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Re: Cost of Web accessibility, yet again

for

From: Hall, Kevin (K.M.)
Date: Oct 7, 2004 8:53AM

My numbers may be a bit large, I was making a few unstated assumptions (perhaps making a you know what out of u and me)... that the web site was reasonably complex, that there was little experience auditing sites, and that the client would be a serious pain to deal with - all worst case scenarios. Additionally, I always make it a practice to provide detailed recommendations for fixing any problems I find. Sometimes this involves a bit of work when there a serious or obscure problems involving the markup or code used.

I've found that after time I was getting through reviewing pages and writing a detailed report in about 20-30 minutes per page for complex pages and less than that for simple ones. That includes validating the code, using the Firefox Developers Toolbar by Chris Pederick to run a bunch of quick check s on the page, and manually inspecting the code. I then include all of my findings and recommendations in a detailed report. It starts to go pretty quickly once you are in the groove of things.

I think that a good accessibility audit will:
* identify the guidelines that are being violated
* where problems occur in the site
* what the effect is on users
* how to fix the problems

Julian, I like that you are emphasizing educating the client. That is crucial if you want them to make any difficult changes that you recommend. The more you can make them understand the cost and benefits of accessibility the better off you will be.

As for estimating the time to fix the problems you find, you are reducing it by providing detailed recommendations. However, I think that until you have an understanding of how drastic the changes are that must be made, whether they are semantic or syntactic changes, and how they will be made (templates, hand coding, etc.) it is impossible to give even a rough estimate of how long fixing the problems will take. Things like page size and number of pages will also have a big impact on the estimate.

I hope that this helps out a bit.

Regards,
-Kevin Hall

-----Original Message-----
From: julian.rickards [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2004 9:17 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Cost of Web accessibility, yet again


I don't think you need even 1 hour per page to do an audit. If you use one
of the browser Accessibility tools for IE or Firefox/Mozilla and with a copy
of the WCAG beside you, you can (1) check for tables, (2) check for
headings, (3) check for deprecated tags, (4) run an HTML &amp; CSS validator,
(5) disable styles, (6) highlight images without alt, (7) disable
JavaScript, (8) replace images with alt text, etc. You can then jot down
notes on compliance against each checkpoint. Once the first page is done,
likely, the same types of mistakes are made in the rest of the pages and you
can do faster checks with the rest of them. For example, if the company logo
graphic has an alt attribute of alt="logo.gif, 15kb", you can assume that
all pages do the same: check a couple to confirm this.

In many cases, web pages are built from the same template so mistakes made
at the outset are carried through. Once you have spent an hour or so on the
first page, you can check several more to see if they do the same thing.

I don't think you would have to specify that Page abc.html needs the data
table fixed but Page def.html has no data tables. If you have to fix a data
table in one page, even if only 10% of the pages use data tables, you have
to fix them so I would identify that as a "to fix" item in the audit. It may
be that some pages use features not found on others and by the time you have
reviewed the whole site (perhaps even before you review every page on the
site), you may have identified an error with every checkpoint in WCAG 1.0
(at whatever priority level you or the client decides upon) but not every
error may occur on every page.

I suspect that 2-3 hours may be sufficient to review the whole site and
another hour to write a report.

Another thing to consider is not to identify how to fix the errors but
instead identify the checkpoint that isn't met and what it means to
accessibility. For example "Proper data table structure enables screen
reader users to associate data with the headings. For example, in a calendar
table, a screen reader user can stop at the table cell containing the text
Staff Meeting and ask the screen reader to read out the headings for that
cell. The screen reader will read out Tuesday, 10AM and the user will know
that the staff meeting will be held on Tuesday at 10AM. Visual users can
glance to the top cell of the column and read Tuesday and to the left cell
of the row to read 10AM and draw the same conclusions. With proper table
formatting, screen reader software can provide the association of the data
to the headings: without proper table formatting, all of the table content
is just data with no relationship to each other." This type of information
does not tell the client what they should do (providing them with a means to
hire someone else or do it themselves) but it helps them understand how
people who need accessibility benefit from the fix and it justifies the
effort you need to apply to make the fixes. Knowledge is power: if you
provide your client with the knowledge and understanding of how
accessibility benefits the visitors who need it, they will be more willing
to have the work done.

HTH,

Jules

-----------------------------------------------
Julian Rickards
A/Digital Publications Distribution Coordinator
Publication Services Section,
Ministry of Northern Development and Mines,
Vox: 705-670-5608 / Fax: 705-670-5960


-----Original Message-----
From: "glenda"
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> .
com]
Sent: Thursday, October 07, 2004 2:37 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Cost of Web accessibility, yet again



Hi Kevin,

Just to be sure I follow you: that 1-2 hours per webpage is simply for the
audit and report, not any retrofitting, correct? Do you provide an estimate
for the retrofitting / rebuild PRIOR to do the audit?? That is where I'm
stuck: how can one provide a total cost prior to doing the audit?

To be honest, and I hope I'm not publicly destroying my reputation ( or
illusion of reputation ), I'm more into doing the audits than the retrofits.
I don't have the foggiest how long it takes someone to correct the errors I
point out. Is there any way I can obtain that information?

Cheers,
Glenda

-----Original Message-----
From: khall51 [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2004 6:25 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Cost of Web accessibility, yet again



In doing a pile of accessibility reviews in the past few months I've found
that I can quote an audit at about 1-2 hours per HTML page and that includes
a reasonable cushion for meetings, familiarizing yourself with the site, and
anything else involved in the audit process. So a 10 page site would take an
estimated 20 hours and you may get through it in 10 if you're quick or the
pages are small. You can write the report as you go if you have a simple
template set up to record the location, type, and recommendations for the
problems you find.

You should have a good idea of how badly screwed up it is after looking at a
sampling of the pages. I've noticed that developers usually mess up the same
things over and over again. Once you know that you should be able to provide
some better estimates for how long the actual rebuild would take. Until you
look at things like the layout, quality of existing code, use of proper
attributes, use of templates or a CMS system and other site specific factors
your estimate for fixing the site could be off by an order of magnitude.

-Kevin Hall

-----Original Message-----
From: glenda [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 5:33 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Cost of Web accessibility, yet again


Thanks Julian,

To be honest, I prefer doing the audit, which details what needs to be done
and why, and then let "their people" do the grunt work. It avoids the "ok,
could you change this and that too" and then I'm not responsible for any
goof ups. So, in that case, the total costs are out of my hands.

>From my understanding ( I don't drive ), once the mechanic knows what is
wrong, he can give a fairly accurate estimate that that it will cost [in
time or money ] to replace the brake pads, align the tires, whatever -- like
there is a rate list. Is there something like that in web accessibility?
Something I could include in my audit or am I asking for the moon here?

I am thinking of something like:

- include ALT tags @ 30seconds / ALT * 10 = 5 mins
- convert layout table to CSS @ .75hr/"simple" table = 1.5hr
- etc

Of course it would still be an ESTIMATE, but it may comfort business people
having a rough approximation of cost. I am thinking in order to have
business buy into web accessibility, we need to speak business language.
Are we any where close to providing such information? Or is there another
approach I'm missing?

Cheers,
Glenda

-----Original Message-----
From: julian.rickards [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 1:28 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Cost of Web accessibility, yet again



As you said, a mechanic cannot provide an estimate before examining your
car, you can't provide an estimate before you examine their site. However,
recognize that many mechanics will do a very cursory report on the state of
your piece of junk (sorry, thinking of my car at the moment) and produce
just a starting estimate for the work. How many times have you gone in to
get the brake pads changed to be told that your rotors need grinding and
your brake lines are leaking. You could do a cursory audit for free or a
detailed audit for a price.

I personally would recommend that you state the two options and price out
the full audit (as best you can) and then as one aspect of the audit report,
provide an estimate of what it will take to make the site accessible. If you
price the audit and rebuild separately, you can then get paid for the audit,
whether or not they go for the rebuild. You could offer a discount on the
audit if they go for the rebuild as an incentive but that is your call.

Secondly, as you may have seen recently, a number of big name sites have
been reworked to use current standard code such as ESPN and Yahoo!.
Recently, Zeldman (Happy Cog) did a rebuild of the Kansas City Chiefs
website which also involved a bit of a redesign too. Your client may not
want just a rebuild but also a redesign which would entail more time (money)
and effort (money). Therefore, you must spend more time and effort working
out the details of the rebuild so that a rebuild does not turn into a
redesign (without your consent) or that you are properly paid for the
rebuild and redesign.

Just my 2 cents,

Jules

-----------------------------------------------
Julian Rickards
A/Digital Publications Distribution Coordinator
Publication Services Section,
Ministry of Northern Development and Mines,
Vox: 705-670-5608 / Fax: 705-670-5960


-----Original Message-----
From: glenda [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 4:07 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: [WebAIM] Cost of Web accessibility, yet again



Hi all,

A web developer has offered to pitch my services ( Web accessibility
audits ) to his clients. I've prepared a quote to do an audit for one of
his client's sites. However he would like to know the TOTAL COST for making
a site accessible. I understand business needs to know the bottom line
before undertaking a project. But, in my mind, there are determining
factors: level of accessibility adopted [this will be totally voluntary on
their part], site size and complexity, when accessibility will be
implemented [new site or retrofit an existing site], is training in Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [or equivalent accessible guidelines]
necessary, etc.

Asking the TOTAL cost before I complete the audit, to me, is like asking a
car mechanic how much repairs will cost before the mechanic even knows what
is wrong with the car.

In order to satisfy, as much as possible, the business need to know the
bottom line before proceeding, is there any information out there on the
costs to retrofit a site? For example, adding an ALT takes X Time,
separating structure from presentation takes Y time, etc.

And, of course, I need this information as soon as possible -- like there is
any other time on my watch!

I anxiously await your enlightening feedback.

Cheers,
Glenda
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