[DRAFT] Unit 5: Applying and Managing Accessibility

Introduction

The objectives of this unit areis to introduce:

*   different strategies on how to plan, apply, and manage accessibility

* . It also introduces several roles and responsibilities related to implementing accessibility.

Tip:IP — The Planning and Managing Web Accessibility resource contains many different strategies. Select those which better adjust to thethat best apply to the learners’s business contextsituations.

Learners should be able to:

• Explain different organizational strategies to plan and manage accessibility
• Describe how to develop accessibility policies for organizations and statements for companies and organizationswebsites
• Describe mechanisms ways to measure the accessibility capability and maturity of organizations[slh1] 
• Distinguish different roles and responsibilities for applying that have an influence in accessibility
• Explain how to start addressing integrate accessibility features in an existing project

Learners

[Basic] Basic understanding of computers and the Wweb.

Instructors

[Medium] Good understanding of how to introduce and integrate accessibility strategies throughout organizationsal processes.

The following topics help achieve the learning outcomes. You might choose to aAdapt the sequence of these topics, the activities you docarry out, and the homework you provide assign according for yourto the particular audience learners and context.

Topic: Planning and Managing Web Accessibility

[Select strategies from Refer to the Planning and Managing Web Accessibility resource to select those strategies that best apply to the learners’ situations. suit the particular business context of learners. Emphasize that it is crucial [slh3] to have management support and backing to succeed in implementing accessibility.

Learning Outcomes

Learners should be able to:

• Explain that accessibility implementation needs involvement from a wide range of rolesall team members
• Recognize the need of technical and financial resources for accessibility
• Distinguish some important roles to ensure a consistent implementation of accessibility, such as those from Quality Assurance or Executive Management Teams
• Describe how to involve people with disabilities throughout projects
• Describe some accessibility case studies from companies and organizations

Teaching Ideas

• Introduce specific considerations to integrate accessibility based on your particular audience and contextlearners. Use See the Planning and Managing Web Accessibility resource.[slh4] 
• Emphasize the importance of involving real users with disabilities early on in the production process, and throughout projects. the development and maintenance stages of websites using See the Involving Users with Disabilities resource.
• Provide case studies of organizations or companies that have integrated accessibility into their projects. See by referring to the Business Case for Digital Accessibility resource[slh5] .
• Engage students in a Start, Stop, Continue exercise[slh6]  to identify processes, tasks, and strategies within their organization[slh7]  for which accessibility implementation may need to be revised. Encourage discussion by bringing in design and development processes, media production,[slh8]  procurement, etc.

Homework Ideas

• Provide students with a multiple choice quiz in which they want to select all of the accessibility planning and managing strategies they consider important for their organization or workflow. Encourage them to elaborate on how they would integrate new accessibility strategies they might not have know about before.
• Ask students to list various roles in charge of accessibility among the team and which would be their main responsibilities.
• Ask students to pick up a product or service of their choice and to develop strategies to efficiently plan and manage accessibility. Encourage them to think about key roles and responsibilities as well as key actions that need to be taken to grant ensure that accessibility is maintained throughout time.

Topic: Developing Policies and Statements

Introduce students to accessibility policies for organizations and accessibility statements for websites. See  by referring to the Developing Organizational Policies on Web Accessibility and the Developing an Accessibility Statement resources. Emphasize that policies tend are mostlyto be internal within organizations, whereas statements are public commitments on accessibility implementation.

Learning Outcomes

Learners should be able to:

• Describe accessibility policies as a mechanism to reinforce commitment among the organization members
• Recognize the role of accessibility statements as a way of documenting the current status of accessibility products or services and of definingoutlining future steps and commitments
• Explain some current accessibility approaches from well-known organizations[slh9] 

Teaching Ideas

• If possible, bring in some examples of accessibility policies you are aware of or may have access to. Explain that they serve to document organizational commitments, to encourage implementation, and to define monitor and review processes. If you cannot bringdon't have  such a documents, refer to the Accessibility Policies resource, and walk students through the different elements that are needed for an effective consistent accessibility policy.
• Ask students to explore publicly- available accessibility statements and encourage them to reflect on some of the aspects they include.

Homework Ideas

• Ask students to draft an accessibility policy based on a particular organization of their choice. Ask them to define the scope of the policy, to reference current standards, and to set compliance levels. Use the Accessibility Policies resource as a reference.
• Ask students to draft an accessibility statement considering for a particular product of their choice. Show the Developing an Accessibility Statement resource as a reference for this exercise.

Topic: Roles and Responsibilities

Introduce several roles and responsibilities in charge of thefor accessibility. See -related tasks by referring to the Accessibility Roles and Responsibilities resource.

Learning Outcomes

Learners should be able to:

• Explain how accessibility responsibilities are shared among different roles within the team
• Describe some accessibility features and map them to specific roles and functions

Teaching Ideas

• Explain the different types of roles involved in implementing web accessibility. Use the Accessibility Roles and Responsibilities resource as a reference.
• Introduce the scope of their responsibilities throughout.[slh10]  Emphasize that sometimes a particular accessibility feature needs involvement from several roles.
• Go through the Role-Based Decision Tree resource to help students identify the specific role within the team who would be in charge of a particular accessibility feature. Ask students to decide if there would be only one role involved or if the primary owner might require help from other team members.

Homework Ideas

• Based on the Role-Based Decision Tree resource, ask students to pick up specific features of products they may be working on. Encourage them to assign their corresponding roles and responsibilities. For instance, if an alternative text is required for an image, who would provide that text? Who would implement it?

Topic: Accessibility in an Existing Project

Introduce some strategies to apply address accessibility characteristics in an existing project. Use the Web Accessibility First Aid: Approaches for Interim Repairs resource as a reference.

Learning Outcomes

Learners should be able to:

• Explain how to identify potential accessibility issues in projects
• Describe some of the strategies to efficiently address accessibility issues

Teaching Ideas

• Introduce some of the methods to gain an understanding of the current accessibility status in the project, e.g., performing a first review or carrying out a detailed accessibility evaluation. Refer to the Web Accessibility First Aid resource.
• Introduce some of the strategies that can be used to prioritize issues.
• Explain how interim repairs can act as a starting point for future accessibility implementation strategies.
• Engage students in a conversation based on a set ofto discuss accessibility issues from of a given digital product. Encourage them to reflect on which of the issues they would prioritize and how these issues could be solved according to what they have already learned.

Homework Ideas

• Point students to a particular accessibility website or application and ask them to identify its main accessibility issues. Encourage them to share their findings. Compare the results with your own to test student’s accuracy when performing first checks.
• Ask students to identify the most relevant issues in a particular digital product. Encourage them to establish the priorities and elaborate on how the issues could be solved.

• Learners should be able to describe different organizational considerations to plan for and manage accessibility implementation.
• Learners should be able to reflect on the capacity and maturity of their own organizations regarding the implementation of processes and practices related to web accessibility.[slh11] 
• Learners should be able to list different roles and responsibilities involved in web accessibility and describe their main responsibilities.
• Learners should be able to describe some strategies to integrate accessibility in any existing project.

• Planning and Managing Web Accessibility — Enumerates and explains a broad selection of organizational considerations relating to web accessibility. Introduces activities to help you integrate accessibility throughout the web production process. These are organized according to web project management stages of “Initiate”, “Plan”, “Implement”, and “Sustain”, to help fit into organizational processes.
• Developing Organizational Policies on Web Accessibility — Provides step-by-step guidance on developing organizational policies relating to web accessibility. It is part of the broader “Planning and Managing Web Accessibility” resource, to help guide through this particular organizational step.
• Developing an Accessibility Statement — Provides guidance and a free generator tool to help website and application owners to create accessibility statements. It encourages organizations to communicate their commitment to accessibility and to provide feedback channels for user with disabilities.
• Involving Users in Web Projects for Better, Easier Accessibility — Explains the benefits of involving real users with disabilities from the inception of web projects throughout their design and development stages, and provides advice on working with people with disabilities effectively.
• The Business Case for Digital Accessibility — Explains the rationale for organizations to pursue digital accessibility for people with disabilities. This includes driving innovation, enhancing brand, extending market reach, and minimizing legal risk. It includes cases studies from different organizations.
• (Work in progress) Accessibility Roles and Responsibilities Mapping (ARRM): Role Definition (Draft, work in progress) — Defines a variety of roles relevant for accessibility throughout the design and development process. It includes examples tasks in accessibility for each of the roles defined.
• (Work in Progress) Role-Based Decision Tree (Draft, work in progress) — a customizable framework to help anyone define an accessibility matrix of their own within their organization.
• Web Accessibility First Aid: Approaches for Interim Repairs — Introduces approaches to help organizations prioritize and address pressing issues, while building towards more comprehensive approaches to implement accessibility. It is part of the broader “Planning and Managing Web Accessibility” resource.
• Contacting Organizations about Inaccessible Websites — Provides guidance for users with disabilities on how to contact organizations when they observe accessibility barriers. It encourages communication and exchange between organizations and their website users.