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Re: Check of an Accessibility Statement

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From: Paul Bohman
Date: Jun 10, 2005 3:29PM

Lisa Snider wrote:
> I have created an accessibility statement for my site ...
> http://gaccin.pair.com/ghosty/accessibility.htm
> I wanted to get some feedback on it. ...

I have mixed feelings about accessibility statements in general. If a
site has one, it informs users that the developers have at least thought
of accessibility, which is a good thing. It also (usually) contains a
statement about the level of accessibility compliance or conformance,
such as "Meets WCAG 1.0 Level 1 Accessibility Guidelines" or "Section
508 compliant" or something along those lines. That let's the user know
how far you went in your attempt, which can be helpful. And for sites
that use access keys (for better or worse) this is an appropriate place
to explain what those keys are.

However, many users will not click on a link to an accessibility
statement because users typically go to sites for other reasons.
The implication is that users may not ever read any instructions
intended for them (e.g. how to use this site, which shortcuts are for
accesskeys, etc.). All of the explaining that you do will never be read.

Of course, you could say that if users don't read them it's their own
fault. Well, sort of.

Long accessibility statements resemble product warranties and software
license agreements: they're sort of informative if you actually read
them, but there's a lot of extra information that readers almost never
read, and don't really care much about.

Personally, I would keep it as short as possible. Maybe you could just
say that the site meets Level 2 of WCAG and certain elements of level 3,
as you do on the bottom of the page. If nothing else, this information
should be at or near the top of the page.

If you feel you must include the extra information, either put it after
the conformance declaration, or else provide a link to a "detailed
accessibility statement," or something to that effect.

I have never personally placed an accessibility statement on any of my
sites, though I have considered doing so. So far, I haven't felt the
need to. Hopefully, the sites I create will simply work when people with
disabilities access them, without me telling them that I've tried to
make it work for them.

I don't know. I go back and forth. Accessibility statements increase
visibility for accessibility issues, which is great. At the same time,
it seems a little condescending to me, even though it's not meant to be.
It calls attention to the fact that people with disabilities have
special needs and that Web developers must put in extra effort to
accommodate them.

I'm interested to hear what others have to think about accessibility
statements

--
Paul Bohman
Director of Training Products and Services
WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind)
www.webaim.org
Utah State University
www.usu.edu