's various shapes and forms).

Why bother to follow the recommendations in WCAG 2.0?

There are many plausible reasons, but the two main are:

Legal Requirements - the Disability Discrimination Act requires that you take reasonable steps to ensure content published on the web is accessible to persons who are classed as being disabled. More information is available from the Disability Discrimination act itself. These requirements have been in place since October 1999.

Audience Restriction - given how common colour blindness really is, for example, do you really want to restrict the audience that may be able to fully appreciate and utilise your content or application? Some sources suggest that as many as 5% to 8% of men experience some form of colour blindness - although the same sources quote a far lower figure for women (approximately 1%).

What are the recommendations made in WCAG 2.0?

We will not be exhaustively discussing the individual requirements here - you should instead review the official guidelines directly, however, the key areas covered merit a brief mention.

Perceivability - The provision of appropriate alternatives for non-textual content (e.g. images), time-based media (movies, audio, etc) and ensuring that content can be presented in different fashions without loss of inforamtion.
Operability - Ensuring all core functionality is available with only a keyboard, providing sufficient time for interpretation and operation of functionality/content, respecting factors which can trigger seizures and providing meaningful, helpful navigational controls.
Understandability - Making content readable and understandable, ensuring predictable operation and helping users to avoid, detect and correct mistakes.
Robustness - Maximising compatibility with both current and future "user agents" - which means not only web browsers, but assistive mechanisms such as screen-readers as well.

And here lies part of the crux - one of the reasons it is so important to hire a Web Designer who understands the implications of accessibility. It is not possible to programatically test for all of these. Some of the nuances and complexities are even arguably a matter of opinion.

In other words, some of this is a matter of common sense - and some of it is science. But it's clearly all for the greater good - for example - a website which excels at helping users to detect and correct their mistakes isn't just better for those with some form of impairment - it's better for everyone.

Share on Facebook Tweet This Subscribe (Email)