People write a lot about web accessibility. We try to collect as many of these items from The Netherlands and abroad. The most striking and interesting we share on our blog every month. This way you do not have to search yourself and you are always aware of what is going on! Therefore here is the web accessibility news of September 2020!
Web accessibility may easily make you think of websites, but it is also important for apps to be accessible. Especially for apps from (semi) government agencies. By law, these must comply with WCAG 2.1 by June 23, 2021. Appt listed 10 points that you should look at. For example, do all your videos already contain subtitles? And can your app also be operated with a keyboard?
Since September 23, all websites of (semi) governmental agencies must comply with the Tijdelijk besluit digitale toegankelijkheid overheid. This means that they must comply with the technical guidelines of WCAG 2.1 and must prepare and publish an accessibility statement. Dutch Cowboys writes that many governments do not yet comply and apparently do not take it so closely when it comes to accessibility. The Register of accessibility statements (in which accessibility statements must be published) shows that 71 percent of the websites do not or hardly comply. The NOS also reports on this subject. A check by two accessibility experts revealed the following: of the 2,000 government websites that were checked whether they comply with the legal requirements for accessibility, only 70 were fully compliant.
Read the article on Dutch Cowboys
Read the article on NOS
The image still prevails that accessibility only helps a few people. In an article on Frankwatching, Yannick Ribbers emphasizes once again that this is certainly not the case. More than 4.5 million Dutch people are challenged. This does not even include people with a temporary challenge due to something like a concussion or broken arm. In his article he gives 5 reasons to prioritize accessibility:
Read the article on Frankwatching
How does accessibility fit into your user experience strategy? David Sloan describes this in an article on The Paciello Group’s blog. First of all, he kicks down an open door: an accessible website improves the user experience of people with challenges. But accessibility also has other effects on user experience. This way team members gain more insight into the various wishes that people may have, including people without a challenge. Processes, resources, and tools are also emerging to help design for a more diverse group of users. In addition, development and testing processes are adapted to manage accessibility. These changes help teams create sustainably better user experiences.
Read the article on The Paciello Group website
Twitter is currently working on a new functionality. From the beginning of 2021, sound clips and videos on Twitter will be automatically subtitled. Good news for the deaf, hard of hearing, and those who cannot hear audio for any other reason. Twitter has also created two new teams to deal with accessibility. Good news!
Read the article on Search Engine Journal
More than 3 million people over 65 live in the Netherlands. In corona time, they could benefit from all the online services that exist today. For practical matters, but also to maintain their social contacts. Unfortunately, research shows that just over half of the elderly do not feel sufficiently digitally skilled. And now that social contacts are limited, they are regularly on their own. In addition, many online services have not been developed with the elderly in mind. How do we ensure that older people can also participate online? In an article on Frankwatching, Anouk Butterlin gives tips.
Read the article on Frankwatching
Recently the online version of Microsoft Word has a transcription function. Do you want to make use of this? Upload an audio file or record the audio directly from Word. You can then convert this into text. The function even recognizes different voices and distinguishes them in the text. Currently, this feature only works in English, but multi-language support is underway.
This was our web accessibility news of September 2020. Want more news? Then also read the web accessibility news of 2020 (June | July | August | October | November | December) and of 2021 (January | February | March | April)!
Web accessibility is no longer something you “someday need to think about”. It’s time to act now. In the Netherlands alone, there are 4.5 million people who currently have difficulty using and understanding the web. This is becoming a growing problem now that so much of our lives take place online. Just think about what you use the internet for. Shopping, arranging government affairs, looking up information, keeping in touch with others … People with challenges also want to do these things. That is why it is important that everyone can participate fully online. The government thinks so too. That is why there is legislation around web accessibility. For example, from September 23 this year, all websites of government agencies must comply with the technical guidelines of WCAG 2.1 by law.
The UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities states that people with challenges must be able to participate fully in society. The Netherlands has signed this treaty. As a result, we have pledged to guarantee the equal treatment of people with challenges in our law.
This Dutch law states that people with challenges should be able to participate just like anyone else. The main points from this law:
Does a website or app not comply with this law? Then you can file a case with The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights.
The European Accessibility Act is a directive for all member states of the European Union. It aims that important services and products are accessible to people with challenges. This includes:
Another important goal is to equalize the accessibility requirements of the different EU countries. This makes the accessibility issue easier for organizations that operate internationally.
The European directive mainly specifies what must be accessible, but does not provide any technical solutions. This allows Member States to give their own interpretation. The Dutch government has translated this into a legal obligation via the Tijdelijk besluit digitale toegankelijkheid overheid.
This Decree stipulates that government websites and (mobile) apps must be accessible to everyone. These will soon have to comply with the technical guidelines of the WCAG 2.1. Government agencies are also required to create and publish an accessibility statement for all their websites and apps. This contains all the measures that the organization takes to make and keep their website or app accessible. This must also include a schedule.
Compliance with the Dutch law is made mandatory in phases:
The above legislation is sufficient for citizens to hold you liable if your website is not accessible. At the moment, there is no strict maintenance, but this will change in the coming years. So we repeat it again: it is time for action!
Would you like to know more about this legislation and how you can comply with it? We are happy to help you
People write a lot about web accessibility. We try to collect as many of these items from The Netherlands and abroad. The most striking and interesting we share on our blog every month. This way you do not have to search yourself and you are always aware of what is going on! Therefore here is the web accessibility news of August 2020!
Last of Us Part II was released in June. This game was developed by Naughty Dog and has been critically acclaimed by the accessibility community. The game offers 60 accessibility settings, allowing the player to fully customize the game to his or her wishes. Never before has players with challenges been so taken into account in the development of a game. The BBC reports on the emotional reactions of a number of players. They indicate that for the first time in their lives they can play a game without barriers.
At the end of last year, Renate Verloop wrote an article about the communication trends for 2020. Now she thought it was time for an update, because corona has caused a lot in the field of communication. One of the trends she mentions is the importance of clear and accessible communication. The corona crisis affects everyone, so the information must also be clear to everyone. The government has started to communicate more easily and accessibility is higher on the agenda.
Read the article on Frankwatching
Digital accessibility remains a challenge for many organizations. Where do you start? Forum Standaardisatie shows with an online magazine how government organizations can get started with digital accessibility. The magazine describes three lines of action: inform, support and enforce. The magazine is full of practical tips and practical examples. In our opinion, also interesting for non-governmental organizations.
According to Avinash Kaur, the responsibility for accessibility lies with the entire team, but a UX designer can play an important, connecting role in this. In an article on UX Collective, she lists a lot of useful guidelines for designers and content creators. She emphasizes in the article that a challenge can be either permanent or temporary. Someone can miss an arm, but an arm can also be disabled due to a temporary injury or holding a baby. In her opinion, accessibility is therefore about making the web usable for users in general. We totally agree on this.
Read the article on UX Collective
The corona crisis has made them even more popular than they already were: takeaway apps like Thuisbezord.nl, Foodora and Deliveroo. The idea of food delivered to your home is very accessible, but can everyone also easily place an order? Axesslab tested it and ran into quite a few problems. For example, some apps were difficult to use in combination with screen readers and it was sometimes unclear what the function of certain buttons was. The main conclusion: more testing is needed with users with challenges. We totally agree with that. If you want to start with inclusive testing, we are happy to help you.
Linda Timmerman tries to answer that question in an article on Frankwatching. She focuses specifically on UXers in her article, but she gives tips that are relevant to many roles. Some great tips:
Read the article on Frankwatching
This was our web accessibility news of August 2020. Want more news? Then also read the web accessibility news of 2020 (June | July | September | October | November | December) and of 2021 (January | February | March | April)!
People write a lot about web accessibility. We try to collect as many of these items from The Netherlands and abroad. The most striking and interesting we share on our blog every month. This way you do not have to search yourself and you are always aware of what is going on! Therefore here is the web accessibility news – July 2020!
In our previous blog article, we already discussed the problems that many organizations have with making their website accessible. Lack of time and knowledge are important causes for instance. Forbes now reports on another important issue. Level Access, G3ict and IAAP conducted a new survey among 1,119 companies. Although 94% indicated that it was important to test with people with a challenge, only 57% actually did this.
Logius and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations held a virtual roadshow about digital accessibility for government organizations in June and July. Various webinars discussed topics such as legislation, testing and organizing accessibility in your organization. Although the roadshow has ended, the recordings of the various sessions can still be seen on YouTube. You can finds the links to these videos in the attached link.
Read the article on DigiToegankelijk
Tabula Rasa is an agency of behavioral and communication consultants that works a lot for government agencies. Bert Pol recently wrote an article on its website about the accessibility of government websites for blind and partially sighted people. His conclusion: it is far from good enough. As a result he argues that communication experts should have a greater influence in the process.
Read the article on the Tabula Rasa website
In early June, the House of Representatives adopted an amendment to the Media Act. As a result, this stipulates that government communication must always be accessible for the partially sighted and the hearing challenged in times of crisis. However, making information accessible should not be a delaying factor in informing the population during a crisis. That is why making information accessible is primarily an obligation to make an effort. The Senate has yet to approve the change in the law. We showed in the web accessibility news of June that vital information from the government is not always accessible to people with disabilities, especially in corona times.
We will remain in the House for a while, because on 30 June a majority of the House of Representatives agreed to an extension of Article 1 of the Constitution to include the principles of disability and sexual orientation. This extension therefore legally establishes that it is prohibited to discriminate against or disadvantage people with a disability. In conclusion, this creates a legal basis for making websites accessible, among other things. The extension proposal is now going to the Senate.
We already reported in the web accessibility news of June about WebAIM‘s annual survey of 1 million websites on web accessibility. WebAxe, an American blog about accessibility, has summarized the main conclusions in a clear manner. And it especially highlights one important conclusion: the accessibility of websites is decreasing.
We hope you enjoyed our web accessibility news – July 2020. Next Month we will provide you again with the best articles that are published worldwide on web accessibility! Want more news? Then also read the web accessibility news of 2020 (June | August | September | October | November | December) and of 2021 (January | February | March | April)!
Level Access is the international market leader in digital accessibility solutions. Every year, this American company conducts surveys among companies from different sectors to determine the state of digital accessibility. This year, more than 1,100 companies responded, three-quarters of which were American and the rest international (but US based). The conclusions are published in the 2020 State of Digital Accessibility report. This report was presented during the 9th Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 21, 2020. And although this report is mainly about the US market, we would like to share the main conclusions from this report. After all, the US digital accessibility market is a global frontrunner.
Most accessibility programs are 2 to 3 years old (27%), secondly followed by programs over 6 years old (21%). Also, a striking: 8% of the surveyed organizations have had accessibility programs for more than 20 years!
In 60% of the companies, responsibility for accessibility programs lies with one department, so far in most cases with the IT department (18%). More and more companies are setting up a specific department for diversity and inclusivity.
Often only a limited number of people are responsible for accessibility within a company. In fact, at 45% of the surveyed companies, a maximum of 3 people are responsible for accessibility.
Almost half of the companies use long-term or incidental services from external suppliers to improve accessibility within the company. These are often the somewhat larger companies and companies where competition is fierce. External suppliers conduct accessibility audits (33%) most frequently. Of the sectors studied, the government is the least likely to make use of external expertise.
Organizations often have several reasons to deal with accessibility. Inclusion is the most frequently cited (68%), but anticipation of regulations (40%) and brand image (35%) are also popular mentioned reasons.
In addition, fears of enforcement (33%) and publications about other companies being sued (23%) are important drivers. Especially US companies mention these last two arguments.
In the 2019 survey 28% of companies indicated that they started implementing WCAG 2.1 guidelines. That percentage increased to 56% according to the 2020 report.
Companies are still facing many challenges when it comes to their accessibility programs. The top 5 challenges are:
56% of the respondents indicate that they want to involve accessibility earlier in the development process of digital products and services. Restoring existing products and services is very expensive. You save money and time if you take accessibility into account in the ideation and planning stages.
Although 94% of the respondents indicate that it is important to train people on accessibility at least annually, only 26% do. Nevertheless, most respondents indicate that knowledge about accessibility within the organization has increased since the previous survey.
It takes time to develop an easily accessible product or service. There is often no time in a competitive environment.
Companies do not use a sufficient amount of people with challenges in usability tests. In contrast with this, according to 94% of the participants in the survey, it is important that organizations start including people with a challenge in their usability tests. Yet 56% of organizations do not apply this at all. Moreover it is striking that budget availability does not automatically lead to more inclusive testing. A greater number of years of experience with accessibility programs appears to have a greater impact on the use of inclusive usability tests.
About 67% of company websites have multiple content updates per week. Especially educational institutions (61%) and government organizations (49%) report that this makes it very difficult to keep the site accessible. Some notable results of the study:
If we zoom out from the outcomes of this 2020 State of Digital Accessibility report, we can conclude that with the current solutions it is very difficult to make digital content accessible. This because accessibility takes a lot of time, because it is difficult to anchor accessibility responsibility throughout the organization and because the lightning-fast production of new content makes keeping the website accessible a major challenge. And that is a sobering observation for the world’s most mature market in digital accessibility.
Actually, the report expresses a need for automation. In a way that accessibility becomes cheaper, takes less time and is structurally included in the production of new content.
More than 66% of the companies in the 2020 survey do not use plugins, because currently it is mainly a solution to make a website more usable, but it is not yet a solution to make the website accessible. And the latter is necessary.
With Aally, we are working hard on a solution that helps organizations meet the above challenges.
Curious what Aally can do for your organization in terms of accessibility? We are happy to show you.
The internet is mainly visual in essence. Pictures, videos and other visual elements are playing an increasingly important role. That does not make things any easier for the visually challenged. They regularly have problems with access to services and information offered. This concerns a large group of people who cannot participate fully. It is therefore important that this changes. How can we make it easier for them? Make your website accessible to the visually challenged!
There are a huge number of people with a visual challenges worldwide. WHO shares the following estimates:
Visually challenged is common for the elderly and is often caused by eye diseases and health conditions. Think of cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetes.
There are many different types of visual challenge:
The main problem with making the web accessible to the visually challenged is that there are so many different forms of visual challenge. The needs vary widely and also conflict regularly.
For example, an older, visually challenged user may need a lot of contrast. However, this produces an unreadable website for a user who is photosensitive.
Someone with good visual acuity and tunnel vision benefits from a relatively small magnification, so that he can see more words at once and not lose the overview. A partially sighted person with low visual acuity needs large letters to read.
In addition, one person may have different needs at different times. A person’s vision does not have to be constant. For example, fatigue can lead to reduced vision.
It is impossible to draft a guideline that works for everyone.
This is not only because each condition requires different adjustments, the circumstances also play a role. Think of the complexity of the text, the external lighting conditions, how familiar the user is with the text and how the user feels at that moment.
The user needs his own settings, which he can adjust to his wishes at any time. One of the tools that visually challenged people use a lot is magnification software. Although this software is getting better at websites and offers many setting options, there are still many problems:
And perhaps most importantly, the software does not familiar with the website for which it is used. Which part of the website should be enlarged? And if you enlarge that part, what kind of information are you missing?
Moreover, there is something strange going on. When it comes to accessibility, it is often said that it is important to test your website with a screen reader. However, it is almost never about magnification software. While we have just seen that 86% of people are partially sighted and not blind. Visually challenged people use magnification software more often than a screen reader. Because this is often overlooked, many websites do not work optimally with magnification software.
Enlargement software is therefore not the ideal solution. But what then? We have developed Aally to solve this problem, among other things. With Aally you create alternative pages that the user can fully customize to his needs. For example, the user chooses the appropriate font, the correct font size and the perfect contrast. Or he can have a long text read aloud. Moreover, Aally is fully equipped on your website. The information on your website is displayed in a well-structured manner, so that the user does not lose the overview and therefore does not miss any information.
Curious about how Aally works? Request a demo without obligation. We would love to show you! Make your website accessible to the visually challenged!
Lately we have been getting questions about the usefulness of accessibility plugins. Critical questions often arise when there are shifts in a market and it is of course good to challenge us. There have been consultancy agencies that focus on accessibility for some time, but accessibility plugins are still fairly new. And we have seen that some plugins fail to live up to their promises. However, the single fact that not all plugins work properly does not mean that we need to write off plugins completely. They offer great advantages. In this article, we share the 4 main benefits of accessibility plugins like Aally.
In our opinion, accessibility plugins are very important to take the next step towards real accessibility. Your website can comply with legislation and guidelines, but still be unusable for a large group of people with challenges. And the latter is exactly what it is all about.
Not everyone has the same needs, not even everyone with a challenge. A solution for one functional limitation can even hinder the other. Imagine:
You will notice: you cannot create one version of your website in which you take everyone into account. If you want your website to be usable by everyone, your website must be adaptable to each individual need. And that’s exactly why we started Aally. With our plugin you create an alternative version of your pages, which the visitor can fully customize to his needs:
Our plugin complements the WCAG 2.1 guidelines, making your website not only more accessible to everyone, but also usable.
We provided a webinar on this topic that you can watch here for free.
By installing tools in the website by means of an accessibility plugin, the user is no longer dependent on external tools. These tools are sometimes expensive and not everyone with a challenge is aware of their existence. Many blind and visually challenged people may already be familiar with magnification software and screen readers, but as you have read in previous blogs, there are also people with less prominent and temporary limitations. Many of them are now simply struggling through websites without tools.
A person with a disability can use a variety of general, external tools. Nowadays these are often already standard in browsers and operating systems. But these tools are not specially made for your website and will therefore not always work optimally. Not even if your website meets WCAG 2.1 guidelines. With a plugin, such as Aally, you can offer tools yourself and adapt them to the content and structure of your website. This way you ensure an optimal user experience. It is important that the plugin you use is not completely plug-and-play, making it a general solution. That is why Aally offers a combination of plug-and-play and customized parts.
A plugin is developed, maintained and continuously improved by a company that has full focus on this. You can use their knowledge and experience and don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Moreover, new insights and developments in the field of accessibility are often quickly incorporated into a plugin. As a result, you do not have to sit on top of this yourself. This makes for a great saving in time and costs.
It is important to note that there are no plugins yet that make your website fully automated accessible, although there are providers who claim this. A plugin can add extra ease of use and make your website more accessible, but it cannot magically solve all your accessibility challenges. Unclear language remains unclear, information that is not there is not made up and a bad structure remains a bad structure. You will also have to do your own research and solve problems in the structure of your website. When you start working with Aally, we will guide you through this process.
We believe that a plugin is of great added value. With a good plugin you make your website more usable for people with challenges. Moreover, it saves you time and costs. However, it is important to choose the right plugin and also to take a good look at the structure of your website. A plugin does not make problems disappear like snow in the sun.
Curious about Aally? Request a free demo. We are happy to show you how it works.
A lot is written about web accessibility. We try to collect as many of these items from The Netherlands and abroad. The most striking and interesting we share on our blog every month. This way you do not have to search yourself and you are always aware of what is going on! Here is the web accessibility news – June 2020!
Web Accessibility in Mind (WebAIM) is committed to making web content accessible to people with challenges. The center is affiliated with Utah State University and annually publishes an accessibility survey among the top 1 million websites worldwide. Main conclusion from this year’s survey: 98.1% of the surveyed websites do not meet WCAG guidelines. You can also read the other findings via the link below.
On May 21, 2020 it was already the 9th International Accessibility Day. This day is primarily intended to raise awareness of the need for inclusivity and digital access for people with challenges. For inspiration, we would like to bring a blog to your attention from Nicolas Steenhout, specialist in the field of accessibility. He notes that many companies are mainly concerned with meeting the WCAG standards and less with actually making their websites accessible. To us this sounds like music to the ears. We also emphasize that meeting the WCAG guidelines does not mean that your website can be used by people with challenges.
Read the article on Part of a Whole
The Corona virus hits elderly hard these days. On the one hand because of the measures surrounding the corona crisis and on the other hand, because as a result they become more dependent on digital services. About 3 million people over the age of 65 live in the Netherlands, of which 800,000 are over 80. Many of them have difficulty using websites. Frankwatching recently published an article explaining what you can do to make your website more accessible to this target group.
Read the article on Frankwatching
The intelligent lockdown not only hits older people hard. “For people with a challenge, virtually nothing has been arranged and the measures are creating an unlivable situation,” Lotte de Bitter, visually challenged herself, writes in an open letter to Prime Minister Rutte in the AD. We have also found that the website of the National Government is not always optimally accessible for target groups with a challenge.
The Markup published an article about The Corona Information Sites in the US. They also note that vital information is difficult to access for the blind and partially sighted. In America, the degree of access varies by state.
Read the article on The Markup
In the Netherlands, there are 4.5 million people who have difficulty reading, understanding and using websites. This is a very diverse group with all kinds of different needs. We started Aally for this reason: With Aally everyone can read and use a site their own way and according to their own needs. But an accessible website starts with the design. The British government in particular has a great deal of experience in designing government sites for various target groups with challenges. As a result they have summarized the learnings in handy posters for designers. You can find these via the link below.
Read the article on the UK government website
Google has been offering live subtitles on Android smartphones for a while. This function detects the audio in videos and directly converts it to text. They will now also add this feature to Chrome for desktop. This makes audiovisual information on websites more accessible, especially for the deaf and hard of hearing. The feature will likely be available sometime in mid-July.
Want more news? Then also read the web accessibility news of 2020 (July | August | September | October | November | December) and of 2021 (January | February | March | April)!
According to Dutch law, the content of the websites of government agencies must be accessible. WCAG 2.1 is leading for this. Dutch government wil also introduce stricter legislation on accessibility for other organizations. But what if it is not possible to make your website entirely accessible? Then you can still fulfill your obligation by creating an alternative version of certain pages that is accessible. There are only some conditions attached to that. We will share the possibilities of an accessible, alternative version of your webpages with you.
It is sometimes impossible to make a page accessible. There are a variety of reasons for that:
There are a number of requirements that the alternative version of a page must meet by law. Namely:
Do you want to use an alternative, accessible version of your webpages? Then there are still some requirements for the inaccessible version of your page.
These requirements are important because otherwise visitors with a challenge may not be able to use your website at all.
Do you want to easily create an alternative version for your inaccessible pages? You can with Aally. Aally puts an extra layer over your website, as it were. Through a button at the top right of the page, visitors with a challenge access the accessible version of your page. Aally is fully aimed at the end user and contains multiple solutions in one. Your website visitor chooses which tools he or she needs.
Curious? We are happy to show you how it works without obligation. Request a demo.
For (semi-) government, there has been a European directive for years to make websites accessible. As of July 1, 2018, this guideline has been converted into a legal obligation in The Netherlands via the Tijdelijk besluit digitale toegankelijkheid overheid. The Wet gelijke behandeling handicap of chronische ziekte (Wgbh/cz) of 2017 also obliges companies and governments to offer their services in an accessible manner. But what does the WCAG mean for your organization?
WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. WCAG 2.0 was launched in 2008 to provide web developers and web managers with tools to improve the accessibility of their digital channels. Recently there was an update of the guidelines and the introduction of WCAG 2.1. As a result the guidelines within WCAG 2.1 are based on 4 principles:
These principles are divided into 13 guidelines and 78 success criteria linked to them.
The guidelines within WCAG 2.1 have now been incorporated into European legislation and therefore are mandatory for all Dutch government organizations.
It is quite a task to understand how to interpret all these guidelines and what this means for your organization. With the following step-by-step plan you inventory what you already do in terms of accessibility. Furthermore the plan will give an indication on what needs to be done for your website an how to comply with all legislation:
This step consists of:
After step 1 you determine which measures you will take in what period to work on the accessibility of your site.
Based on the measures formulated in step 2, you must prepare a new accessibility statement or amend an existing one as soon as possible. You can for instance use the invulassistent again for this.
In this step you will implement the measures as determined in step 2. Therefore you must include the results of these measures in the accessibility statement. Moreover, with the invulassistent you can easily adjust the accessibility statement.
In conclusion, accessibility is an ongoing process. This means that when you have finished step 4 the process will continue with step 1.
Finally, a more detailed step-by-step plan is available on the Digitoegankelijk website.
Want to know more about making your website also more accessible? In the coming blogs we will share how you can apply these guidelines in practice.