Video: What is WCAG?
- August 10, 2018
- / Renea Dumas
- / Accessibility
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.