AG group update
by Charles (Chuck) Adams, Rachael Bradley Montgomery and Alastair Campbell
Since TPAC 2023, the group has published the exploratory guidance list, and the WCAG 2 Task Force has sped up updates to the WCAG 2 documentation. In this video, the co-chairs present WCAG 3 goals, including updating guidelines for new technologies, addressing user needs, providing guidance, defining clear testing, supporting flexible conformance, and emphasizing research.
See also the slides.
Video
Transcript
Chuck: Welcome I am Chuck and together with co-chairs Rachael and Alistair this presentation will update you on the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group progress.
Today's agenda is we'll discuss the goals that we set out for in this charter period, we'll talk about the schedule where we're currently at, and where we will be, the progress since last year's TPAC 2023 and our next steps.
Our goals for this charter period which cover from November 2023 to October 2025 is to begin the work on WCAG 3, create the initial structure and conformance model decide on a publication approach and finalize the timeline.
Additionally, we worked to update WCAG2ICT, updated Make Content Usable and create initial guidance for mobile accessibility.
Our WCAG 3 goals were to update guidelines to better address user needs and accommodate new technologies, incorporate tool guidance and authoring guidance to avoid the accessibility support challenges of WCAG 2, define clear testing procedures and allow for multiple approaches, meet the needs of policies while being updated more frequently than WCAG2, define ways to claim conformance for different units other than web pages, reduce reading complexity where possible and base guidance on research where feasible and emphasize importance of future research.
Rachael: So what is our schedule for WCAG 3 for this Charter period?
For the last quarter of 2023 when the charter started we really focused on creating criteria to select outcomes that we want to focus on and outcomes are replacing WCAG 2 success criteria.
Starting in quarter 1 of 2024, we focused on publishing an exploratory guidelines list and selecting and prioritizing outcomes from that list for us to work on.
We then focused on writing a single outcome kind of from start to finish at the exploratory level so we can understand what that would look like.
All of those goals we achieved with very little time slip.
In quarter 2 of 2024 we began working on our outcomes. So expanding the number of outcomes we were working on and also began discussing conformance model.
In quarter 3 of 2024, we are continuing to work on our initial outcomes and are focused on publishing an exploratory conformance model and WCAG explainer at the end of quarter three or the beginning of quarter 4.
In quarter 4, we want to continue to work and build out the outcome list.
As we move into 2025, we hope in quarter 1 to publish an updated developmental list of outcomes and conduct a retrospective at CSUN.
At quarter 2 of 2025, we want to continue working on additional outcomes and continue doing so also in quarter 3. We will be having a retrospective again in TPAC of 2025.
As we move into quarter four of 2025, we want to make sure we have published an updated developing list of outcomes, we want to continue to work on additional outcomes, publish a conformance level also at the development level of maturity, we want to publish an updated WCAG 3 explainer and in that include our release plan for moving forward past 2025.
So, what progress have we made since TPAC 2023? Well we've published that exploratory list of guidance and our WCAG 2 Task Force has increased velocity on cleaning up our WCAG 2 documentation.
At least 194 issues have been closed since the charter started.
WCAG2ICT has been published for wide review, and the Mobile Accessibility Task Force has a new facilitator and a strong drive to writing guidance on how WCAG 2.2 can be applied to mobile. COGA Working Group has been working to update making content usable that both adds guidance and simplifies the document based on feedback that we've received since it was first published.
Alastair: Outcomes are a key part of the new guidelines and I'd like to talk through an example.
An outcome is comparable to a success criterion in WCAG 2, and as one example we have alternative text. The outcome is "Equivalent text alternatives are available for images".
The general test procedure is that if you remove, hide or mask an image and replace it with the text alternative, do you have the same understanding? In addition to that, we have a Decision Tree to help determine which methods would be appropriate for meeting this outcome for this image. The Decision Tree is a great way of creating guidance that is simpler and addresses the complexity of modern interfaces.
So, an example question from this Decision Tree is "would removing the image impact how people understand the page?" If the answer is no, they should use the Decorative Image Method, if the answer is yes, continue down the tree and find the appropriate scenario for your image.
Next to the decorative image it says "Enhanced". We're looking at having Baseline or Prerequisite Methods as well as Enhanced Methods so people can meet different levels of conformance.
So what challenges are we facing? One of the biggest challenges, particularly for WCAG 3, is that technology is evolving more rapidly. Seems like every day we need to create accessibility guidance for something new.
There's also a high volume of accessibility requirements and needs. Disability is a very diverse space and no matter how much you categorize or group requirements, there will be a lot.
We also want to make sure that what we create increases the impact of accessibility guidelines and encourages their adoption. Unfortunately, we find that easily measured requirements often have the least impact. So there is a balance of helping people to meet them as quickly easily as possible while also making sure that they meet the needs of people with disabilities.
So what are our next steps? Well, we're evaluating possible conformance models.
This is going to be a lot of our work at TPAC 2024. We also want to make sure that the chosen conformance model really reflects the accessibility of the content. We also want to continue refining the approach that we're taking to creating guidance by building new guidance.
So we're making decisions by doing things trying them out and making changes based on what we learn.
Thank you for joining us for this update. If you have any questions, please do email the chairs.
