Accessibility Maturity Models: What, Why & How

Presentation to the Portland Accessibility and User Experience Meetup by Andrew Hedges, Assistiv Labs on September 19, 2023

Thanks for being here. I’m Andrew.

Co-founder of Assistiv Labs Longtime web dev & engineering leader Found on the socials @segdeha

What is an Accessibility Maturity Model?

Where did accessibility maturity models originate?

Spawn of Capability Maturity Model (CMM), invented in the 1980s by the DOD as a way to figure out why contractors were delivering software late and over budget. What, Why & How

Collage of images from the 1980s showing men and women (with some truly amazing outfits and hair) sitting at various personal computers and workstations.

What do we mean by “maturity” in this context?

“The term ‘maturity’ relates to the degree of formality and optimization of processes, from ad hoc practices, to formally defined steps, to managed result metrics, to active optimization of the processes.” – Wikipedia

What is a “maturity model,” exactly?

Maturity models define “a set of structured levels that describe how well the behaviors, practices and processes of an organization can reliably and sustainably produce required outcomes.” – Wikipedia

How are maturity models structured?

Dimensions measured vary by domain States for each dimension 1. Initial 2. Repeatable 3. Defined 4. Managed/capable 5. Optimizing/efficient

What maturity models exist for accessibility?

  • W3C Accessibility Maturity Model
  • Microsoft Accessibility Evolution Model Level Access DAMM™
  • AbilityNet DAMM

*DAMM = Digital Accessibility Maturity Model

What’s the status of the W3C model?

  • Group Draft Note
  • Free to use
  • Limited guidance for implementation

What dimensions are covered by the W3C model?

  • Communications
  • Knowledge and Skills
  • Support
  • ICT (Information & Communication Technology) Development Life Cycle
  • Personnel
  • Procurement
  • Culture

How are dimensions assessed?

“Each dimensional outcome has a range of suggested proof points, which includes any evidence or necessary measures that can be used to determine the maturity of each dimension. Progress towards achieving maturity is attained by creating the proof points described for each dimension.” – W3C

What’s an example of proof points?

ICT Development Lifecycle

  • Design
  • Development
  • User Experience
  • Quality Review Through Release
  • ICT Development Training

What’s an example of proof points?

ICT Development Lifecycle: UX

  • User research includes disabilities
    • All research asks participants to anonymously identify whether or not they have a disability, and if so, what type of disability/ies
  • User research focusing only on disabilities is performed

What stages are described by the W3C model?

  1. Inactive (Initial)
  2. Launch (Repeatable)
  3. Integrate (Defined + Managed/capable)
  4. Optimize (Optimizing/efficient)

How does the W3C model compare to the others?

W3C

  • Communications
  • Knowledge and Skills
  • Support
  • ICT Development Life Cycle
  • Personnel
  • Procurement
  • Culture

Level Access

  • Governance, risk management, & compliance
  • Communications
  • Policy & standards
  • Legal
  • Fiscal management
  • Development lifecycle
  • Testing & validation
  • Support & documentation
  • Procurement
  • Training
  • Human Resources

AbilityNet

  • Vision
  • Leadership
  • Processes
  • Capability
  • Procurement

Why complete an Accessibility Maturity Model assessment?

How can maturity models help?

  • Provide common language
  • Identify areas for improvement
  • Measure progress

What are the limitations of maturity models?

  • Time-consuming & expensive
  • Difficult to measure progress
  • Difficult to maintain momentum
  • Change is hard

What’s the difference between this & conformance testing?

“Conformance testing provides information about the level of accessibility conformance of a particular product. Maturity modeling provides information about the ability of an organization to produce accessible products over the long term.” – W3C

How do I start an assessment?

How do I choose which model to use?

  • Standards body sanctioned → W3C
  • Simplicity versus granularity → AbilityNet … W3C … Level Access
  • Cost/ability to self-serve → AbilityNet

Is my org ready to take this on?

The irony is that you need to be at a certain level of organizational maturity to get buy-in to do an assessment. Or do you?

How do you rally people to the cause?

Define what you hope to accomplish:

  • In what ways will the assessment inform company decisions?
  • Is support in place to operationalize your findings?
  • What’s the scope of the assessment you want to complete?

Who needs to be involved?

The W3C lists 32 roles within an organization who should give input to an accessibility maturity assessment. Better just to start if waiting until all 32 roles are covered means you never do.

Seems like a lot of time and effort. Will it be worth it?

Changing an organization’s culture is work that is slow and hard. You’ll find quick wins in some areas and other places where the pace and scope never feel like enough. Is it worth it? What’s the alternative?

You can do it!

Photo credits

  • Grass & sky photo on slide 1 by Dim Hou on Unsplash
  • Selfie on slide 2 by me
  • Ship in a bottle photo on slide 3 by Crissy Jarvis on Unsplash
  • ’80s programmers mosaic photos on slide 5 via DuckDuckGo
  • Magnifying glass photo on slide 17 by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
  • Seedlings photo on slide 21 by Irina Krutova on Unsplash
  • Ugly Windows sweater photo on slide 27 by Windows on Unsplash