Linking research & learning technologies through standards

The Technical Standards for Digital Education project’s accessibility activity was primarily focused on investigating the potential impact of new web accessibility guidelines on schools sector e-learning content.  In December 2008, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) released a new version of the de facto international standard for web accessibility called Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0). In response, the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) in consultation with The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) undertook a consultation process with government departments during 2009 in preparation for a transition to WCAG 2.0 as a government requirement for web content. A transition timetable was released in 2010.

The implementation of the new accessibility requirements should bring benefits for learners accessing web and e-learning content in schools. However, there will need to be support provided to web content developers, teachers and IT staff in order to facilitate the transition.

Within this context, the aim of our accessibility work was as follows:

• Build capability and assist the schools sector to understand the potential impact, challenges and opportunities WCAG 2.0 could present for the Australian schools sector
• Provide advice to DEEWR relating to AGIMO WCAG 2.0 consultations

In collaboration with a dedicated focus group, we investigated potential implications, current trends and barriers to accessibility of web content. In addition, the activity converted some existing e-learning content to comply to WCAG 2.0 requirements to gain a practical understanding of the potential challenges. All of these findings as well as recommendations for further action for Australian governments have been documented in the final report.

Whilst we still need to wait for the Australian Human Rights Commission’s (AHRC) advice and the Australian Government Information Management Office’s (AGIMO) Transition Strategy on adopting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.0 (WCAG 2.0), the vocational education and training sector (VET) has been considering the specific implications for e-learning content development and use.

In VET we’ve been looking at WCAG 2.0 within the context of current content creation processes and practices so that we can estimate the likely effect of transitioning to 2.0.  In 2009, the group responsible for ratification of technical standards for use in the VET sector, the E-standards Expert Group (EEG), commissioned Roger Hudson to undertake an evaluation of WCAG 2.0 and the requirements for transitioning from current processes and practice to meet WCAG 2.0.

The resulting report identified that migration from WCAG 1.0 to WCAG 2.0 is likely to be relatively straightforward for content creators who understand WCAG 1.0 (although there may be more complexity where there is accessibility-supported use of some technologies) and allowed the EEG to make a submission to AGIMO on behalf of the sector (an initial recommendation of WCAG 2.0 Level AA with accessibility supported use of Flash, JavaScript and PDF for development of new content).

Significantly, the research also highlighted gaps in content creator basic understanding of accessibility and correspondingly WCAG 1.0. Whilst this was a not  unexpected result, given that a significant amount of the content is produced by teachers who are not web professionals, it may mean that the migration to WCAG 2.0 would be less straight-forward than we’d hope.  It also means that in VET, like the other education sectors, we need to recognise that there is a large back-catalogue of uncompliant content.

Identifying and recognising that the challenge for the VET sector is not just content creators understanding WCAG 2.0 has meant that we have not been hamstrung while the government  and AHRC discuss where they’ll go with WCAG 2.0.  We are now certain that content creators need not only the technical knowledge that will allow them to successfully build accessible content, but also an understanding of why they need to make content accessible from the perspective of legality and equity.

While AGIMO transition plan is being formulated and AHRC are considering their stance we’ll be working to increase the knowledge, skill-level and understanding of VET content creators  so that they have the capacity to build accessible content regardless of of the technology.   We hope that between now and 2012 we can equip VET content creators with the skills to make use of the extensive supporting documentation for WCAG 2.0 and that they can benefit from the  more readily testable techniques and examples of what will satisfy the success criteria.

We’ll also be following up with AGIMO and AHRC and feeding information about the volume of educational content that already exists into the transition discussions, in the hope that the scope of the strategy will take into account  the scale of maintenance and the work effort that would be required if the requirements were to be applied retrospectively.

After considerable deliberation the Australian Government has endorsed adherence to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.0 (WCAG  2.0) for all government websites. This decision supersedes the previous mandate for compliance with WCAG 1.0 Level A checkpoints. The initial announcement came via ministerial press release on February 23, 2010 and the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO), who’ve been managing the WCAG 2.0 evaluation and transition planning, amended the accessibility section of the Web Publishing Guide the following day:

Government agencies will transition to WCAG 2.0 over a four year period, reaching level Single A within two years, and Double A within four years. A Transition Strategy will outline the process for implementation, and will address scope and inclusion issues. The Transition Strategy will be made available on the Web Publishing Guide in July 2010.

Agencies are reminded that it is still a requirement to publish an alternative to all PDF documents (preference for HTML or RTF). Advice on the accessibility support of PDF documents will be made available at the conclusion of the PDF Accessibility Review Project, due early 2010.”

AGIMO’s announcement brings some clarity to the application of WCAG 2.0 for government materials and mandates a higher level of adherence than the government was previously mooted to be considering (and in doing so is likely to benefit a greater number of users) but a number of questions remain in terms of the breadth of the AGIMO transition strategy, who they’ll consult and the position of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

We’re still in a situation where we need to predict the actions of AHRC, but as the AGIMO WCAG 2.0 position is closer in spirit to the interim WCAG 1.0 position of AHRC, it’s reasonable to assume that the level of conformance advocated by AHRC is not likely to be any less than that endorsed by AGIMO. The forthcoming completion of the PDF review and the Web Publishing Guide update provide a basis upon which to anticipate that AHRC will make a statement about WCAG 2.0 in the near future, so the next few months will be a key time for interested parties to participate in transition discussions and look out for announcements.

With Australian interest in the release of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.0 (WCAG 2.0), web accessibility has emerged as a hot topic for 2009/2010. The Link Affiliates team are planning a series of blog posts from a range of interested parties on the topic of web accessibility to find out what’s happening in Australian education.

This series kicks off with a brief overview of the WCAG 2.0 specification and Australian government web accessibility requirements from Kristena Gladman. Kristena works at e-Works where she has coordinated an investigation into the impact of WCAG 2.0 on the Vocational Education and Training Sector. She has also previously worked on the Curriculum Corporation’s “The Learning Federation” project.

Accessibility can be loosely defined as the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is readily available to all users. Accessible web design should ensure that all users can access the content regardless of their location, experience or type of computer technology – particularly users with disabilities.  Web content designed without consideration of accessibility will often have access issues for people with disabilities or technological limitations.  Whilst accessibility of web content is often aligned with catering to disabled users there are significant benefits for the majority of users if content is accessible.

The need for web accessibility is recognised internationally in United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In Australia the provision of accessible web content, like equitable access to buildings, education, employment, public transport and goods and services, is covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) which is administered by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

In practice, these provisions mean that the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a requirement, particularly for publicly funded web content.
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As referred to in an earlier post, Link Affiliates is working this year on supporting the Digital Education Revolution, through the Technical Standards for Digital Education project. A large part of the activities includes the establishment of Focus Groups, which have been established for 6 of the 7 activities. Each Focus Group consists of representatives from various jurisdictions within the education sector – primarily schools-based representatives, but also including some representatives from the VET sector. Different groups may also include people from other relevant organisations including government organisations.

So far we have identified three main purposes for the Focus Groups:

1. Members bringing their own expertise and experience into the group to share
2. Members acting as conduits back into their own organisations for the information that comes out of the Focus Group meetings
3. Members utilising their own linkages (eg professional networks) to disseminate the information that comes out of group meetings, as well as utilising these linkages to bring further information into the group.

Each Focus Group operates a little differently from the others, based on the requirements of that activity. Initial meetings of most Focus Groups were held in August 2009, and regular meetings will continue to be held throughout the duration of the project until June 2010. The first meetings of the various Focus Groups have been very positive, and much discussion emerged on various topics. It also became apparent in a few of the groups that many of the members were delighted to have such a forum on which to discuss these pertinent matters with other members of their profession who, being in a variety of jurisdictions and organisations, were able to provide new perspectives. The Focus Groups are also making use of Edna groups in the form of wikis and forums to support group communication.

The Focus Groups are expected to help in providing a couple of important outputs for the Technical Standards for Digital Education project. Firstly, each Focus Group will provide input into a Briefing Paper which has initially been created in draft by Link Affiliates, but will eventually be an output of the whole group. This Briefing Paper will provide a snap shot of the state-of-play for each of the activities, and will benefit greatly from such a wide range of input from group members. In turn, it is hoped that the Briefing Papers will be of benefit to the education sector, providing resources for the sector as well The papers are a work-in-progress, and are expected to be completed by June 2010.

Secondly, the Focus Groups provide a medium for cross-jurisdictional and cross-organisational discussion regarding the various activities, ranging from the new WCAG2.0 guidelines and their impact upon content creation for the sector, to supporting schools in the use of ‘safe’ Web2.0 content, to looking at the interoperability challenges for e-portfolios in the Australian schools sector, to name just a few. It is expected that this melding of experiences from each group member will also result in members being able to take away something positive from their participation – something that can be taken back to each jurisdiction and organisation involved and assist in supporting the development of these key areas within the sector.