[WG: Accessibility] FW: Sakai Accessibility Goals

[Richwine, Brian L]

Here are the ideas Eli and have working on...



From: Eli Cochran [mailto:eli at media.berkeley.edu]
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2009 1:48 PM
To: Richwine, Brian L
Cc: Eli Cochran
Subject: Re: Sakai Accessibility Goals



Brian,

I think that this is brilliant. Thank you so much. (Sorry for the late reply.)



I have a few comments inline.



- Eli



On Nov 18, 2009, at 9:25 AM, Richwine, Brian L wrote:





Hello Eli,



I didn't want the two weeks since the last Accessibility Working Group teleconference go by without making some effort towards developing Sakai's Accessibility Goals.



I struggled a bit on how to get started, and eventually decided to write something like the ideal accessibility statement I could envision the Sakai Foundation publishing about Sakai. I figure that if that existed as a guiding vision, then the accessibility goals could be more easily derived.



I looked at accessibility statements from similar level projects (Desire2Learn, Moodle, Blackboard, etc.) and then searched for other guiding documents like the National Center on Disability and Access to Education's Best Practice Indicators for Institutional Web Accessibility and the IMS Guidelines for Developing Accessible Learning Applications.



I think of the accessibility goals as being broad statements that voice support for the philosophy and inclusive nature of accessible design principals, the standards being embraced, and includes reference to the process/plan and its implementation.



I envision that the following all work together:

*         An Accessibility Statement

*         The Accessibility Goals

*         An Accessibility Plan

*         Documents needed for and supporting the plan (Guidelines, checklists, protocols, documentation, etc.)

*         A Process for Implementation of the Plan

*         Progress evaluation

*         Results Assessment and Reporting



This is right on. I don't know if we have time to produce all of this, but for Sakai 3, we should hit each of these milestones.





 I'm not a copywriter or have much experience at determining policy statements, but just wanted to make a try at capturing some  ideas and working towards writing them into goals. Here is the 'ideal' accessibility statement I have so far:



Consistent with our goal to make Sakai the most innovative and powerful Collaboration and Learning Environment, the Sakai Foundation is committed to making Sakai's features accessible and available to all. It only makes sense that in designing Sakai, a tool with communication and collaboration features that open the teaching and learning experience to the entire world, that the Sakai Community is keeping accessibility constantly in mind.



This is the right idea. As much as we understand what "accessibility" is, in a policy statement I think that we need to introduce the term. Our introduction is also a way to hit briefly on the reality that people of different abilities exist and that they need special support.





The Sakai Community is designing Sakai to high standards of accessibility, exceeding necessary legislative requirements (such as Section 508 in the USA). To maintain this standard, Sakai implements accessibility design principals found in recognized international standards. We are working towards having Sakai meet all of the relevant WCAG 2.0 Level A Success Criteria, while striving to meet WCAG 2.0 Level AAA compliance and the relevant parts of the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines(ATAG).





This is good but is going to scare some folks.



Besides meeting and complying with the accessibility standards, the Sakai Community is going further to ensure Sakai's design is usable and accessible to all. By keeping up with emerging standards and best practice design techniques (such as the WAI-ARIA Suite), the Sakai Community is ensuring Sakai will work with existing and emerging assistive technologies. To keep accessibility principals in the minds of the developers, accessibility guidelines and checklists are available for easy reference.  Access to accessibility experts in the Sakai community is available through the Sakai Accessibility Working Group. Every tool in the Sakai product undergoes several usability and accessibility evaluations throughout the design process to make sure it not only meets the accessibility design principals found in the standards, but also that it is both useable and functionally accessible. The results of the Sakai accessibility evaluation efforts are available that show Sakai's current accessibility. Accessible documentation for Sakai administrators and end-users alike is available on maintaining and using Sakai's accessibility features.



This last paragraph talks about what we are planning to do as if we have done it. We should rephrase at this point.



Sorry this is so brief, I wanted to get it to you before the meeting.



- Eli







I want to get your feedback before putting much more time into this, so I don't travel too far down a path that isn't in line with what you are thinking. Is this going anywhere you were expecting?



Sincerely,

  -Brian Richwine





Brian Richwine

Adaptive Technology Support Specialist

Adaptive Technology and Accessibility Centers

Indiana University - Bloomington/Indianapolis

http://iuadapts.indiana.edu

(812) 856-4112





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Eli Cochran

user interaction developer

ETS, UC Berkeley







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