Integrating Accessibility In The Web Project Life Cycle

No one wakes up in the morning and says “You know what? I think it would be great if a very large subset of the web-using public couldn’t use my website”. Or web application. Pick your poison for the last word in that sentence. Nonetheless, accessibility often is last in line when it comes to project priorities. The Section 508 Refresh is right around the corner and with it, the expectation to make all government web properties compliant to WCAG 2.0 AA. For most organizations, this is nothing short of a nightmare. But does it really need to be? Accessibility requirements challenge development practices and jeopardize a project’s profitability. As accessibility affects every contributor, it is not advisable to base its liability on a single person’s shoulders. Sharing responsibilities between different specialists is the key to making accessibility happen. What if the only things an organization needed were a blueprint, a strategy and the right mindset? The slides below, delivered by Denis Boudreau at this year’s Accessibility Camp Terronto demonstrate the piitfalls of allowing accessibility to be the responsibility of one person, and also how to make the job of compliance easier for businesses.