Slide2-9 Business Values Matter
Success means different things to different people and different organizations, but We all have something to add, to help improve productivity.The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web
Part 1: Planning
Identify a common principle of accessibility within your organization, and then allow:
- Advocates to promote functional accessibility,
- Developers to question implementation techniques,
- Project managers to allocate resources and skill development,
- Lawyers to assess liability and risks, and
- Executives to challenge the business case.
The Governance Maturity Model progress is driven by collaboration and innovation that enables creativity to improve employee productivity and expand market growth. The effectiveness of your governance model depends upon several components of web development and interaction processes:
- System components: operating platform, applications, assistive technology, and user knowledge, and
- Project roles: Project management, Development, Architecture, Design, Content management, and testing.
Part 2: Responsibilities
At the organizational level, building an inclusive culture means establishing leadership, developing internal accessibility policies and practices throughout the organization, and equipping your teams for success. Accessibility is more than just training, as it also needs to be a necessary business decision.A senior organization leader must assume the role of Accessibility and Diversity champion advocate. A stable and consistent delivery model will inspire employee hospitality and encourage customer repeat engagement.
Sustainable growth requires a strategy of investment and commitment of resources, both time and money.
Establish a quality assurance methodology to evaluate genuine progress and measurements.
Define the primary target audience, and educate employees on customer personas and how they use technology.
Determine what level of accessibility conformance (WCAG A, AA, or AAA) is desirable.
Determine product accessibility policy compliance so that employees, suppliers and partners know what is expected. Example:
- ACA: Accessibility Canada Act
- AODA: Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
- ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act
Create a clear public statement that expresses the organization commitment to accessibility and community partnerships, with a feedback mechanism for customers.
Part 3: Product Life Cycle
Design is not necessarily Inclusive (good will and best intentions will not achieve expectations). Accessibility assessment begins at the design level of a product life cycle. The page landscape must be perceivable, the content understandable, the objects operable, and the overall usability must be robust.
- Stakeholders:
- Divergent Thinkers: User experience designers (interaction designs and flows), Visual designers (page layouts and information architect).
- Critical Thinkers: Content writers and editors, Product specialists, Front end developers, and Accessibility Specialists.
- Creative thinkers: Quality assurance specialists, Functional and Usability testers.
The development process must start by engaging the Accessibility Specialist, who will coordinate accessibility status meetings throughout the development process, define accessibility techniques and remediation plans, prepare accessibility testing scenarios, and monitor accessibility remediation efforts. This role requires an understanding of the WCAG standards criteria, available automated testing tools, and usability testing requirements.
- Stakeholders:
- Accessibility Specialist
- Code Developers
Dynamic page rendering and operable functionality must be thoroughly tested before usability testing begins. Where native HTML5 cannot meet accessibility requirements, then ARIA coding can be implemented. This is also refered to as User Acceptance testing, or Beta Testing, to ensure the code is behaving as expected and the website design is defect free.
- Stakeholders:
- Accessibility Specialist
- Development team
The Usability Testing deals with user behavior, and determines if an application is easy to use for the end-user. The Usability Testing will ensure that those who are blind or have low vision, those who are deaf or hard of hearing, those who have cognitive disabilities, or those who have motor disabilities, can successfully access your web application. The outcome of this phase is a remediation report describing problems revealed in testing, and their solutions.
- Stakeholders:
- Accessibility Specialist
- User experience specialist
- Assistive Technology Users
The product documentation and training phase is critical for ensuring smooth adoption by sales and support teams, and effective use by end users, of the product. This phase focuses on creating comprehensive resources and delivering training to support the product's successful rollout.
- Stakeholders:
- Accessibility Specialist
- Technical writer/editor
- Support and Training personnel
The evaluation review should be based on the project scope framework and the accepted conformance standard guidance. The review should focus on the interoporability of the product life cycle, and modify procedures where necessary. Ensuring that all stakeholders are active participants. While inclusion of people with disabilities is the primary focus of accessibility, it also benefits people without disabilities.
- Stakeholders:
- Accessibility Specialist
- Project Managers
- Team Leads from each of the project phases
Support costs can be significant, there may be customer satisfaction or legal risks associated with inappropriate application support. Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), there are obligations and penalties for customer support.
- Stakeholders:
- Accessibility Specialist
- Technical support team
- Customer support team
Resources