1. The document describes a framework called A211y that was developed to help integrate accessibility (A11y) into an agile development process. 2. A211y assigns each success criterion of the WCAG 2.0 guidelines to specific agile team roles based on who is primarily responsible or impacted. 3. It provides a "squeegee" - translating each criterion into a simple format of "whose, what, and where" to make the criteria easier for each role to understand and implement.

1. A211Y AN EXPLORATION INTO ACCESSIBILITY, AGILE & WCAG 2.0
BILL TYLER
INTERACTIVE DESIGN SERVICES
OPTUM TECHNOLOGY
UXPA-MN 9.OCTOBER.2014

2. Before we start…

3. About this prezo…

4. More input

OPINIONS

OBSERVATIONS

OPPORTUNITIES

5. AGENDA
BACKGROUND
•
About me
•
Accessibility: Usual Process
A211Y
•Foundation: WCAG 2.0 & Roles
•Squeegee: Whose, What & Where?
•Process
•Examples
•Q&A

6. ABOUT ME
Bill Tyler

7. ABOUT ME
Programmer by formal education
(long, long ago)

8. ABOUT ME
30+ years of UI/UX Design & Development
Seminal Event: SIGGRAPH ‘84

9. ABOUT ME
12+ years in medical devices
12+ years in plans & providers
2X dot-com survivor
Started web 1996
Started accessibility 2002
Material presented represents
9+ months research & analysis at Optum Technology
UxPA-MN since 2002

10. NOW ON WITH THE SHOW…

11. A11Y
Accessibility
11 Letters

12. ACCESSIBILITY IS…
the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility can be viewed as the "ability to access" and benefit from some system or entity. The concept often focuses on people with disabilities or special needs (such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) and their right of access, enabling the use of assistive technology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility

13. ACCESSIBILITY AFFECTS A PERSON NEAR YOU
About 1 in 5 Americans have one or more diagnosed psychological or physical disabilities

14. LIVE LONG ENOUGH AND
YOU
will be “disabled” in some way

15. A11Y TODAY

16. A11Y: USUAL PROCESS
NO ONE THINKS ABOUT ACCESSIBILITY …except the accessibility expert
OFTEN A FINAL REVIEW BY AN A11Y EXPERT …or QA test pass
ALL ISSUES DIRECTED TO DEVELOPERS TO FIX
FINAL RESULTS OFTEN NOT AS ACCESSIBLE AS DESIRED

17. A11Y: MISUNDERSTANDING
ACCESSIBILITY IS NOT
•
A LAST PASS
•
A FEATURE
•
A “MYSTERIOUS” PROCESS
•
“SPECIAL CODE”
•
“MAGIC PIXIE DUST”
•
LIMITED TO JUST ONE ROLE

18. A11Y: POSITIONING
LIKE USABILITY…
ACCESSIBILITY SHOULD BE BUILT-IN AT THE START
…& NOT AN AFTERTHOUGHT

19. WHY
IS A11Y SO HARD?

20. THE PROBLEM IS
CHOICE

21. OR… THE PROBLEMS ARE
CHOICES

22. ALL THE LITTLE DESIGN CHOICES…
MADE WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING A11Y ISSUES & CRITERIA…

23. CAN LEAD TO
INACCESSIBLE WEBSITES

24. UNLIKE USABILITY
THERE ARE FORMAL CRITERIA & GUIDELINES THAT MUST BE MET INCLUDING U.S. LAW

25. IMAGINE JAKOB’S RULES AS
ACTUAL LAWS

26. A11Y, WCAG 2.0, SECT. 508 STILL APPLY
EVEN IF YOU DON’T KNOW OR DO ANYTHING ABOUT THEM

27. NOT CONSCIOUSLY OR ACTIVELY MAKING A11Y CHOICES
DELEGATES THOSE DECISIONS TO CHANCE OR DEVELOPERS

28. SO…
HOW TO CHOOSE?

29. THERE WERE
STEPS

30. 1.
RESEARCH GUIDELINES

31. 2.
ASK QUESTIONS

32. 3.
FOLLOW THE ANSWERS

33. 4.
ANALYZE RESULTS

34. 5.
REPEAT UNTIL INSIGHT

35. A211Y
OUR SOLUTION:

36. A211y
Assigned
Accessibility
11 Letters

37. A211y
Assigned
Accessibility
Using WCAG 2.0

38. A211Y IN A NUTSHELL:
ASSIGN EACH WCAG SUCCESS CRITERION TO APROPRIATE TEAM ROLES

39. A211Y: APPROACH
EDUCATE TEAM MEMBERS ON HOW THEIR CHOICES IMPACT A11Y
BY ROLE, NOT “GENERICALLY”
•
Train ONLY issues important for each role
•
Includes things they “own (or impact) but don’t know they own”

40. A211Y: APPROACH
UTILIZE EXISTING EXPERTISE OF TEAM MEMBERS
THEY ALREADY KNOW MUCH OF WHAT IS NEEDED

41. A211Y: APPROACH
MAXIMIZE A11Y EXPERTISE
MINIMIZE ADDITIONAL A11Y STAFF REQUIRED

42. A211Y: GOALS
REDUCE TIME REQUIRED TO DELIVER ACCESSIBLE PRODUCTS
•
Prevent issues before they happen
•
Identify & resolve them as early as possible
IMPROVE OVERALL ACCESSIBILITY MEETING (EXCEEDING) GUIDELINES

43. A211Y FOUNDATION
WCAG 2.0

44. WCAG 2.0
Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines
Version 2.0

45. A11Y: WCAG 2.0
WEB CONTENT ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES v2.0
•
International Standard from W3C (Worldwide Web Consortium)
•
Covers Sect. 508 – U.S. Government Standard
•
Both now (1998) and future (2015?) versions
•
Used and/or referenced by many other countries
STRUCTURE
•
4 Principles
•
12 Guidelines
•
61 Success Criteria (SC or “Crits”)
•
3 Levels from A (lowest) to AAA (highest)
•
Hundreds of Techniques
More on WCAG 2.0: http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/

46. WE WCAG2.0

47. WCAG 2.0 IS…
TECHNOLOGY & METHODOLOGY NEUTRAL

48. WCAG 2.0 TECHNOLOGY NEUTRAL
CHOOSE INTERNET TECHNOLOGY:
•
HTML / CSS / JavaScript
•
Flash
•
PDF
•
ASCII Text
•
Silverlight
•
Client or Server-side

49. WCAG 2.0 METHODOLOGY NEUTRAL
BOTH
DEVELOPMENT& DESIGN

50. METHODOLOGY NEUTRAL: DEVELOPMENT APPROACHES
•
AGILE (OUR CHOICE)
•
ITERATIVE
•
WATERFALL
•
[ YOUR APPROACH ]

51. METHODOLOGY NEUTRAL: A11Y SOLUTIONS
•
A WEB FOR EVERYONE
•
INCLUSIVE DESIGN
•
UNIVERSAL DESIGN
•
USER-CENTERED DESIGN
•
[ YOUR APPROACH ]

52. A11Y HOLISTIC SOLUTIONS: SARAH HORTON
A Web for Everyone =
WCAG
+ Universal Design
+ Design Thinking

53. A11Y HOLISTIC SOLUTIONS: ME (BILL TYLER)
A11Y =
USABILITY
+ (MORE) USER TYPES

54. A11Y HOLISTIC SOLUTIONS:
USE WHAT WORKS FOR YOU & YOUR SITE(S)
YOU CAN STILL USE A211Y

55. A211Y FOUNDATION
ASSIGN THE 38 A & AA CRITS
23 AAA – OPTIONAL
•
Many worth adding, but not required

56. A211Y FOUNDATION
ASSIGN THE 38 A & AA CRITS TO…

57. A211Y FOUNDATION
AGILE TEAM ROLES

58. A211Y: THE SEVEN AGILE ROLES
0. A11Y SPECIALIST
1. BUSINESS OWNER
2. INTERACTION (IX) DESIGNER
3. VISUAL (VX) DESIGNER
4. CONTENT AUTHOR
5. DEVELOPER
6. QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA) TESTER
Note: YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary)
•There may not be 1:1 relationship between roles & people.
•One person may have multiple roles; one role may be split amongst multiple people

59. A211Y: 0. A11Y SPECIALIST
•
A11Y SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT (SME)
•
A11Y INSTRUCTOR
•
RESOURCE TO ANSWER “DIFFICULT” A11Y QUESTIONS
•
A11Y TESTER

60. A211Y: 1. BUSINESS OWNER
•
STANDARD AGILE ROLE
•
PROJECT INITIATOR
•
REQUIREMENTS DEFINER
•
RESULT APPROVER

61. A211Y: 2. INTERACTION (IX) DESIGNER
•
BUSINESS LIAISON
•
REQUIREMENT TRANSLATOR
•
WIREFRAME CREATOR
•
USABILITY EXPERT - LIKELY FIRST LINE OF A11Y DEFENSE

62. A211Y: 3. VISUAL (VX) DESIGNER
•
PRESENTATION OWNER
•
STYLE EXPERT
•
LAYOUT CREATOR
•
BRAND & DESIGN ENFORCER
•
STYLE GUIDE AUTHOR
•
COMP ARTIST
•
IMAGE FILE PRODUCER

63. A211Y: 4. CONTENT AUTHOR
•
AUTHOR OF ALL TEXT “LARGE & SMALL”
•
LARGE: PAGES OF TEXT
•
SMALL: WORDS OR LABELS
•
PROOFREADER
•
INCLUDES TIME-BASED (MULTIMEDIA) CONTENT – AUDIO & VIDEO
•
SCRIPT WRITER
•
AUDIO & VIDEO FILE CREATOR

64. A211Y: 5. DEVELOPER
•
PROGRAMMER, CODER
•
LAST STOP BEFORE TESTING
•
PRIMARY TARGET FOR ALL DEFECTS

65. A211Y: 6. QA TESTER
•
DISCOVERER OF PROBLEMS
•
WRITER OF DEFECTS
•
ENFORCER OF QUALITY
•
LAST STOP BEFORE RELEASE
•
NOT PART OF DESIGN PROCESS

66. A211Y FOUNDATION
ASSIGNING CRITS TO ROLES

67. A211Y: MEET THE “SQUEEGEE”

68. A211Y: SQUEEGEE DEFINED
SQUEEGEE?
•
“De-Mystifying criteria”
•
“The Skinny”
•
Translate WCAG to something each role understands

69. A211Y: SQUEEGEE IS THE…
WHOSE, WHAT & WHERE
OF WCAG CRITERIA

70. A211Y: SQUEEGEE QUESTION 1
WHOSE IS IT?
WHO “OWNS” EACH CRITERION
& RELATED ISSUES?

71. A211Y: SQUEEGEE QUESTION 2
WHAT IS IT?
(WHAT IS IT REALLY?)
IS IT “NEW” TO ROLE OWNER?
SHORT ANSWER IS (usually): NO.

72. A211Y: SQUEEGEE QUESTION 3
WHERE IS IT COMING IN?
WHAT DESIGN DECISIONS
OR DELIVERABLES “INTRODUCE” IT?

73. ANALYSIS &
RESULTS

74. A211Y: SQUEEGEE QUESTION 1
WHOSE IS IT?
DEFINE OWNERSHIP

75. A211Y: WHOSE IS IT? SQUEEGEE: OWNERSHIP DEFINED
PRIMARY OWNERSHIP
The Role with most concern/expertise on subject
- One and only one
SECONDARY OWNERSHIP
Role(s) with major influence on criterion
CONTRIBUTOR (IMPACT)
Roles that affect indirectly or are not deeply involved

76. A211Y: WHOSE IS IT? EXAMPLE: COLOR
PRIMARY OWNERSHIP
Vx Designer has final say on color selection
SECONDARY OWNERSHIP
IX Designer’s wireframes use colors
CONTRIBUTOR
Business Owner brand guidelines provide palette

77. A211Y: WHOSE IS IT? SQUEEGEE: OWNERSHIP RESULTS
PRIMARY OWNERSHIP
IX Designer: 37% (14)
Content Author: 24% (9)
Developer: 21% (8)
Vx Designer: 16% (6)
Business Owner: 3% (1)

78. A211Y: SQUEEGEE QUESTION 2
WHAT IS IT REALLY ?
DEFINE TYPES

79. A211Y: WHAT IS IT REALLY? SQUEEGEE: TYPES DEFINED
USER STORIES / STANDARD REQUIREMENTS
•
Team members already DO these
•
Nothing changes (at all)
•
Except, maybe, some details
BEST PRACTICES
•
Team members probably already know and do them
•
May just need to revise or apply more of them
PRIMARILY A11Y
•
Team members may not know these
•
A11y Experts train them to help fill in the gaps

80. A211Y: WHAT IS IT REALLY? SQUEEGEE: TYPE RESULTS
PRIMARY TYPES
Best Practices: 53% (20)
User Stories: 8% (3)
Primarily A11y: 39% (15)

81. WHERE IS IT COMING IN?
DEFINE ENTRY POINT
A211Y: SQUEEGEE QUESTION 3

82. A211Y: WHERE IS IT COMING IN? SQUEEGEE: ENTRY POINTS DEFINED
USER STORY / STANDARD REQUIREMENTS
•
Definition of functionality
WIREFRAMES
•
Structure of interface
STYLE GUIDES
•
General site presentation
DESIGN COMPS
•
Feature presentation design
CONTENT
•
Text (small & large), terminology, video, audio
CODE
•
HTML, CSS, JavaScript

83. A211Y: WHERE IS IT COMING IN? SQUEEGEE: ENTRY POINT RESULTS
PRIMARY INTRODUCTION POINTS
User Story/Standard Req.: 24% (9)
Wireframes: 50% (19)
Style Guide: 18% (7)
Design Comps: “0%”
Content: 2% (1)
Code: 5% (2)

84. A11Y: CURRENT PROCESS
Issues wait until the end (QA or A11y Testing)
Issues assigned to Developer to resolve
Owners often unaware of issues or resolution
Often owners repeat decision (so it happens again)
Note: For simplicity, flow diagrams appear to show a “waterfall” approach. In Agile this would have more parallel and concurrent paths
QA / A11y Testing
Developers
Content Author
Visual (Vx) Designer
Interaction (IX) Designer
Business Owner

85. A211Y: BASIC PROCESS
Issues wait until the end (QA or A11y Testing)
Issues assigned to primary owner
•
Where they belong
•
To those who created the issue
•
To those who know & care more about the decision
QA / A11y Testing
Developers
Content Author
Visual (Vx) Designer
Interaction (IX) Designer
Business Owner

86. A211Y: IDEAL PROCESS
In the ideal process issues resolved earlier by owners during design
Owners more aware of issues & standards
More “pairs of eyes” aware of potential issues kicking deliverable back to owners
Fewer issues make it to testing
QA / A11y Testing
Developers
Content Author
Visual (Vx) Designer
Interaction (IX) Designer
Business Owner

87. A211Y: SPRINT PROCESS
Style Guide: Address system-wide design issues (visual, interaction, content, implementation)
Epic & User Stories (& backlog): Create & Groom to adequately address a11y needs & requirements
Wireframes & User Stories (Requirements):
“Design in” accessible interactions
Design Comps: Review (against style guide) to prevent inaccessible presentation
Review text & non-text content appropriateness, technical barriers and level of distraction
Review code and interfaces for technical implementation issues & possible accessibility barriers

88. A211Y: SQUEEGEE: OTHER INFO
FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE
•
Every page
•
Often
•
Rare
•
“Never”
ESCALATION TO A11Y SME
SCOPE
•
Core / Common (site-wide)
•
Page / Feature
•
Content (CMS)
DESIGN ELEMENTS AFFECTED
•Visual Design
•Semantics
•Forms
•Keyboard / Control
•Standards
•Design Patterns
•Content
•Time-Based Media (video, audio)
HOW IMPLEMENTED
•Content
•(Code) Libraries
•Page Templates
•HTML
•CSS

89. A211Y: SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE
BUSINESS OWNERS
•
Product owner with final say on everything
IX DESIGNERS
•
Interaction owner and usability expert defining operation
VX DESIGNERS
•
Presentation owner of colors, fonts, images & layout
CONTENT AUTHORS
•
Wordsmith responsible for all content, text, audio & video
DEVELOPERS
•
Code owner & debugger (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)

90. A211Y: SQUEEGEE EXAMPLES

91. A211Y EXAMPLE: SC 1.3.3 SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS
EXAMPLE: “Press the green button on the right”
PRIMARY OWNER: Content Author
SECONDARY OWNER(S): None
CONTRIBUTOR(S): None
TYPE: A11y, “Best Practice”
ENTRY POINT: Content
NOTES:
•Rare instance of single owner, no secondary owner or contributor
•Example of a “Never” event

92. A211Y EXAMPLE: SC 2.2.1 TIMING ADJUSTABLE
EXAMPLE: “Session timeout in 2 minutes.
Do you want to continue? Yes / No”
PRIMARY OWNER: Business Owner
SECONDARY OWNER(S): IX Designer
CONTRIBUTOR(S): None
TYPE: Standard Requirements
ENTRY POINT: User Story / Requirements
NOTES:
•Business Owner’s only primary ownership criterion
•Rare Standard Requirement case

93. A211Y EXAMPLE: SC 2.4.5 MULTIPLE WAYS
EXAMPLE: Search, Site Map & Tree navigation
PRIMARY OWNER: IX Designer
SECONDARY OWNER(S): None
CONTRIBUTOR(S): None
TYPE: Best Practice, Standard Feature
ENTRY POINT: Wireframes (primary), Long Content
NOTES:
•One of several IX Designer-only primary criteria

94. A211Y EXAMPLE: SC 1.4.3 COLOR CONTRAST
EXAMPLE: “Blue on light blue”
PRIMARY OWNER: Vx Designer
SECONDARY OWNER(S): None
CONTRIBUTOR(S): Business Owner (Branding)
TYPE: A11y (possibly best practice)
ENTRY POINT(S): Style Guide (primary), Comps
NOTES:
•One of several Vx Designer primary ownership crits
•Vx Designer has no secondary ownership

95. A211Y EXAMPLE: SC 4.1.2 NAME, ROLE, VALUE
EXAMPLE: “Cool (RIA) Widgets”
PRIMARY OWNER: Developer
SECONDARY OWNER(S): IX Designer
CONTRIBUTOR(S): None
TYPE: Best Practices, A11y
ENTRY POINT(S): Code (primary), Wireframes
NOTES:
•Developer is primary since implementation is critical and IX Designer may not provide all details
•IX Designer should identify key field properties

96. SO…
TO
SUMMARIZE

97. A211Y:
ASSIGNS EACH WCAG SUCCESS CRITERION TO APROPRIATE TEAM ROLES

98. A211Y:
EDUCATES each role on a11y
UTILIZES each role’s expertise
MAXIMIZES use of a11y SME
“DESIGN IN” a11y early & often

99. A211Y:
SQUEEGEE
Demystify each WCAG criterion with 3 questions

100. A211Y: 1. WHOSE IS IT? SQUEEGEE: OWNERSHIP
3 Levels
PRIMARY OWNERSHIP
SECONDARY OWNERSHIP
CONTRIBUTOR (IMPACT)
PRIMARY OWNERSHIP
IX Designer: 37% (14)
Content Author: 24% (9)
Developer: 21% (8)
Vx Designer: 16% (6)
Business Owner: 3% (1)

101. A211Y: WHAT IS IT REALLY? SQUEEGEE: TYPE
Best Practices: 53% (20)
User Stories: 8% (3)
Primarily A11y: 39% (15)

102. A211Y: WHERE IS IT COMING IN? SQUEEGEE: ENTRY POINT
User Story/Standard Req.: 24% (9)
Wireframes: 50% (19)
Style Guide: 18% (7)
Comps: “0%”
Content: 2% (1)
Code: 5% (2)

103. MORE TO COME
STAY TUNED…

104. Q&A BILL@BILLTYLER.NET @BILLTYLER
THANK YOU