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U.S. Department of Health & Human ServicesAccessibility Training:Introduction to Accessibility andSection 508

Agenda Why Accessibility is Important Section 508 Accessibility Issues Types of Content The Future of 508 Resources QuestionsU.S. Department of Health & Human Services2

U.S. Department of Health & Human ServicesWhy Accessibility isImportant

Why is Accessibility Important? Worldwide – 285 million people with some sort of visual impairment– 275 million people with moderate-to-profound hearingimpairment– Many more have physical, speech, cognitive, and neurologicaldisabilities or a limited understanding of English. Accessibility ensures all users can access theproduct or service, regardless of their capabilities.U.S. Department of Health & Human Services4

Accessible Design Benefits Everyone Most of us encounter accessibility featuresoriginally created for people with disabilities on adaily basis. Each of these turns out to have applications thatalso make things easier for people withoutdisabilities. Examples include the following: Closed captions for the deaf on television programs Curb cutouts and ramps for wheelchair users “Talking books” for the blindU.S. Department of Health & Human Services5

What is Assistive Technology? Assistive Technology (AT) is any item, piece ofequipment, or system that is commonly used toincrease, maintain, or improve functional capabilitiesof individuals with disabilities.Some AT devices are well-known:AT software includes the following: EyeglassesHearing aidsCanesWheelchairsText-to-speech convertersScreen magnifiersOn-screen keyboardsSpeech-to-text converters AT relies on proper use of the delivery format.U.S. Department of Health & Human Services6

Why is Accessibility Important to Me? Electronic content produced at HHS must be madeaccessible to all users regardless of disability. Electronic content includes:– Electronic documents– Web sites and pages– Applications– Multimedia– Agency-wide emails Before the content can be made public, it must beaccessible per section 508.U.S. Department of Health & Human Services7

U.S. Department of Health & Human ServicesSection 508

What is Section 508? Section 508 is part of a 1998 amendment to theRehabilitation Act of 1973.It requires all Federal electronic content to be accessible.The U.S. Access Board is an independent Federal agencywhich develops and maintains standards that must be met toachieve 508 compliance.The most applicable standards for electronic content are:– 1194.21 Software applications and operating systems– 1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information andapplications– 1194.24 Video and multimedia products HHS reviews are directly based on these standards.U.S. Department of Health & Human Services9

Examples of StandardsWhen software is designed to run on a system that hasa keyboard, product functions shall be executable froma keyboard where the function itself or the result ofperforming a function can be discerned textually[1194.21(a)]. Web pages shall be designed so that all informationconveyed with color is also available without color, forexample from context or markup [1194.22(c)]. All training and informational video and multimediaproductions which support the agency’s mission,regardless of format, that contain speech or other audioinformation necessary for the comprehension of thecontent, shall be open or closed captioned [1194.24(c)]. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services10

U.S. Department of Health & Human ServicesAccessibility Issues

What Can Create an Accessibility Problem?When the ASPA 508 Team does a review, they payparticular attention to: Images Captions Color Data Tables Dynamic Content/Interactivity Forms Navigational Elements/LinksU.S. Department of Health & Human Services12

What is Electronic Content? Electronic content, or “information and communicationtechnology” (ICT) is the message (information) you aretrying to get across (communicate). Modern technology allows us to separate the contentfrom the “presentation” (how it looks, or how it isconveyed). Content alone can be inaccessible no matter what thepresentation, or delivery format. Section 508 says you have to choose a presentation sothe content is accessible to everyone.U.S. Department of Health & Human Services13

Using Electronic Content When using content that is not your own, don’tassume it’s accessible. Creating complex content can cause problems fordevelopers and thus delays in publishing. It is much easier to create content that isaccessible in the first place (bake it in), than toremediate content after the fact (bolt it on).U.S. Department of Health & Human Services14

Scenario 1 You’re tasked with designing illustrations to aid inunderstanding certain trends. You create a pie chart and a line graph and submitthe designs.U.S. Department of Health & Human Services15

Pie ChartApplesBananasOrangesU.S. Department of Health & Human Services16

Line GraphU.S. Department of Health & Human Services17

Result 1 Your designs are rejected! They were sent to a test group for feedback, andthere was a colorblind user who could not relatethe legend to the charts.U.S. Department of Health & Human Services18

Colorblind View of Pie ChartU.S. Department of Health & Human Services19

Colorblind View of Line GraphU.S. Department of Health & Human Services20

Second Attempt After reading up on 1194.22(c), you realize youcan’t convey information with color alone.U.S. Department of Health & Human Services21

Accessible Pie ChartU.S. Department of Health & Human Services22

Accessible Line GraphU.S. Department of Health & Human Services23

Scenario 2 You’re assigned to create a document to be postedfirst thing in the morning. After review, you’re asked to add a table whichsummarizes important data. You find a table on the web that works perfectly!.So you put a screenshot of it in the document. You send it to Janet, a new coworker, who washired to convert Word documents to PDF forposting.U.S. Department of Health & Human Services24

A Complex TableEmployeesMenFoundedWomenACME Inc.200014001947600XYZ Corp10006002011400123 Medical1150750U.S. Department of Health & Human Services197340025

Result 2 The next day you find a disheveled Janet givingyou a mean look and ask her “what’s wrong?” She replies she was up all night making that PDF508 compliant.– “I had to retype the table because it was an image, andspent hours making the proper associations for theheader cells.”– “And no, the table on the site that you found wasn’taccessible either.”U.S. Department of Health & Human Services26

Simplified yeesYearFoundedAcme Inc.140060020001947XYZ Corp60040010002011123 Medical75040011501973U.S. Department of Health & Human Services27

U.S. Department of Health & Human ServicesTypes of Content

Web Content All functionality must be operable by keyboard. Valid HTML is key to making web sites accessible. Pay special attention to the following elements: Images Forms Data Tables Frames Navigational Elements Dynamic Content/InteractivityU.S. Department of Health & Human Services29

How Web Sites are Tested for Section 508 Site-wide scanning tools‒ Web page evaluation tools‒‒ Color Contrast AnalyzerManual inspection‒‒ WAVEDeveloper ToolbarsStandard specific tools‒ Accenture Digital Diagnostic Engine (ADDE)View SourceKeyboard EvaluationAT evaluation‒‒Screen readers (JAWS, NVDA, Window Eyes)Voice recognition (Dragon, Siri)U.S. Department of Health & Human Services30

Scenario 3 You’re a developer asked to redesign a small website to increase traffic. No problem, you know all the latest tricks to makean eye catching site and a few cool 3rd partywidgets could bring in some views! Working diligently for 2 weeks, you submit thedesign to your manager for a first look.U.S. Department of Health & Human Services31

Result 3 “Back to the drawing board” says your manager. “I, personally, love the new site but I ran a WAVEcheck on the homepage and no way will this passa 508 review.”U.S. Department of Health & Human Services32

WAVE Accessibility CheckU.S. Department of Health & Human Services33

Remediated Design After taking our training on IdentifyingAccessibility Errors in Web Sites, you try again. This time you get a clean report. As a bonus, the site is even easier to use!U.S. Department of Health & Human Services34

WAVE Check on Remediated DesignU.S. Department of Health & Human Services35

PDFAccessible PDFs contain aback end tag structuresimilar to HTML so contentcan be correctly interpretedby AT. Tagging a PDF can betedious and requiresAcrobat Pro or expensivethird-party software. Having a well-structuredsource file does NOTnecessarily translate into anaccessible PDF, but doessave time when tagging it. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services36

How PDFs are TestedAcrobat Pro contains a built in AccessibilityChecker, but a clean report does notalways mean a compliant document. Standard specific tools – Color Contrast Analyzer– Adobe LiveCycle for forms Manual Inspection‒ View tags‒ Touch Up Reading Order tool AT evaluation‒ Screen ReadersU.S. Department of Health & Human Services37

Scenario 4 You’re asked to post a PDF on suicide prevention. Having heard about 508, you ask your contractor ifthe document is compliant. “Of course!” they say, just run the accessibilitychecker. Double checking to be sure .U.S. Department of Health & Human Services38

Clean Accessibility ReportU.S. Department of Health & Human Services39

Result 4 A week later you’re informed that the PDF has areceived a lengthy complaint regarding an imageand the user is threatening legal action. You’re confused because you made a point todouble check!! What image are they talkingabout? The complaint included a screenshot .U.S. Department of Health & Human Services40

Problematic ImageU.S. Department of Health & Human Services41

Remediated ImageU.S. Department of Health & Human Services42

MS Office documents Accessible documents use Built-in styles Certain elements can’t be made accessible inOffice– Complex tables– Forms– Hidden decorative content PDF/HTML is the preferred format in every case Accessible office files tend to convert toPDF/HTML more smoothlyU.S. Department of Health & Human Services43

How Office Files are TestedOffice 2010 and later contains a built-in AccessibilityChecker, but a clean report does not always mean anaccessible document, and vice versa. Standard specific tools – Color Contrast Analyzer Manual Inspection‒ Style Inspector‒ Accessibility/Productivity ribbon‒ Alt text AT evaluation‒ Screen readersU.S. Department of Health & Human Services44

U.S. Department of Health & Human ServicesThe Future ofSection 508

Overview The Access Board is in the process of updating thestandards to include more specific guidelines. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0)from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) willbe “incorporated by reference.”U.S. Department of Health & Human Services46

Planning Ahead Existing standards are all that’s currently requiredto be Section 508 compliant. However, WCAG 2.0 should be considered now. There is no indication of anything beinggrandfathered in. HHS already requires one WCAG 2.0 guidelinewhich is not referenced in current Section 508standards.U.S. Department of Health & Human Services47

Example of WCAG 2.0 Criterion / SufficientTechnique 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum): The visualpresentation of text and images of texthas a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1,except for the following: (Level AA)– Large Text– Decorative Text– LogosU.S. Department of Health & Human Services48

Scenario 5 You’re asked to send an email to promote aconference your office is hosting. Your team lead wants the message to be colorfulso it’s not dull. The event is in February and there is a chance ofsnow so you want to make sure to include themake up date. You complete the task and send the email.U.S. Department of Health & Human Services49