Understanding Accessibilty Basics

The equality act makes it illegal to discriminate against various groups, including people living with disabilities.

In The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations WCAG 2.1 is specifically referenced as a compliance threshold (PDF) that must be met by covered entities.

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) states that state and local government services may not discriminate on the basis of disability.

Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) states that almost all businesses may not discriminate on the basis of disability.

Section 508 requires federal agencies to ensure that information and communication technology is accessible to people with disabilities.

The Revised 508 Standards incorporate by reference the WCAG 2.0 Level AA Success Criteria, and apply the WCAG 2.0 Level AA success criteria and conformance requirements to both web and non-web electronic content.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2 is developed through the W3C process in cooperation with individuals and organizations around the world, with a goal of providing a single shared standard for web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments internationally.

The prevailing standard for many years was WCAG 2.0, originally published in 2008.

The current best practice is to follow the guidelines set forth in the updated WCAG 2.1, originally published in 2018.

The upcoming WCAG 2.2 standard is set to be published in August 2023.

Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. This means that users must be able to understand the information being presented; it can’t be invisible to any of their senses.

Perceivable Guideline Example: Text Alternatives. Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, translations, or simpler language.

User interface components and navigation must be operable. This means that users must be able to use the interface and it cannot require interaction that a user cannot perform.

Operable Guideline Example: Keyboard Accessible. Make all functionality available from a keyboard or a keyboard interface so that people with disabilities are able to operate websites without needing a mouse.

Information and the operation of user interfaces must be understandable. This means that users must be able to comprehend information as well as how to use the interface.

Understandable Guideline Example: Labels and Instructions. Labels and instructions are provided to users whenever content requires user input, e.g. sign up or login forms.

Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. This means as technologies and user agents advance and evolve, content should remain accessible.

Robust Guideline Example: Parsing. Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies, by ensuring content created using markup languages are coded correctly and have complete start and end tags. This allows user agents to present content without crashing.

Considered the least strict, Level A success criteria are essential for every website. If your website doesn’t conform with WCAG Level A, it may have serious accessibility issues that prevent users with disabilities from using it.

At this level, within the current guidelines (WCAG 2.1) there are 30 criteria that organizations must meet. An example of the criteria includes:

• Non-text content (images and videos) must have a text equivalent.
• Users must be able to access content using a keyboard only.
• Forms must include labels or instructions, so users know what’s expected of them.
• Assistive technologies, such as screen readers, must be able to access content.
• Information or instructions must not be conveyed through shape, size or color alone.

While WCAG Level A allows organizations to cover the basics, WCAG Level AA goes further toward making web content accessible for users in a wider variety of contexts. It is for this reason that most accessibility experts recommend this conformance level. As a reminder, at this conformance level, the web page and content would satisfy all Level A and Level AA success criteria.

At Level AA, criteria includes all that is outlined at Level A plus an extra 20 requirements. Examples include:

• Text and background must use good color contrast. For example, have a minimum level of contrast of at least 4.5 to 1.
• Content should be organized under clear headings, using a logical order. For example a H1, followed by H2, H3 etc.
• Elements that affect navigation should be consistent across the site.

Level AAA is the highest possible conformance level in WCAG, and as a result holds organizations to the highest standard of accessibility. At this level, the web page and content satisfy all Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA success criteria. Although level AAA may not be applicable or realistic for everyone to achieve, organizations should strive to meet as many of its criteria as possible.

Level AAA criteria outlines an extra 28 requirements from those outlined at level AA. Examples include:

• Contrast ratio between text and background is at least 7 to 1.
• Pre-recorded video content must have a sign language translation.
• Extended audio description should be provided for pre-recorded videos.