Techniques for More Efficient WCAG Website Testing - CSUN 20202. © 2020 Optum, Inc. All rights reserved. Confidential property of Optum. Do not distribute or reproduce without express permission from Optum. 2
Meet the speaker
My Super Power
• UX developer & designer experience back to 1984
Education & Experience
• Full-time accessibility professional since 2013
First exposure & experiences go back to 2002
• W3C Invited Expert on Role-based Accessibility
Related Presentation
Introducing ARRM: A Framework to Fight Accessibility
Apathy
With Denis Boudreau (remote), Sean Kelly, Jenn Chadwick
Tomorrow @ 8:00AM, Platinum 3-4 (not Grand D)
Bill Tyler
Principal Digital
Accessibility Engineer
btyler@optum.com
@billtyler
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Approach & techniques used at UnitedHealth Group for WCAG testing
• Optum Technology Accessibility Center of Excellence (A11y CoE)
• 6+ yrs. of ongoing accessibility testing research & analysis
• Applied to 200+ UnitedHealth Group (UHG) products
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0
15
30
45
Staff size before, during & after take-off
11
31
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Growth and change over past 6+ years
• Primary practice in UnitedHealth Group (UHG), Optum and UnitedHealthcare (UHC)
• Started December 2013 with 2 people (including me!)
• Through internal mergers and restructuring grew to 10 people (including managers)
• Summer 2016 (Take-off): Complete assessments on 200+ products
− Increased 300%: 11 to 31 over 6 months
• Starting 2018 transitioned to consulting, governance, separate UHC digital accessibility
program (DAP)
• Today: Maturing of Optum A11y CoE (40) and UHC DAP (5)
But still growing!
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WCAG 2.1 summary
WCAG: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines from the W3C
4 (POUR) Principles
• Perceivable – 4 guidelines
• Operable – 5 guidelines
• Understandable – 3 guidelines
• Robust – 1 guideline
78 success criteria across 3 levels
• A – 30 criteria
• AA – 20 criteria
• AAA – 28 criteria
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WCAG 2.1 conformance
Target: WCAG AA
• WCAG 2.0 (2008)
− 38 (A & AA) criteria
− Current US Section 508 (and many others, including most existing legal cases)
• WCAG 2.1 (2018)
− 50 (A & AA) criteria
− Started in EU (EN 301 549) some organizations such as University of Minnesota
− UHG / ACoE Standard as of January 1, 2019
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WCAG is great for learning and organizing…
…but ”one size does not fit all.”
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WCAG off the rack is not really useful for testing
Principles – single-word abstractions
• Great for organizing, but not for testing
Guidelines – goals
• Elaborate on principles, but do not add much detail
Success Criteria – testable requirements!
• Targets to be met
• Basis for conformance
• But the text is still not checklist or checkpoints
− Understanding documents includes situations, techniques, failures, and more
13. What did we do?
Bespoke checklists
Custom tailor WCAG to our needs
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Bespoke
Adjective [BRITISH]
made for a particular customer or user.
"a bespoke suit"
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Why bespoke (custom tailored) checklists? – Before take-off
No budget, but lots of time
• First couple years we had the luxury of time to prepare
− We knew what was coming
• With no budget for off-the-shelf tools we had to build our own checklist
• Excel was the tool of choice
− Standard issue
− Basic database operations
− Sorting
− Filtering
− Import/Export
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Why bespoke (or custom) checklists? – After take-off
Little budget, no time, and nothing fit properly
• Had to build and adapt on the fly using the tools at hand
• Rapid ramp up (from ~3 to 200+ products) left little time for new tools
− Time needed to hire people,
− Not evaluate, buy, deploy and start using new tools
• Still limited budget, especially for size of organization
• Off-the-shelf tools were not viable
− Incomplete automation and coverage
− Concerns about fitting and integration into the future
− UHG’s size and number of products were at a scale beyond most tools
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Bespoke checklist benefits
• Tailored – explicitly to enterprise needs
• Integrated – into existing corporate tools and processes
− Import from automated testing tool
− Export to Governance Risk Compliance (GRC) application
• Optimized – for changing accessibility program requirements
• Control – multibillion dollar companies don’t like risk
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Downsides? Many
• Time to build
• Cost and resources
• Support and maintenance
Not for everyone, but the lessons and techniques can still be useful
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Checklist v1.0: One checkpoint per success criterion
Too small
• Obvious, logical mapping for 38 checkpoints (WCAG 2.0)
• 1:1 relationship ensured full coverage for WCAG conformance (and VPATs)
• Didn’t have many projects so it seemed acceptable initially
Problem: WCAG’s variable success criteria complexity
• Many criteria are much more detailed than others
• SC1.1.1 Non-Text Content ≠ SC3.1.1 Language of Page
• Often too broad, covering multiple different cases
• SC1.3.1 Info and Relationships: covers forms, labels, tables, groupings, lists, etc.
• Often difficult to describe effectively to other roles (developers, designers, authors)
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Checklist v2.0 – One checkpoint for each sub-case (in success criteria)
Too large and cumbersome
• Understanding documents for each criteria provide the real details useful for testing
• One for each situation – standard WCAG building blocks
• Add other sub-cases such from success criterion text as needed (requirements, options)
• Added our best practices and priorities
• Checkpoint potential count of 113, but started with 84 at take-off
Problems: Duplication, overlap, confusion, extra work
• Examples
− SC1.1.1 Non-Text Content went from 1 to 11 checkpoints
− Multiple references to required attributes
• Example: SC1.3.1 Info and Relationships, SC3.3.2 Labels or Instructions
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Checklist v3.0: Reviewed, revised, rewritten, reduced
Custom tailored to our needs
• Reviewed all 84 checkpoints
• Revised and rewritten for clarity based on experience of growing team
• Merged checkpoints to remove duplication and overlap
• Removed checkpoints mapped into new versions for continuity
− Still at least one per success criterion to ensure WCAG AA conformance testing
• Reduced count by 22 from 84 to 62 (26%)
− WCAG 2.1 (2019) added 15 making current count 76
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WCAG principles and guidelines are for accessibility professionals
They do not work well for product testing
• Accessibility topics are not familiar to business owners, designers, authors, developers
− Some terminology is
• Particularly obscure (time-based media)
• Vague or not actionable (adaptable, robust, compatible)
• Difficult to find
− Do not align with roles or features (forms, layout, presentation, semantics)
− Some topics span success criteria, guidelines and principles
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Custom groupings
Group checkpoints for your audience and their needs
• Size to audience needs
− Fewer, simpler groupings for stakeholders (8 categories)
− More detailed groupings for testers (10-11 test groups)
• Organize by subjects
− Functional: keyboard operation, forms, tables
− Role: presentation, content and semantics, programming
• Structure to meet needs of product types
− Emphasize key functions (error prevention and handling)
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Custom groupings
Benefits
• Use groups appropriate for testing and reporting needs
− Test using groups optimized for assessments
− Create stakeholder reports using more meaningful categories
• Filter by topic (display all the table-related or image checkpoints)
− Easier search – no need to memorize guidelines or criteria
• Filtering allows easier “batch setting” of values for videos, forms, tables
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Custom groupings
Test groups for accessibility engineers (WCAG 2.1)
1. Keyboard / Input
2. Mobile
3. Navigation
4. Forms
5. Tables
6. Images
7. Presentation
8. Semantics
9. Content
10. Code
11. Time-Based Media (TBM)
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WCAG order is a jumble
Principles, guidelines, criteria order are good for learning, but…
• WCAG order is inefficient for testing
− SC1.1.1 Non-text Content GL1.2 “Video” SC1.3.1 Info and Relationships
SC1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence SC1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics
• Must switch testing modes and techniques or constantly jump back and forth
− SC1.3.1 Info and Relationships GL3.3 Input Assistance
• Critical issues come later
− SC2.1.1 Keyboard Operation is the 21st criterion of WCAG 2.1, A & AA only
− WCAG 2.0 order wasn’t great, WCAG 2.1 made it worse
− New criteria added after originals, starting over with level A
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Custom sort orders
Create a logical sequence for needs and efficiency
• Prioritize group order
− Common, critical groups first (such as keyboard, navigation, forms)
− Less critical later (time-based media)
• Start with showstoppers to confirm testing can proceed
− Example: focus keyboard operation keyboard trap
• Sort checkpoints within groups to follow more efficient testing protocol
− Example: content images images of text complex images decorative images
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Checkpoint numbering tips
Encoding IDs
• Mandatory IDs – row numbers become meaningless after sorting
• Unique IDs for each checkpoint – duplicates will get out of order after multiple sorting
• Extra digits – for consistent sorting of multiple checkpoints to a criterion or sub-case
• Base on WCAG – provides quick reliable default WCAG order
• Leading zeroes – for GL1.4 – 1.4.01 or 1.401
− If not, they never sort into to the expected WCAG order
• 1.4.1
• 1.4.10 …
• 1.4.13
• 1.4.2
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A, AA and AAA don’t work well for testing
WCAG AA isn’t very meaningful for prioritizing checkpoints
It’s really all one group (all A & AA)
• AAA (usually) not included
• Does anyone target Level A conformance?
A and AA are too broad for processes like Agile
• Severity scales typically have four levels
− Example: MoSCoW method – Must / Should / Could / Won’t
• Which are showstoppers? blockers? major or more minor barriers to use?
− SC2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap = SC4.1.1 Parsing? Both are Level A
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Custom severity levels
Sample levels
• Critical Showstoppers or blockers to site access, operation and testing
• High Could be very challenging to overcome, impossible for most
• Medium May be very frustrating or time consuming for all
• Low Might have significant impact for many
Benefits
• Not forced to WCAG levels (Example: raise SC2.4.7 Visible Focus from AA to Critical)
• Align to product and project needs (like minimum viable or accessible product)
• Write so they cannot be optional (must include only)
• Align and reference by WCAG levels as needed
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WCAG options
WCAG version
• v2.0 – only
• v2.1 – complete (2.0 and 2.1)
• v2.1 – supplement (new 2.1 checkpoints only)
WCAG level indicators
• A – only
• AA – only
• AA – conformance (A & AA)
• AAA – if applicable (A & AA & AAA)
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WCAG options (cont.)
The Four POUR Principles
• P – Perceivable
• O – Operable
• U – Understandable
• R – Robust
Could include Guidelines
• 1.1 Text Alternatives
• 1.2 Time-based Media
• 1.3 Adaptable
• …
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Custom checkpoints can be distributed by skill
Optimizing work to screen reader and visual testers
Custom checkpoints can be tailored and grouped based upon skills
• Screen Reader Tester / SRT AT expert using screen reader
• Visual Assistant / VA User working relying on vision, not AT
Filtering allows clear, consistent work assignments
• SRT Screen Reader Tester preferred
• EitherScreen Reader Tester or Visual Assistant can perform equally well
• Dual Both should test (AT experience very different from visual)
• VA Visual Assistant preferred (usually for efficiency)
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Map checkpoints to non-WCAG standards
Section 508 (1998 or “pre-refresh”)
• § 1194.21 Software Applications and Operating Systems
− 12 criteria (a) – (l)
• § 1194.22 Web-based Intranet and Internet Information and Applications
− 16 criteria (a) - (p)
• § 1194.24 Video or Multimedia Products
− 5 criteria (a) – (e)
And possibly transition to future standards like AG (WCAG 3.0)
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Other information for reports
• Additional options can be added for checkpoints and reports to communicate benefits
Example: “Affects users who are…” [blind, low vision, deaf, cognitively impaired, etc.]
• Accessibility tools for testing
List of tools to test checkpoint – useful for developers and designers
References links to standards and resources
• Roles
List of roles that may own the issue or should be consulted about the checkpoint
− Example: color contrast issues (SC1.4.2) likely belong to visual designer
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You can and must support all WCAG
• Success criteria
• Guidelines
• Principles
• Conformance
• Reporting (VPAT)
How you get there is up to you.
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Custom tailor WCAG to your needs with bespoke checklists
• Success Criteria Checkpoints
− Create as many as appropriate with minimum of 1 for each criterion
− Structure using Understand Documents (leveraging situations, options, best practices, etc.)
• Principles and Guidelines Groupings
− Tailor and size them to needs (and vocabulary) of target audiences
• Numbering Sort order
− Encode IDs so they provide consistent, helpful, efficient sequences for testing
• Level Indicators Severity levels
− Prioritize to needs of testing and delivered product
• Other details as needed
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