Web accessibility/Links/WACC201/Announcement4
Web Accessibility Audit Reporting
We have spent our time together so far working on developing knowledge and skills to get you started doing professional web accessibility audits. This week we will conduct an informal web accessibility review, and take a look at other accessibility standards, and how they are used around the world.
Informal Web Accessibility Reviews
Informal reviews are intended primarily to raise the awareness of readers that there are accessibility issues on their website. They are not intended to go into any great detail, but rather to provide enough information to encourage a more thorough General Review, Template Review, or Detailed Review. Ourselves, we generally use informal reviews during first contact with a new client or with a new review project, often included with the project quote. We also use them internally with our developers, who just need to know where the issues are, already knowing how to fix them.
Informal reviews are generally provided free of charge, so if you are conducting reviews as a business service, you should consider the amount of time that goes into the informal review, and whether that can be recovered through a subsequent formal review. Also consider that if too much detail is provided, the potential client may not need a formal review. The take away, don’t over do it with an informal review. See the sample informal review to understand what, and how much information to provide in your own informal review.
If in real life providing third party accessibility services is not your aim, such as providing a review for your own company, then by all means include as much detail as is needed. You might even skip the informal review and jump right to the more formal, more detailed approach. But, for the Lulu's Lollipops Informal Review activity, keep it short, with just enough information to encourage your client to ask for more.
Accessibility Laws in Your Area
We see that many participants in the course are from Ontario, Canada, and most are quite aware of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). There are several of you from the US who mentioned ADA and Section 508. We’d like to hear a little more from those in other areas of the world. What are the laws, if any, in your area, and how do they compare with those that have been mentioned in the course? Everyone should post a paragraph or two to their learning blog for the final activity, Web Accessibility in Your Part of the World about the accessibility requirements in your country, or jurisdiction.
