Web Accessibility and Drupal

This presentation will provide a background of the Federal complaint that the NYSED has received. It will also give a brief overview of the resolution agreement, and the NYSED’s plan for remediating the accessibility issues. He’ll then review some of the resources, a few browser add-ons, and the Drupal WYSIWYG configuration.

Transcript

1. Web Accessibility and Drupal New York State Education Department Emdad Ahmed emdad.ahmed@nysed.gov
2. Background • Over 350 complaints were filed with US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) about inaccessible school district and state education department websites • OCR has opened up 120 investigations as a result • In May, 2016 OCR filed a complaint against NYSED, alleging discrimination based disability because of website inaccessibility • In June, 2016 NYSED Counsel responded to OCR and in August, 2016 NYSED has signed a resolution agreement with OCR
3. What the Resolution Required? • Identifying technical standard for NYSED accessibility • Identifying and posting contact information for NYSED Website Accessibility Coordinator • Developing Corrective Action and New Content Plans • OCR reporting requirements • Initial and periodic accessibility training
4. Accessibility Remediation • Complete an initial audit(assessment) of all NYSED websites for accessibility compliance o Existing static website o Drupal sites o Applications • Develop and implement the Corrective Action Plan o Remediate inaccessible content • Make static site content accessible (i.e. Word, PDF files) • Update NYSED applications for accessibility compliance o Redesign website to Drupal, ensuring content meets accessibility standards
5. Accessibility Implementation • Ensures all new content posted on NYSED websites is accessible o Develop procedures to direct that all NYSED websites and applications are accessible and that accessibility is verified prior to live posting o Procedures to provide for accessibility reviews using industry standard tools o Procedures to provide for initial and annual training for all NYSED content creators, editors, distributors
6. Execution of Plan • NYSED will execute both the Corrective Action Plans and the Plan for New Content • NYSED will report progress to OCR, including providing appropriate documentation on progress, issues, complaints, and actions taken to address issues and complaints • NYSED will certify with OCR that all its websites comply with the technical requirements set forth in its Accessibility Policy
7. OCR Complaint Resolution • Project Structure o Department-wide impact o Two Sponsors • Legal Sponsor • Technical Sponsor o Project Manager o Technical Lead o Program Office site teams: Lead by webmaster for each program office
8. Responsibilities • Legal o NYSED agreement with OCR o Provide guidance and feedback to Technical team • Project Manager o Develop and execute Remediation and Implementation to develop Corrective Action Plan, and Plan for New Content. o Update or create project management documentation, including business case, scope statement, project schedule, communications plan, risk and issue management o Lead and coordinate the work of the Accessibility Core Technical Team • Accessibility Core Technical Team o Input to assist with development of Corrective Action Plan, Plan for New Content • Technical Lead and ITS o Establish and Communicate Accessibility Standards o Identify industry-standard tools o Provide guidance and input for Remediation o Support execution of the Implementation o Arrange an Accessibility Training o Execution of Audit and Training Components of Implementation Plan o Provide Guidance and Support to Website Remediation Plan
9. Immediate Next Steps • Technical Lead o Ensure Accessibility Policies are up to date and available o Identify tool(s) to test for accessibility • Website Team Leads (Webmasters) o Stop posting of inaccessible content. Identify current practices that have led to inaccessible websites and eliminate or re-design them o Assess websites and estimate level of effort for remediation o Commence remediation efforts on existing content, do not wait for an agreement to be finalized
10. Project Organization Guiding Principles • Everyone involved in the project has a role to play in and a responsibility for its successful completion • Team leaders have the responsibility and authority to manage the project work of their team members • Communication is encouraged and critical to success. Permission to work together, communicate, and collaborate within the project team is to be assumed
11. Technical Guiding Principles • Remediation focus on either: o Redesigning website to Drupal with accessible content, along with making current content accessible, or o If previously migrated, remediate current Drupal websites with accessible content
12. Lessons Learned • Workbench, Workbench Moderation, and Workbench Access • TB Mega Menu vs. Superfish • Configuring CKEditor (Filtered HTML vs. Full HTML) • Drupal Paragraphs Module
13. Developer Tools • Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (WAVE) • NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) Software • Broken Link checker • Web Accessibility Initiative – Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI – ARIA) Validator • Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool List • Java Accessibility API • Web Accessibility Checker (.NET Application)
14. Resources • Introduction to Web Accessibility • Accessibility in Microsoft Office 2010 • Accessibility features in Office 2016 • Make Accessible PDF Files with Adobe Acrobat XI Pro • Create Accessible PDFs Using Microsoft Office • PDF Accessibility – Acrobat and Accessibility • Using the Acrobat XI Pro Accessibility Checker • PDF Techniques for WCAG 2.0 • Understanding WCAG 2.0 • How to Meet WCAG 2.0 • WCAG 2.0 Level AA Standards • Tools and Best Practices in Drupal
15. Questions? emdad.ahmed@nysed.gov