Engineering Village is a comprehensive research database for engineers. We share our approach to accessibility along with recent user research and an accessible research dashboard. Presented by Elsevier Ted Gies and Jay Nemchik.

1. March 13, 2019
Ted Gies
Jay Nemchik
Heather Singleton
CSUN 2019
Accessibility in the Engineering Village
accessibility@elsevier.com

2. • About Elsevier and Engineering Village
• Maturing accessibility over time
• Today’s collaborative process
• Example user study findings
• Customer Inquiries
• Highcharts Demo
• Q&A

3. About Engineering
Village
Heather Singleton, Sr UX Specialist
h.singleton@elsevier.com

4. Engineering Village – the first choice of engineers
Academics, government institutions, business researchers, and practicing
engineers gain an immediate advantage with access to today's most authoritative
engineering research, with enhanced user features, that provide deep insight into
published engineering work and related disciplines.
Engineering Village offers access to 12 engineering literature and patent
databases providing coverage from a wide range of trusted engineering sources. The
databases have been carefully selected to provide both breadth as well as depth of
content.

5. 12 Years Maturing our Process
One A11y
Person in
the Village​
• First VPAT created for CSU customer​
• Lack of defined process
A11y gets
Important​
• Customers really want accessible databases​
• UX Lead liaises between Ally, Dev, and Product Management​
• Product director A11y Agrees to go for it!​
A thriving
Village​
• A11y Team /Dev weekly​
• Adoption of WCAG 2.0 Level AA​
• Full A11y service package​
• Annual VPAT Reviews​
• Usability Testing (AT Users)​
Village
expands
• Welcome Pendo!​
• Accessible Highcharts
• Updates to Sales, Marketing, Dev, UX, QE​
• Achieved 0 WCAG 2.0 AA ‘Does not Support’
2008
2011
2017
2018

6. Feature lifecycle... it takes a village!
For updates or new features, our user experience team works closely with customers and internal experts to ensure
accessible design. Our product management team makes accessibility a priority when consulting with the user
experience group to make decisions on features, while our engineering team strives to correctly implement features
based on accessibility standards.
Feature
UX &
Testing
Product
Mgt.
Development
Customers

7. Overall process... continuous
Development Implementation Evaluation
Update Consultation Production
Yearly VPAT evaluation

8. Process and
Accessibility Service
Package
Jay Nemchik, UX Specialist II
j.nemchik@elsevier.com

9. Start of Engineering Village A11y Work
• New visual redesign of Engineering Village was implemented.
• Redesign was a good time to fully embrace accessibility.
• Incremental remediation began.
• Accessibility user testing.

10. User Testing – Screen Reader Users
• Gathered 6 users to participate in user testing. Two low vision users
and four blind users.
− Good consensus overall for the tasks.
− Many of the concerns and barriers brought up during testing end up being items the
accessibility team was already aware of.
− Still beneficial to perform user testing despite issues that may exist.
− Keyboard operability with custom dropdowns – affirmation of the no-brainer issues.
− Expected keyboard interaction with links vs buttons – issues that may only come up
in user testing.
− Show value in testing with users at all phases.
Example Dropdown:

11. User Testing – Low Vision Users
• The in-person session was very valuable, as it was our first time
doing a user session in-person with a low vision user.
− Content spaced far apart.
− Labels far away from their input fields.
− No responsive view.
− If something was happening on a different part of the screen, it was difficult to notice
when zoomed in so much.

12. VPAT and Continued Process
• User testing completed and feedback was incorporated into
remediation meetings.
• VPAT completion a month later.
• Continuous improvement throughout 2018 and VPAT revision saw a
noticeable improvement.
− No WCAG 2.0 AA fails.

13. 2017 2019Jun Aug Oct Dec Feb Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec
Responding to Customer Inquiries
Weekly Issue Remediation
Site
Rebrand
VPAT
Deque
Review
Jay
IAAP
3rd Party
Collab
Alexa Training
Complete
Global Header
Reviews
VPAT
Revision
Service
Package
Support
Page
Present
Reports
Competitive
Analysis
Meet with
3rd Party
Fix List
Initial
Review
User
Testing

14. 2017 2019Jun Aug Oct Dec Feb Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec
Responding to Customer Inquiries
Weekly Issue Remediation
Site
Rebrand
VPAT
User
Testing
Deque
Review
Jay
IAAP
3rd Party
Collab
Alexa Training
Complete
Global Header
Reviews
VPAT
Revision
Service
Package
Support
Page
Present
Reports
Competitive
Analysis
Meet with
3rd Party
Fix List
Initial
Review
No major
issues found
0 WCAG
2.0 Fails

15. Service Package
(Separate job from weekly remediation work).
The individual parts of our service package attempts to address potential
business needs.
1. VPAT
2. Fix List
3. Scorecard
4. Support Page
5. Remediation Form

16. VPAT
“Where does the product
stand on 508
compliance?”
- Customer

17. Fix List
“Where do we start with
all of these issues?”
- Developer

18. Scorecard
“Overall, how are we
doing?”
– Product manager
Executive
Summary –
Pitch on the
general state of
a11y and
comparison to
previous years.

19. Support Page
“What is the product’s
statement on Accessibility?”
– Customer /
Procurement

20. Remediation Form
“What is the roadmap for
implementing accessibility
fixes?”
– Customer

21. Future Potential Additions – Competitor Analysis?
“How does the product
compare to other similar
products?”
– Customer /
Product Manager

22. 19.03.2019
CUSTOMER INQUIRIES
Ted Gies, UX Lead Specialist
ted.gies@elsevier.com

23. Customer Accessibility Questions
• Does Elsevier have an accessibility statement?
• Do you have a VPAT?
• Do you have a timeline for full compliance?
• Are there workarounds?
• Would your team be willing to meet with our accessibility team?
• Can you demo compatibility with a screen reader?
• Are your textbooks available in an accessible format?

24. Accessibility in License Language
“Licensor represents and warrants that the
Licensed Products comply with the
accessibility guidelines of Section 508 and
(WCAG 2.0 Level AA), Furthermore,
Licensor agrees to promptly respond to
and resolve any complaint regarding
accessibility of the Licensed Products
which is brought to its attention.”
“I am gathering 508 Compliance
Policies for our Institution and I
have not found anything about it on
Elsevier's website. Would you
please provide Elsevier's 508
Compliance Policy?”
‘Contractually obligated to fix’‘Check the Box’
2011 2018
TOFROM
Big 10 Library Standardized Terms

25. Customer Response Strategy Using Enablement Tools
Prioritize Long Queue
Outcomes
Ability to prioritize
Management funding
License Language (Ts & Cs)
Need
Agreements signed
Build Trust Decrease risk of policy violations
Goodwill
Learn from customer
Enablement Tools
Customer Inquiry Spreadsheet
Revenue at stake/perceived risk
Elsevier standardized language
Accessibility expert talking to sales
Honest, quality VPATs
Company Policy/Statement
Accessibility Statement
Calls with external A11y team
Compliance Questions More Active
Better relationship
Accessibility@Elsevier.com
VPAT Updated Annually
Remediation Form

26. Conclusions
• Engineering Village has integrated accessibility into virtually every aspect of
development including 3rd party content providers.
• It takes a “Village” to make it all happen, not just 1 person can do it all.
• We continue to improve the product with several channels of feedback
including (user testing, Big 10 library audits, Higher Ed a11y groups).
• Our open and collaborative approach has led to several big wins, including
keeping strategic customers and achieving 0 WCAG 2.0 AA Does not Support.
• Customers appreciate our honest, open approach to VPAT documents and
continuous improvement.
• 3rd Party content is also accessible due to friendly collaboration

27. EV Working With 3rd Parties
Elsevier Product Owner 3rd Party Product Manager Champ
Pushes vendor as a
product priority
Asks for roadmaps
Shares VPAT/Audit
Adds to monthly
agenda call
Connects Tech/PM with
Elsevier A11y Team

28. Engineering School Profile – Highcharts demo
Engineering School Profile on EV

29. Links and Resources
• Elsevier Accessibility Checklist
http://romeo.elsevier.com/accessibility_checklist/
• Engineering Village
https://www.engineeringvillage.com
• Engineering Village Accessibility Statement and VPAT
https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/engineering-village/features/accessibility
• RELX Group Accessibility Policy https://www.relx.com/~/media/Files/R/RELX-
Group/documents/responsibility/policies/accessibility-policy-2019.pdf
• Highcharts Accessibility Module
https://www.highcharts.com/docs/chart-concepts/accessibility
accessibility@elsevier.com