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Number of posts in this thread: 6 (In chronological order)

From: Cohen, Lisa A.
Date: Wed, Aug 15 2001 10:04AM
Subject: Intro and digest question
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Hi Suzanne,
Thanks for the Intro and the info...
To Suzanne and EVERYONE,
I am also trying to develop standards and procedures for web developers, to
meet or exceed the Section 508 requirements for accessibility.
One of the things I am doing is breaking out the 508 requirements by each
impairment or disability, in order to allow those with identifiable disabled
communities to prioritize the accessibility work.
Is this something that you did as well, or did you work with the set of
accessibility requirements as a whole?
Any info or lists of standards beyond the Access Board's and the W3C's would
be MOST welcome. The task of identifying coding standards with so many
variables (different disabilities, browsers, OSs, assistive technology
tools) seems daunting, at best.
Thanks!
Lisa

From: Paul Bohman
Date: Wed, Aug 15 2001 10:24AM
Subject: Re: Intro and digest question
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> Any info or lists of standards beyond the Access Board's and the W3C's
would
> be MOST welcome.
You may have already seen this, but WebAIM has a "Section 508 Checklist"
which provides a more detailed interpretation of what Section 508 says. The
checklist divides the content into "pass" and "file" criteria which is
easier to comply with than the straight Section 508 Guidelines. The WebAIM
checklist can be used by organizations who need a clear-cut way of
determining compliance with Section 508.
HTML format:
http://www.webaim.org/standards/508/checklist
PDF format (much better for printing purposes):
http://www.webaim.org/standards/508/508checklist.pdf
Paul Bohman
Technology Coordinator
WebAIM: Web Accessibility in Mind (www.webaim.org)
Center for Persons with Disabilities (www.cpd.usu.edu)
Utah State University (www.usu.edu)

From: Mark Newhouse
Date: Wed, Aug 15 2001 10:46AM
Subject: Re: Intro and digest question
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on 8/15/01 9:00 AM, Cohen, Lisa A. at = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = wrote:
> I am also trying to develop standards and procedures for web developers, to
> meet or exceed the Section 508 requirements for accessibility.
> One of the things I am doing is breaking out the 508 requirements by each
> impairment or disability, in order to allow those with identifiable disabled
> communities to prioritize the accessibility work.
> Is this something that you did as well, or did you work with the set of
> accessibility requirements as a whole?
I think breaking the requirements down by disability is a useful thing to do
- realizing, of course, that some requirements span more than one
accessibility issue. It helps to reinforce that blindness is not that only
disability we have to design for. But I don't think I would use it to
prioritize accessibility work. Here's why:
1. You need to comply with *all* of the requirements in order
to be compliant. Focusing on one or two disabilities first
may make more work later when you have to go back and fix
an issue for another disability later. Better to put all of
the requirements into your design flow from the beginning.
Of course this is my opinion, things may work differently
for your situation.
2. It is possible, and desirable, to build sites that are
aesthetically pleasing as well as accessible for everyone.
It takes some planning and forethought - which you are
clearly doing - but it can, and should, be done. There are
IMO, few cases where a site's design would require more than
one version of the site. It is a myth that an accessible
site is a bland, text-only site! (I'd be happy to provide
some examples if you'd like).
3. As a result of 1. and 2. above, you will probably want to
develop accessible templates for your designers to start
with, along with a checklist of specific things to keep in
mind when they are creating new content (whether that content
is text, images, audio, video, flash, java, javascript, etc.).
Glad you are thinking about these things!

> Any info or lists of standards beyond the Access Board's and the W3C's would
> be MOST welcome. The task of identifying coding standards with so many
> variables (different disabilities, browsers, OSs, assistive technology
> tools) seems daunting, at best.
It is daunting. Paul already pointed out WebAIM's Section 508 checklist. The
W3C has one as well: http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/full-checklist.html
These tools can help asses where a site is, and what can be done to improve
its accessibility.
WebAIM also provides a "Prototype Standard for Web Accessibility and
Universality" that may be helpful as you develop your own standards
document.
Best,
--Mark Newhouse
Web Designer
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
http://www.noao.edu/
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =

From: Mark Newhouse
Date: Wed, Aug 15 2001 10:52AM
Subject: Re: Intro and digest question
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on 8/15/01 9:43 AM, Mark Newhouse at = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = wrote:
> WebAIM also provides a "Prototype Standard for Web Accessibility and
> Universality" that may be helpful as you develop your own standards document.
And you can find said document at:
http://www.webaim.org/standards/webaim/
--Mark

From: Nancy Swenson
Date: Wed, Aug 15 2001 11:02AM
Subject: Re: Intro and digest question
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Paul,
Is it you that we let know if we are receiving duplicates of all messages in the listserv? If it is not, will you direct me to whomever I should speak to.
Thanks,
Nancy
>>> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = 08/15/01 12:21PM >>>
> Any info or lists of standards beyond the Access Board's and the W3C's
would
> be MOST welcome.
You may have already seen this, but WebAIM has a "Section 508 Checklist"
which provides a more detailed interpretation of what Section 508 says. The
checklist divides the content into "pass" and "file" criteria which is
easier to comply with than the straight Section 508 Guidelines. The WebAIM
checklist can be used by organizations who need a clear-cut way of
determining compliance with Section 508.
HTML format:
http://www.webaim.org/standards/508/checklist
PDF format (much better for printing purposes):
http://www.webaim.org/standards/508/508checklist.pdf
Paul Bohman
Technology Coordinator
WebAIM: Web Accessibility in Mind (www.webaim.org)
Center for Persons with Disabilities (www.cpd.usu.edu)
Utah State University (www.usu.edu)

From: ssims
Date: Wed, Aug 15 2001 1:37PM
Subject: Re: Intro and digest question
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Lisa and all,
We formed a 4 person committee from within our team and we ended up going
in depth with both the 508 and W3C. We pulled out what we liked looking at
the issues from many perpectives, including that of a disabled visitor, and
also from what was really feasible time wise for the team. The end result
was our own checklist. The ITS checklist is based on the 508 and W3C and
includes all of what W3C suggested for priority one, much of what they
suggested for Priority 2 and 3, most of what was in 508 in addition to
approximately 20 items that were not in either 508 or W3C. Some of these
additional items were not really accessibility issues, but just things that
should be done to any web site our team develops.
I realize that is vague, but that's what we did. Hope it helps. Feel free
to email me privately if you have any other questions.

Suzanne
To: "'WebAIM forum'" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
cc:
From: "Cohen, Lisa A." < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Subject: RE: Intro and digest question

Hi Suzanne,
Thanks for the Intro and the info...
To Suzanne and EVERYONE,
I am also trying to develop standards and procedures for web developers, to
meet or exceed the Section 508 requirements for accessibility.
One of the things I am doing is breaking out the 508 requirements by each
impairment or disability, in order to allow those with identifiable
disabled
communities to prioritize the accessibility work.
Is this something that you did as well, or did you work with the set of
accessibility requirements as a whole?
Any info or lists of standards beyond the Access Board's and the W3C's
would
be MOST welcome. The task of identifying coding standards with so many
variables (different disabilities, browsers, OSs, assistive technology
tools) seems daunting, at best.
Thanks!
Lisa