Video: What is WCAG?


  • August 10, 2018
  • /   Renea Dumas
  • /   Accessibility
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Transcript:

[music]

0:12: Hi I’m Savannah Eades and I am a web accessibility specialist for DigiPro Media

0:17: today we’ll be talking about the web content accessibility guidelines also

0:21: known as WCAG and why they are the accepted international standards for web

0:25: accessibility. The web content accessibility guidelines also known as

0:32: WCAG is a set of technical guidelines for coders to make sure that their

0:36: website or app is accessible to everyone including those with disabilities. One in

0:44: five Americans currently have some form of disability whether that be cognitive

0:48: mobility based, hearing, or vision-related and that affects the way they use

0:52: technology. These guidelines were developed by W3C or the World Wide Web

1:00: Consortium for an international community of member organizations

1:04: full-time staff and public work together to ensure the long-term growth of the world wide web

1:17: Web content generally refers to all the information on a web page such as the

1:21: text images, documents, and the code that defines the structure and presentation

1:22: of the web page. Of all the websites you see on the web, less than 1% are designed

1:29: with accessibility in mind. This violates users with disabilities

1:32: rights to equal access to products and services under title 3 of the Americans

1:37: with Disabilities Act or the A.D.A, it also means a loss of revenue for organizations

1:42: that overlook this critical need.

1:46: In order for your website to be accessible WCAG has 4 design principles in 

1:51: place the first one is perceivable. Users must be able to receive the information

1:58: based on your website, for example, if a color-blind person goes on your website

2:03: and information is only perceived through color then you’re not following the

2:07: perceivable principle of WCAG

2:12: The second design principle is Operable. Your website can’t require any

2:16: action that a user can’t perform. For example, a lot of booking calendars on

2:20: websites are inaccessible for someone that is not able to use a keyboard or a

2:24: mouse they have to make sure that their technology can perform with a booking

2:29: calendar to make sure that they can book the dates that they want. The third design

2:35: principle is understandable. Users must be able to comprehend all the 

2:39: information on your website as well as all the operations on it. The fourth and

2:46: last design principle is robust. All the information on your website must be

2:50: robust enough for a wide variety of users to be able to interact with it

2:54: including assistive technology users

2:59: WCAG is also divided into the three levels of conformance A, double-A, triple-

3:04: A based on the level of success criteria that it adheres to. The international

3:09: Organization for Standardization has adopted WCAG 2.0 level double-A as

3:15: their technical standard for web accessibility and its level of

3:18: conformance for which most websites should adhere to

3:23: besides WCAG being the standard for most countries, it also increases the 

3:27: usability for all users and brings more customers to your website. To see if

3:31: your website is WCAG 2.0 level double-A compliant, click the link below if

3:36: you have any questions about web accessibility our team of accessibility

3:39: professionals at DigiPro Media will be happy to answer your inquiries. Thank you

3:43: for watching.