Periodic Reporting for period 2 - WAI-CooP (Web Accessibility Initiative – Communities of Practice)
Période du rapport: 2022-07-01 au 2023-12-31
The “adoption of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines for public websites” has been a priority for the European Commission (EC) since the late 1990s, and first formally communicated as such in the eEurope 2002 Action Plan published in 2001. Many communications, resolutions, and actions from the European Council, Parliament, and Commission followed during these past two decades, leading to many efforts to promote digital accessibility across Europe. Most recently, these efforts included the following EU legislation:
• “Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies”, also referred to as the Web Accessibility Directive.
• “Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements for products and services”, also referred to as European Accessibility Act.
In this context, the European Standard EN 301 549 is a critical resource. The first version “Accessibility requirements suitable for public procurement of ICT products and services in Europe” was published in 2014, and includes the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 for “Web”, “Non-web documents”, and “Software”. A later version “Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services” was published in 2018, and references WCAG 2.1. This approach aligns with the 2017 revised technical standards for Section 508 of the United States (US) Rehabilitation Act, which also references W3C’s WCAG2ICT technical note, which in turn maps applicability of WCAG to software and to web and mobile apps.
Common accessibility policies and a single, internationally harmonised, technical standard represents a major achievement for millions of people with disabilities in Europe and beyond. It helps strengthen the internal market for accessibility, enables cross-border development of technical solutions, capacities and skills, and employment opportunities. It also represents European leadership in cross-border cooperation, and provides exemplary models for neighbouring countries and potentially for other regions of the world.
Yet, despite these efforts, studies continued to show a lag in accessibility implementation due to a variety of reasons. More importantly, the studies continued to show significant discrepancies in implementations across different EU Member States, public sector bodies, and private entities. That is, despite the harmonisation of policies and standards on a pan-European level, there remains fragmentation in their application on a practical level.
WAI-CooP was designed to address root causes of this fragmentation, and thereby accelerate consistent implementation of accessibility across Europe and beyond. It follows a collaborative approach to help stakeholders involved in the ecosystem of accessibility implementation exchange best practices and make efficient use of existing technical solutions, as well as to provide authoritative interpretations of the international accessibility standards underlying the EU Web Accessibility Directive.
• “Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies”, also referred to as the Web Accessibility Directive.
• “Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements for products and services”, also referred to as European Accessibility Act.
In this context, the European Standard EN 301 549 is a critical resource. The first version “Accessibility requirements suitable for public procurement of ICT products and services in Europe” was published in 2014, and includes the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 for “Web”, “Non-web documents”, and “Software”. A later version “Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services” was published in 2018, and references WCAG 2.1. This approach aligns with the 2017 revised technical standards for Section 508 of the United States (US) Rehabilitation Act, which also references W3C’s WCAG2ICT technical note, which in turn maps applicability of WCAG to software and to web and mobile apps.
Common accessibility policies and a single, internationally harmonised, technical standard represents a major achievement for millions of people with disabilities in Europe and beyond. It helps strengthen the internal market for accessibility, enables cross-border development of technical solutions, capacities and skills, and employment opportunities. It also represents European leadership in cross-border cooperation, and provides exemplary models for neighbouring countries and potentially for other regions of the world.
Yet, despite these efforts, studies continued to show a lag in accessibility implementation due to a variety of reasons. More importantly, the studies continued to show significant discrepancies in implementations across different EU Member States, public sector bodies, and private entities. That is, despite the harmonisation of policies and standards on a pan-European level, there remains fragmentation in their application on a practical level.
WAI-CooP was designed to address root causes of this fragmentation, and thereby accelerate consistent implementation of accessibility across Europe and beyond. It follows a collaborative approach to help stakeholders involved in the ecosystem of accessibility implementation exchange best practices and make efficient use of existing technical solutions, as well as to provide authoritative interpretations of the international accessibility standards underlying the EU Web Accessibility Directive.
Project activities resulted in the following outcomes:
•Developed over 90 test rules following the W3C Accessibility Conformance Testing (ACT) Rules Format 1.0. These test rules were implemented in the open source engines from Siteimprove, Deque, and University of Lisbon, and were validated on real websites. They were reviewed by the broader community involved in the W3C work on Accessibility Conformance Testing (ACT). Eleven of these test rules have been formally published by W3C and were part of the supporting documents for WCAG 2.2. The test rules are available from the W3C ACT Rules Community Group (CG): https://act-rules.github.io/rules/
•Delivered three Accessibility Research Symposia building on Technology Gaps Analysis covering topics including current state of accessibility research and practice, AI and Accessibility, and Evaluating Accessibility. Each two day symposium was attended by over 100 participants and resulted in engaged discussion on the topics.
•Regular Open Meetings exploring a range of practical topics around the implementation of the WAD. These meetings regularly brought together practitioners from across Europe to explore best practices associated with implementation and monitoring of WAD.
•Developed and delivered through a focused website (https://web-directive.eu/) answers to frequently asked questions regarding WAD and accessibility implementation. The website also included access to a help desk to ask questions not covered in the resource.
•Updated resources that help support accessibility training and evaluation activities. Including
* Updating WCAG-EM Report Tool that helps support consistent website evaluations to include new WCAG 2.2 success criteria and make it easier to be translated
* Updates to Easy Checks (https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/easy-checks/) to support quick evaluations and people learning about accessibility
* Updating Evaluation Tools List (https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/tools/list/) to provide easy access to a list of tools that support accessibility evaluations
* Updating Accessibility Course List (https://www.w3.org/WAI/courses/list/) which lists nearly 100 accessibility related courses
* Updated Web Accessibility Laws & Policies List (https://www.w3.org/WAI/policies/) with links to regulations and policies from 45 countries
• Extensive efforts in identifying key resources for translation, improvements to those resources to aid translations, update to guidance on translations, and conducting translations including an authorised translation of WCAG 2.2 in Italian and French.
•Developed over 90 test rules following the W3C Accessibility Conformance Testing (ACT) Rules Format 1.0. These test rules were implemented in the open source engines from Siteimprove, Deque, and University of Lisbon, and were validated on real websites. They were reviewed by the broader community involved in the W3C work on Accessibility Conformance Testing (ACT). Eleven of these test rules have been formally published by W3C and were part of the supporting documents for WCAG 2.2. The test rules are available from the W3C ACT Rules Community Group (CG): https://act-rules.github.io/rules/
•Delivered three Accessibility Research Symposia building on Technology Gaps Analysis covering topics including current state of accessibility research and practice, AI and Accessibility, and Evaluating Accessibility. Each two day symposium was attended by over 100 participants and resulted in engaged discussion on the topics.
•Regular Open Meetings exploring a range of practical topics around the implementation of the WAD. These meetings regularly brought together practitioners from across Europe to explore best practices associated with implementation and monitoring of WAD.
•Developed and delivered through a focused website (https://web-directive.eu/) answers to frequently asked questions regarding WAD and accessibility implementation. The website also included access to a help desk to ask questions not covered in the resource.
•Updated resources that help support accessibility training and evaluation activities. Including
* Updating WCAG-EM Report Tool that helps support consistent website evaluations to include new WCAG 2.2 success criteria and make it easier to be translated
* Updates to Easy Checks (https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/easy-checks/) to support quick evaluations and people learning about accessibility
* Updating Evaluation Tools List (https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/tools/list/) to provide easy access to a list of tools that support accessibility evaluations
* Updating Accessibility Course List (https://www.w3.org/WAI/courses/list/) which lists nearly 100 accessibility related courses
* Updated Web Accessibility Laws & Policies List (https://www.w3.org/WAI/policies/) with links to regulations and policies from 45 countries
• Extensive efforts in identifying key resources for translation, improvements to those resources to aid translations, update to guidance on translations, and conducting translations including an authorised translation of WCAG 2.2 in Italian and French.
The WAI-CooP project was designed to support the implementation of the Web Accessibility Directive. It supported both public administrations as well as others committed to providing accessible information and services in identifying the most appropriate accessibility solutions.
WAI-CooP was also designed with considerations for diverse contexts and situations in individual communities, organisations, and people in Europe and internationally. It empowered these diverse communities with vetted, high-quality, and authoritative resources aligned with the international standards for digital accessibility, thereby impacting implementation of the Web Accessibility Directive from the inside of the accessibility ecosystems of the individual Member States. Specifically, WAI-CooP will have a sustained impact on the training and certification opportunities for different audiences involved throughout implementation, and on suppliers of digital products and services including for evaluation and authoring tools, as well as for policy and decision makers at the local, national, regional, and European levels.
These combined expanded and updated resources provide a common framework and platform for building accessible and innovative products and services that advance the current state-of-the-art, and are essential to supporting implementation of the European Directive and to help make the web accessible to people with disabilities.
WAI-CooP was also designed with considerations for diverse contexts and situations in individual communities, organisations, and people in Europe and internationally. It empowered these diverse communities with vetted, high-quality, and authoritative resources aligned with the international standards for digital accessibility, thereby impacting implementation of the Web Accessibility Directive from the inside of the accessibility ecosystems of the individual Member States. Specifically, WAI-CooP will have a sustained impact on the training and certification opportunities for different audiences involved throughout implementation, and on suppliers of digital products and services including for evaluation and authoring tools, as well as for policy and decision makers at the local, national, regional, and European levels.
These combined expanded and updated resources provide a common framework and platform for building accessible and innovative products and services that advance the current state-of-the-art, and are essential to supporting implementation of the European Directive and to help make the web accessible to people with disabilities.