Nick
Yes, web accessibility is still important. Arts Council England has built into the current National Portfolio Organisation and Major Partner Museum funding agreements a requirement for organisations to develop an Equality Action Plan which contains strands specifying that museums respond to the basic 'protected characteristics' enshrined in equality legislation. It's not a tick box approach to legislation by any means.
The protected characteristics are disability; age; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion and belief; sex; sexual orientation.
To this list the Arts Council has added 'class/socio-economic status'
Alongside this, our MPMs and NPOs are also expected to develop and deliver Audience Development Plans (ADP) as part of the new funding agreements. Guidance for ADPs also include reference to planning for diverse audiences.
I have been advising organisations within my remit (East and South East region) to thoughtfully consider WCAG 2.0 guidelines in practical and common sense ways that are achievable and sustainable. This might mean having a plan to incrementally deliver better access over a period of time, working with a user testing group with impairments, for example. User testing has always been a core principle of the Jodi Awards for good reasons.
All the best
JP
Jon Pratty
Relationship Manager, Creative Media
Arts Council England
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-----Original Message-----
From: Museums Computer Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nick Poole
Sent: 29 January 2015 09:27
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MCG] Is Web Accessibility still a thing?
Dear MCG'ers,
The discussion over the past few days has prompted me to return to the question of where 'web accessibility' fits into peoples' priorities these days.
Back in the day, when the Disability Discrimination Act was fresh and new and initiatives like Bobby and the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines were in the ascendant, we spent lot of time beating ourselves up about 'AAA' or 'AA' compliance.
Then, slightly inevitably, there was a bit of a backlash as people came to realise that machine-processed accessibility was not the same as human accessibility. At roughly the same time, the dominant narrative came to be about Universal Design and the idea that rather than designing specific experiences for specific audiences, we ought to be using web standards (HTML4 and CSS - remember them!?) to create universally accessible, liquid interfaces that played nice on screens and mobiles. I sat in a *lot* of meetings with web development companies who would eye roll when web accessibility came up and then dismiss it with 'our world-class coders make code that's so silky smooth, it laughs at your puny guidelines'.
Now, with the power and flexibility of HTML5 and the rise of mobile-first, responsive design, we certainly have much nicer interfaces (generally speaking). Screen readers are smarter, their users more experienced and fiddly keys are gradually being replaced by the elegance of swipe and pinch.
I worry, though, that accessibility in general, and more specifically taking positive and proactive steps to meet users halfway if they have specific needs, has taken something of a back seat. I heard yesterday that the number of museums with 'provisional' as opposed to full Accreditation status has increased significantly, and that many are being asked to improve both their access provision and the quality of information they provide about accessibility - which increasingly means online.
I am hoping that people are going to tell me that web accessibility, both in a 'universal' and a specific sense, is still high on the list when you are specifying and developing web projects, but it has been a long time (until this thread) since I have seen anyone talk about it as a high-profile commitment - with the obvious exception of the excellent work of the Jodi Awards. Also, while I have seen people mention technical (ie. web standards) accessibility, I really haven't seen anything about intellectual accessibility since around 2004.
So - my question to the list: is web accessibility still a thing? If not, why not? If so, has it simply gone to ground as an embedded part of the development process?
All best,
Nick
Nick Poole
Chief Executive
Collections Trust
Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 6080
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