Having It All:
Advanced Web Accessibility at KYVL
Enid Wohlstein, Bryce Fields, & Michael Providenti
Enid Wohlstein
Director
http://www.kyvl.org/
KYVL Partners and Stakeholders
- Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA)
- Kentucky Department of Education including EPSB
- Public Academic Institutions (SAALCK)
- Independent Academic Institutions (AIKCU)
- Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS)
Partners and Stakeholders (cont.)
- Kentucky Adult Education (KYAE)
- Kentucky’s Public Libraries
- Some special libraries, special academic institutions and independent schools/systems
- Kentucky residents, learners, educators – everyone in Kentucky!
KYVL Coordinates and/or Funds:
- Subscriptions to over 40 licensed indexing, abstract and full-text databases.
- Endeavor Consortium for shared library management system.
- Ground courier delivery service.
- Kentuckiana Digital Library.
A Workgroup and a Charge
Fall 2003, ADA Workgroup Charge:
To advise the Kentucky Virtual Library in evaluating the KYVL Web presence for ADA compliance, possibly investigate assistive technology that might be incorporated and assist in implementing changes and enhancements based on ADA guidelines.
Michael Providenti
Web Development Librarian
W. Frank Steely Library
The Framework
- Web Standards! Now!
- XHTML 1.1 (2001)
- WCAG 1.0 (1999)
- CSS2 (1998)
- Web Accessibility! 2 years earlier!
- Workforce Investment Act (1998) revisions to Section 508
- ATBCB guidelines (2001)
- KRS 61.980-988 (2000)
- Compliant Browsers!
- Internet Explorer 6 (2001)
- Netscape 6 (2001)
- Mozilla 1 (2002)
Who Benefits from Standards?
- The 1 in 4 persons in Kentucky who report some form of disability.
- The 1 in 15 people nationwide who report disabilities relating to the eyes or hands.
- Any people using assistive or mobile devices.
Snapshot: September 2003
Sample Kentucky University Library Home Page Accessibility:
| HTML | 508 | A | AA | AAA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EKU | 31 | 1/1 | PASS | 1/1 | 4/19 |
| KSU | 22 | 1/21 | 1/21 | 2/10 | 3/17 |
| Morehead | 257 | 1/5 | 1/4 | 2/61 | 3/16 |
| Murray | 62 | PASS | PASS | 3/38 | 4/22 |
| NKU | PASS | PASS | PASS | PASS | PASS |
| UK | 78 | 1/5 | PASS | 4/48 | 4/22 |
| UofL | 30 | 2/4 | 1/1 | 3/58 | 4/57 |
| WKU | 93 | 2/3 | 1/1 | 3/73 | 3/13 |
| Two years later... | |||||
Source: Michael Providenti, "Library Web Accessibility at Kentucky's 4-Year Degree Granting Colleges and Universities" D-Lib Magazine, September 2004, Volume 10 Number 9.
Snapshot: This Week
| HTML | 508 | A | AA | AAA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EKU | 5 | 1/1 | PASS | 2/2 | 3/19 |
| KSU | 68 | PASS | PASS | 3/71 | 3/40 |
| Morehead | 239 | 2/6 | 1/5 | 3/51 | 3/22 |
| Murray | 2 | PASS | PASS | 2/3 | 2/15 |
| NKU | PASS | PASS | PASS | PASS | PASS |
| UK | 70 | 2/6 | 1/1 | 5/49 | 4/22 |
| UofL | 23 | 2/4 | 1/1 | 3/38 | 4/51 |
| WKU | 86 | 2/4 | 1/2 | 3/40 | 4/13 |
Source: Unpublished data collected September 27, 2005.
Action Plan:
- Follow all standards and guidelines
- Revise HTML document structure
- Add navigational aids:
- accesskeys
- tab order
- menu at page bottom
- Retain current layout (at least for now)
Simplicity ≠ Dull and Boring
Bryce Fields
Webmaster
What's So Bad Anyway?
- Sloppy semantics
- JavaScript driven navigation
- "Old School" table construction
- Poorly implemented image maps
- Spotty use of the
altattribute for images
So How Do You Fix It?
Step 1: The Basics
- Separation of the content, presentation, and behavior layers
- Use valid code: W3C (X)HTML, W3C CSS, and ECMAcript/W3C DOM
- Structured Semantics
So How Do You Fix It?
Step 2: The Techniques
What’s left?
- Migrate from the JavaScript dependency of the menus
- Creation of alternative styles for different media
- The overlooked W3C checkpoints:
- Consistency of presentational style
- The CONTENT!
- Accessibility is not a binary state. It’s a continuum.
Why Accessibility?
If you think about what web accessibility actually
means for someone with a disability, it can mean an immense increase in quality of life.
Paul Bohman, WebAIM