WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Legacy content recommendation

for

From: Lucy Greco
Date: Aug 26, 2014 12:15PM

hello:
my first instinct is to not put it on the site if you can't make it
accessible. and see how many requests they get for it.
there is also a part of me that says getting a certification when you have
a lot of inaccessible content just seems like a marketing move what stops
them from getting the certification and then adding content after that is
inaccessible again. the real way to commit to access is do it, not certify
it. Lucy


On Tue, Aug 26, 2014 at 10:57 AM, Jordan Wilson <
<EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Our agency has a web client we¹re currently working with who is starting a
> large-scale (10k+ page) website redesign and they¹ve chosen to build to
> WCAG 2.0 A and AA.
>
> This particular client has a significant amount of legacy content from an
> existing non-compliant site. That content is not current, but outdated
> such as 2009 financial summaries or archived monthly staff newsletters.
> The content is in the form of flash, PDFs, videos, non-accessible HTML etc
> and goes back 7+ years.
>
> Any content which would be current or vital they are rebuilding as part of
> the new accessible site.
>
> While they have committed to making their new site and current content
> accessible, making that old content accessible represents a considerable
> financial burden for limited utility and they¹re unable to commit to doing
> so financially at this point.
>
> For the sake of brevity, let¹s assume that they can¹t make that legacy
> content accessible. Are there any recommended techniques or acceptable
> practices for indicating or labeling that content as not-accessible?
>
> The same client is also interested in having their new site certified by a
> third party as compliant to demonstrate their commitment to accessibility.
> They¹re undergoing a significant redesign and content creation effort to
> make their web presence accessible.
>
> My worry is whether leaving this legacy content on the site would make
> accessibility certification a non-starter. Has anyone had any similar
> experiences? Are there any recommendations to handle it properly? Is
> leaving legacy content inaccessible ever acceptable?
>
> One idea we discussed was to provide a form or contact option which would
> allow users to request an accessible version of a specific inaccessible
> asset as necessary.
>
> Thanks for your help/insight,
>
> Jordan Wilson
>
>
> > > >



--
Lucia Greco
Web Accessibility Evangelist
IST - Architecture, Platforms, and Integration
University of California, Berkeley
(510) 289-6008 skype: lucia1-greco
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
Follow me on twitter @accessaces