Slides to support a workshop given at the 2012 Institutional Web Managers' Workshop (IWMW 2012), Edinburgh, June 19. The workshop focus was on institutional web accessibility policy, and the potential that British Standard 8878 may have in developing and strengthening accessibility policy.

1. Managing the
Process of Providing
an Inclusive
Institutional Web
Presence: Workshop
David Sloan
@sloandr
19th June 2012
Image credit: Flickr user emmar IWMW 2012
http://goo.gl/Fmeyu
Edinburgh

2. Aims and outcomes
• For you as workshop participants
– To learn more about current practice in Web
Accessibility Policy across UK HEIs
– To learn more about BS8878
– To appreciate the opportunities that BS8878 might
offer in supporting improved institutional Web
Accessibility Policy, and the barriers to effective
adoption
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 2

3. Aims and outcomes
• For me as facilitator:
– To share the perspective of an accessibility
researcher and accessibility advocate in a UK HEI.
– To understand more about current practice in Web
Accessibility Policy across UK HEIs (data gathering)
– To discuss the opportunities that BS8878 might
offer in supporting improved institutional Web
Accessibility Policy, and the barriers that HEI
representatives to effective adoption
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 3

4. Outline of the session
• What is the current nature of web
accessibility policy in HEIs? (15 minutes)
• What is BS8878? (15 minutes)
• Applying BS8878 in practice (40 minutes)
• Discussing the applicability of BS8878 to
developing and implementing institutional
web accessibility policy (20 minutes)
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 4

5. Workshop output
• (with your permission!) a public account of
what we’ve found out and what we discussed
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 5

6. 1. INSTITUTIONAL WEB
ACCESSIBILITY POLICY – WHERE
ARE WE?
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 6

7. Does your institution have a web
accessibility policy?
• Yes 53% (8)
• No, there is no institution-wide Web accessibility
policy 7% (1)
• No, but web accessibility is included in a wider ICT
accessibility policy 13% (2)
• No, web accessibility policy is devolved to
college/school/department level 0%
• Don’t know 20% (3)
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 7

8. What’s in your web accessibility policy?
• Accessibility levels that should be reached by published web
content: 100% (10)
• Process for evaluating accessibility of existing web resources: 40%
(4)
• Process for dealing with existing web resources that do not meet a
specified level of accessibility: 40% (4)
• Training in accessibility for people who produce institutional web
content: 30% (3)
• Training in accessibility for people who manage the production of
institutional web content: 20% (2)
• Consideration of accessibility in procurement or commissioning of
web content publishing systems: 20% (2)
• Consideration of accessibility in procurement or commissioning of
new web resources: 10% (1)
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 8

9. To what extent are you aware of
BS8878?
• Never heard of it: 13% (2)
• Heard of it but not sure what it covers: 27%
(4)
• Have a reasonable idea of what it covers, but
haven’t read the standard itself: 33% (5)
• Have read the standard: 20% (3)
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 9

10. To the best of your knowledge, which
of the following best describes your
organisation’s use of BS8878?
• BS8878 has been adopted as formal organisational web
accessibility policy: 7% (1)
• BS8878 has been used for guidance when developing formal
organisational web accessibility policy: 7% (1)
• BS8878 has been mentioned in discussions on implementing
or changing formal organisational web accessibility policy:
20% (3)
• BS8878 has never been discussed in relation to formal
organisational web accessibility policy: 27% (4)
• Other: 40% (6)
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 10

11. 2. AN OVERVIEW OF BS 8878
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 11

12. BS 8878:2010 – a brief history
• Published Dec 2010, replacing PAS 78
• Available to purchase from BSI or from public
libraries
• Intended to complement technical standards
for web accessibility
– Focusing on process of creating accessible web
resources
– And on effectively documenting this process
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 12

13. BS 8878:2010 – aims
• Aims to help organisations who create web products
make informed decisions on accessibility:
– Understand how to create and implement effective
organisational accessibility policy
– Include the needs of disabled and older people throughout
the web production process
• Audience:
– Senior management, managers responsible for equality &
inclusion (e.g. HR, CSR), procurement managers, web
production teams, web content managers/authors,
educators in web authoring/development,…
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 13

14. BS8878: 16 step process
1. Define the purpose of the web product
– Including relationship to any existing non-web
means of accessing a similar service
2. Define the target audiences of the web
product
– e.g. students, staff, general public, researchers
with specific domain knowledge.
3. Analyse the needs of the target audiences
– May be well known, or require research
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 14

15. BS8878: 16 step process
1. Note any platform or technology preferences
and restrictions of the web product’s target
audiences
– e.g. restrictions of a standard desktop,
ability/aptitude to use up-to-date browsers,
available assistive technology
2. Define the relationship the product will have
with its target audiences
– Use of personalisation approaches: user groups
or individuals?
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 15

16. BS8878: 16 step process
1. Define the user goals and tasks the web
product needs to provide
– Including priorities and success criteria, and
variations between user groups
2. Consider the degree of user-experience the
web product will aim to provide
– Technically accessible? Usable? Or satisfying to
use?
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 16

17. BS8878: 16 step process
1. Consider inclusive design and user-
personalized approaches to accessibility
– Inclusive design “requires products to be usable
by as many people as reasonable or possible”
(pragmatic)
– User-personalising – adaptation or selection from
alternatives based on profile information
2. Choose the delivery platforms to support
– Desktop, mobile, IDTV,…
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 17

18. BS8878: 16 step process
1. Choose the target browsers, operating
systems and assistive technologies to support
– Choice will be influenced by factors such as
knowledge of target audience, control,
availability
2. Choose whether to create or procure the
web product in-house or contract out
externally
– Establishing whether the supplier can deliver the
demanded level of accessibility
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 18

19. BS8878: 16 step process
1. Define the web technologies to be used in
the web product
– …considering the accessibility support of the web
technology in question
2. Use web guidelines to direct accessible web
production
– Selection of appropriate guidelines (e.g. WCAG)
and conformance level
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 19

20. BS8878: 16 step process
1. Assure the web product’s accessibility
through production
– Defining and implementing an accessibility test
plan and how this relates to overall project plan
and decision to launch
2. Communicate the web product’s accessibility
decisions at launch
– Accessibility statement documenting decision-
making process covered in previous steps
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 20

21. BS8878: 16 step process
1. Plan to assure accessibility in all post-launch
updates to the product
– Addressing outstanding known accessibility
issues
– Collecting and dealing with feedback received
after launch
– Ensuring maintenance and update process
address accessibility
– On-going testing programme
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 21

22. BS8878 and assuring accessibility
through a product’s lifecycle
• BS8878 provides advice on:
– Involving older and disabled people in
requirements analysis and establishment
– using accessibility guidelines to direct production
– implementing an appropriate accessibility test
plan as part of procurement/production
– Ensuring accessibility is integrated into
maintenance and update processes
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 22

23. BS8878 – supplementary
information
• Disability and relevant legislation
• Business case for accessibility
• Examples of Web accessibility policies and published
accessibility statements
• Allocation of responsibilities across an organisation
• Accessibility challenges of different Web products
• How people with accessibility needs use the Web
• Examples of goals, tasks, “degrees of user experience”;
measuring success criteria
• Personalisation and accessibility
• Procurement
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 23

24. 3. APPLYING BS8878 IN PRACTICE
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 24

25. Activity
• In pairs, take the scenario you have been
given, and discuss how a BS8878 approach
could help you decide on a set of actions to
take to optimise accessibility of the web
resource under discussion
– 10 minutes to discuss your approach in pairs
– 10 minutes plenary discussion per scenario
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 25

26. 4. BS8878 AND YOUR INSTITUTION
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 26

27. • What are the opportunities that BS 8878
offers in addressing the challenges of
implementing a workable institutional web
accessibility policy?
• Are there any areas where it falls short? Is
unnecessary? Inappropriate?
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 27

28. Another perspective
Strategic IT
Accessibility: Enabling
the Organisation
Jeff Kline
ISBN-10: 1936909189
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 28

29. More resources
• Community of Practice:
http://www.meetup.com/bs8878-web-accessibility
• Jonathan Hassell’s BS8878 resources:
http://www.hassellinclusion.com/category/bs8878
• Web 4 All at Univ of Southampton:
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/web4all/
David Sloan, 19 June 2012 29

30. THANKYOU FOR YOUR
PARTICIPATION!
eAccess+ European Accessibility Network:
http://www.eaccessplus.eu
email: dsloan@computing.dundee.ac.uk
twitter: @sloandr
blogs: www.58sound.com --- blog.dundee.ac.uk/eaccessibility
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