Response from Accessibility Lawyer on Plain Language in Silver

Hi All

I asked Joshua Stein with whom many of you may be familiar, who's been an
accessibility lawyer on many ADA cases, the following question.

*"*Do you think that the  wording in WCAG 2.x is frustrating to legal
proceedings, and that it would be better if we moved to a model that is
plain language ? "

Joshua's unedited response which he has given me permission to share with
our groups.

================
1)     From a legal perspective, the courts are currently focused on the
end result of website accessibility (i.e., is a website in substantial
conformance with the applicable WCAG  success criteria and does it offer
individuals with disabilities the same experience as individuals without
disabilities?).  Using active vs passive voice within the Guidelines should
have a limited direct effect on the legal application of the WCAG as,
to-date, the courts are not hearing specific challenges to the WCAG
language.  This is likely due to the fact WCAG has not been formally
adopted by a government regulator (e.g., DOJ) and, therefore, the
Guidelines are not subject to the same legal scrutiny given to Standards
promulgated by the federal government that places of public accommodation
are required to follow.  Should the legal landscape change, a WCAG Silver
“Guidance” document could be created to help clarify any specific legal
challenges to the original text/prior versions.

2)     I spoke with our in-house website accessibility team and, from a
programmer/tester perspective, the use of plain language within the WCAG
would likely improve its overall understandability to a broader audience
(developers and designers).  The current WCAG 2.1 language contains a lot
of ambiguity which can make it difficult to determine if an issue
can/should be categorized under a specific guideline and/or success/failure
technique.  However, we also acknowledge some of the technical language
currently used is necessary to identify success criteria issues and to
describe the steps required to fix the issue.   We would suggest using a
mixed Plain Language and Technical language rather than settling on a
one-size-fits all model for creating WCAG Silver.  Plain language examples
of possible remediation options would likely prove beneficial as well.

===============

Cheers,
David MacDonald



*Can**Adapt* *Solutions Inc.*
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