Prioritizing Remediation of Web Accessibility Issues
Written on June 12, 2011
During my career, I’ve performed scores of audits and expert reviews to look at the accessibility of web-based systems (websites, web-based applications, intranets, etc.). Of those, I can count on one hand the number of systems tested that were pre-production. In nearly all cases, the testing was performed on systems that were already released to users. In such a scenario, an organization’s level of risk is at its highest, as people are using the system. Therefore the organization and its developers require sufficiently informative data output from the accessibility testing which is detailed, clear, and actionable. It doesn’t do the client any good to throw them a report filled with a bunch of accessibility violations unless that report also includes information to help them fix their problems. They need to know what their problems are, where their problems are, and how to fix them. There’s also an additional item they need to know: When to fix them.
Not All Accessibility Problems Are Created Equal
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines structures its Success Criteria in terms of “Level”. Success Criterion can be Level A, Level AA, or Level AAA. Unfortunately, their explanation of the [...]