Digital Accessibility Training

Overview

This course takes participants through the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) in detail advising differences between 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 (draft) specification versions. Participants will learn how to identify patterns for implementing criteria, common antipatterns to avoid and how to evaluate when adhering to a targeted standard. Legal requirements and best practices for industry will be discussed. Demonstrations through use of assistive technologies and adaptive patterns will be performed on example code bases.

Learning Outcomes

• At the completion of this course individuals will:
• Identify differences in WCAG criteria between versions 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2 (draft) specification documents
• Identify the differences between WCAG A, AA, and AAA standards of versions
• Describe the WCAG principals and how to implement to criteria
• Describe patterns and antipatterns for accessible website design
• Understand the focus and impact to users with different disabilities for each of the WCAG criteria
• Understand and be able to interpret the WCAG documentation
• Identify common accessibility issues and how to remediate these in accordance with the WCAG
• Know legal requirements and what is considered best practice
• Correlate accessibility features back to the WCAG principals and criteria
• Identify issues in HTML implementations for high impacting criteria

This course will demonstrate several assistive technologies used by people with disabilities to assist their digital accessibility. Attendees will leave the course with a stronger understanding of the technologies, how they operate and empower their users. This course will raise awareness of the tools, show some standard pitfalls, and build empathy in attendees who do not currently use these assistive technologies.

Topics covered include Screen Readers, Magnifiers, High Contrast, Theory behind overlays, Windows features, Mouse Size, Tracking, Colour Profiles, Text Size and Zoom.

Overview

This course will provide participants with a hands-on approach to assistive technologies and adaptive strategies. Users will be guided through instructor led labs on utilising freeware tools and inbuilt operating systems and browser configurations to better understands how users requiring assistive technologies and adaptive strategies operate their tools and navigate digital content. Users will be introduced to advanced features, through guided steps on their own technologies.

Learning Outcomes

• Navigate websites through NVDA and VoiceOver or TalkBack utilising keyboard shortcuts, the accessibility tree, advanced gestures in addition to standard point and click, tab and space navigation
• Navigate PDF and office documents through NVDA both for editing and document creation to standard browse mode document consumption
  Be able to configure commonly used adaptive strategies within operating systems
• Be able to configure adaptive strategies and assistive technologies through browser plug-ins and standard configurations
• Articulate the difference between assistive technologies and adaptive strategies
• Demonstrate and use assistive tools to assist users with low vision such as QR code readers
• Be aware of voice to text technologies, understand different operations and enable operating system functions on their device
• Articulate the impact of reading level, including English as a second language and cognitive disabilities’ impacts on consuming documents
• Understand how different underlying code implementations can impact consumption of digital assets through screen reader technologies

Overview

This course demonstrates how to correctly select technologies to create accessible content. Accessibility principals and numerous available technologies will be discussed, demonstrated, and evaluated against different case studies. The course will focus on identifying niches in the tools and understanding your team/organisation, to ensure tool selection can appropriately support your business. Post this session attendees should be confident with tool selection for their business needs.

Learning Outcomes

• Identify appropriate ways to assess tools for use by your organisation
  Understand the operation of several freeware and paid accessibility testing tools
• Articulate limitations with demonstrated tools
• Confidently use freeware tools assisting with colour selection, accessibility checking, accessibility testing
• Be aware of different screen readers, their usage profiles worldwide and their costs
• Understand how authoring tools are evaluated and know what documentation to ask for when reviewing new authoring tools

Overview

This course introduces technical users to WAI-ARIA and how it can be harnessed to improve overall digital accessibility, when used in conjunction with Semantic HTML and CSS. It will explain the concepts of the system, its use cases and where it is not suitable or should be avoided. This course performs deep dives on commonly used components explaining both their coded implementation and direct benefit to assistive technologies.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand what WAI-ARIA is, when and how it should be utilised
  
• Understand when ARIA should not be used and antipatterns
• Understand how common aria components are processed by assistive technology, order of evaluation and precedence order
• Articulate the difference between states, roles, and properties
  Know where to find the WAI-ARIA specifications and documentation for fields
• Understand how to interpret the WAI-ARIA specifications

Overview

This course will introduce the audience to concepts around inclusive design and identifying how inclusive design relates to accessibility. The course will provide relatable scenarios where inclusive design improves or creates new markets, improves customer satisfaction, benefits society, and organisations.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand limits of typical design practices
• Articulate Universal and Inclusive design concepts
• Provide examples of Universal and Inclusive design
• Articulate the difference between usability and accessibility
• Apply principals of inclusive design
• Understand the importance of personas
• Identify excluded users
• Know where to go for further information on Universal and Inclusive design

Overview

This course delivers a high-level summary of guides and best practices for improving digital accessibility. Attendees will be provided a working understanding on various guidelines and practices which support digital accessibility, why they exist and how they provide benefits to all digital consumers, including consumers with disability.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand the meaning of digital accessibility and who it benefits
  Know key concepts and rules to apply to documents
• Understand what the WCAG is and differences between versions
• Be able to articulate how to measure success against the WCAG
• Understand the limitations of the WCAG that impacts its understanding and implementation
• Understand how WAI-ARIA assists with delivering to the WCAG
• Articulate how WCAG and WAI-ARIA interact to deliver accessible products
• Understand the WCAG-EM and its steps
• Articulate the mandatory components of the WCAG-EM
• Understand and set expectations around an accessibility audit

This course teaches attendees how to construct accessible documents which can be consumed by a large audience including people with different accessibility needs. The course will leave attendees with a working knowledge and confidence that they can create more inclusive documents including standard office documents and graphical and statistical reports, which can reach a greater audience.

Topics covered include, selecting format, high-level PDF, deep dive components, graphs, colour, heading’s structure, reading level, alt forms (captions, transcripts, embedded objects, smart graphics) and support tools/testing (Microsoft Accessibility Checker)/Flesch-Kinkaid, Navigation

Overview

This session will raise awareness across an organisation, however teams and individuals with a focus on technology and digital projects would benefit from attending this course.

Learning Outcomes

• Know what is meant by the term accessibility
• Know some facts and statistics about the Australian / Global population
• Know about our legal obligations and the standards/guidelines we can adhere to
• Understand the foundation principles of digital accessibility and the different methods to ensure accessibility
• Know the key focus areas for digital accessibility and how these impact a person’s experience
• Understand more about the impact of accessibility from the perspective of people with disability