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Thread: Difference Between MAS & WCAG
Number of posts in this thread: 7 (In chronological order)
From: james mathu
Date: Tue, Dec 03 2019 1:27AM
Subject: Difference Between MAS & WCAG
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Hi All,
I have a little bit of confusion between MAS (Microsoft Accessibility
Standards) & WCAG. What is the difference between these two and how MAS
different from WCAG?
Can anybody please help me with the clarification.
Thanks,
James
From: John Hicks
Date: Tue, Dec 03 2019 2:09AM
Subject: Re: Difference Between MAS & WCAG
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Hello James
I don't know the details of MAS nor am I sure that I understand your
question (are you asking about what they cover differently or are you
asking about what is their origin?).
I reckon that the starting point is to contemplate the difference between
Microsoft and the W3C. The purpose of each entity is totally different.
Then there is the origin of their "standards" which in the case of the W3C
come from committed but generally unpaid people contributing to working
groups and building a consensual (mostly) series of recommendations.
I am interested to know more about MAS ... and would be curious as to
whether or not EDGE on Windows 10 was "MAS conformant"
(it certainly wasn't accessible).
John
Le mar. 3 déc. 2019 Ã 09:26, james mathu < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > a
écrit :
> Hi All,
>
> I have a little bit of confusion between MAS (Microsoft Accessibility
> Standards) & WCAG. What is the difference between these two and how MAS
> different from WCAG?
>
> Can anybody please help me with the clarification.
>
> Thanks,
> James
> > > > >
From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Tue, Dec 03 2019 5:48AM
Subject: Re: Difference Between MAS & WCAG
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Without knowing much about MAS, the general diffeence between WCAG and
platform standards is that WCAG is technology agnostic (well, it is
somewhat web based, but it tries to be technology agnostic) whereas
platform standards are more focused on the exact implementation.
In other words, WCAG describes the goal, platform standards often
describe how to achieve that goal.
For instance, WCAG 1.1.1 says all informational images must hvae a
text alternative.
In HTML you use an alt attribute on an <img> element
In SVG you use the <title> element
For unicode images and emoticons you use role="img" and the aria-label attribute
On iOS you use the image trait and accessiblityLabel
On Android you use contentDescription and so on.
So providing text alternative for images is the goal, the goal is set
by WCAG, achieving that goal depends on the platfrom and technology
you are using, that's typically where platform standards come into
play.
Sometimes platform standards either do not address all of WCAG or go
beyond WCAG and make additional requirements.
That's where accessibility experts need to understand the standard,
understand WCAG and make a judgment call on how to deal with the
inconsistencies.
On 12/3/19, John Hicks < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Hello James
> I don't know the details of MAS nor am I sure that I understand your
> question (are you asking about what they cover differently or are you
> asking about what is their origin?).
>
> I reckon that the starting point is to contemplate the difference between
> Microsoft and the W3C. The purpose of each entity is totally different.
>
> Then there is the origin of their "standards" which in the case of the W3C
> come from committed but generally unpaid people contributing to working
> groups and building a consensual (mostly) series of recommendations.
>
> I am interested to know more about MAS ... and would be curious as to
> whether or not EDGE on Windows 10 was "MAS conformant"
> (it certainly wasn't accessible).
>
> John
>
> Le mar. 3 déc. 2019 Ã 09:26, james mathu < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > a
> écrit :
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I have a little bit of confusion between MAS (Microsoft Accessibility
>> Standards) & WCAG. What is the difference between these two and how MAS
>> different from WCAG?
>>
>> Can anybody please help me with the clarification.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> James
>> >> >> >> >>
> > > > >
--
Work hard. Have fun. Make history.
From: L Snider
Date: Tue, Dec 03 2019 7:34AM
Subject: Re: Difference Between MAS & WCAG
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From my understanding of the MAS, which could be wrong, it was made for
them internally, but they can also be used externally. They are based on
- EN 301 549
- U.S. Section 508
- WCAG 2.1 (ISO/IEC 40500)
In my view, EN 301 goes further than WCAG with its Functional Performance
Statements, but most of it is based on WCAG, same as the revised Section
508.
I believe that they are trying to make people aware of accessibility with
the MAS in terms of policymakers, in my view Government focused policy
makers
https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/accessibility/accessibility-standards-for-policymakers
Cheers
Lisa
On Tue, Dec 3, 2019 at 4:26 AM james mathu < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I have a little bit of confusion between MAS (Microsoft Accessibility
> Standards) & WCAG. What is the difference between these two and how MAS
> different from WCAG?
>
> Can anybody please help me with the clarification.
>
> Thanks,
> James
> > > > >
From: james mathu
Date: Wed, Dec 25 2019 9:27PM
Subject: Re: Difference Between ADA and WCAG
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Hi All,
Happy Christmas happy,
Need Help on this :
I knew that WCAG is an International Standards for Web Accessibility
if someone asks I need ADA compliance for his application, how can I
convince him that WCAG has more coverage of accessibility standards. And I
read that ADA adopted WCAG.
Please help me with this by supporting some evidence.
Thanks,
James
From: Andrews, David B (DEED)
Date: Thu, Dec 26 2019 6:46AM
Subject: Re: Difference Between ADA and WCAG
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You may be confusing the ADA with Section 508 of the Rehab Act. Technically speaking, the ADA does not cover the web. The Justice Department has said you should act like it does, and that they are going to change the rules -- but they haven't yet. Some courts have ruled that the ADA covers the web, others have not.
Dave
From: Jonathan Avila
Date: Thu, Dec 26 2019 9:05AM
Subject: Re: Difference Between ADA and WCAG
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Hi James, generally when people are speaking of the ADA conformance of websites they are referring to a functional test -- can a person with a disability access the information and enjoy the benefits and services of that website including information, services and any related physical aspects of a business -- such as store hours, location, contact information, coupons, purchasing products, booking a room, looking up information, etc. As David mentioned -- the ADA does not have specific technical standards for accessibility although the US Department of Justice has said the ADA does apply as written to websites. It has also said that the WCAG standards are not the only method to conform -- there is flexibility -- and that if you don't conform to WCAG it doesn't necessarily mean you don't conform to the ADA.
https://www.adatitleiii.com/2018/10/doj-says-failure-to-comply-with-web-accessibility-guidelines-is-not-necessarily-a-violation-of-the-ada/
Most demand letters, settlements and a limited number of decisions (because most settle out of court) have indicated that the WCAG 2 A and AA criteria need to be followed -- although sometimes the emphasis is on conformance to a specific group of people such as in terms of conformance for the blind or visually impaired.
Jonathan
Jonathan Avila, CPWA
Chief Accessibility Officer
Level Access
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