A presentation at IPWEA State Conference 2022 in in Perth WA, Australia by Julie Grundy
Digital Accessibility and Public Works Julie Grundy Senior Digital Accessibility Consultant, Intopia IPWEA State Conference WA, March 2022
A measure of how easy it is for someone with a disability to use a digital product
• 0 – 5% • 5 – 15% • 15 – 25% • Greater than 25%
4.4 million people Australian Census, 2016
• What about disabilities that don’t affect phone and computer use? • Or impairments that aren’t disabilities?
Reductions in vision, hearing and mobility are common with increased age
“The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) aims to provide a fair go for Australians with disabilities—it gives them the right to substantive equality of opportunity in areas like employment, education and the provision of goods and services.” - Productivity Commission review of the Act
Any tool used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities
Screen readers
Settings for low vision or dexterity
Keyboards and keyboard alternatives
Your phone > Settings > Accessibility
https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/
• Principles • Guidelines • Success Criteria
• Perceivable • Operable • Understandable • Robust
A AA AAA
Hundreds of pages of technical jargon
WebAIM’s WCAG checklist https://webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklist
• Will catch 20 to 50% of issues • aXe DevTools by Deque • ARC Toolkit by TPGi • Android Accessibility Scanner app by Google • Accessibility Insights for Android app by Microsoft
• Accessibility Insights for Web by Microsoft (Use the Assessment feature) • Your friendly local accessibility auditor
A photo of me standing and reaching up above my head to touch a braille sign on a public toilet block
• New barriers • Lack of participation • Exclusion from community
• Previously overlooked demographics are included in community • Increased diversity in public life
A photo of a wheelchair ramp beside a set of stairs. The ramp ends with 3 steps.
• Ramps • Wide corridors • Curved hallways • Automated doors and lights
• Comica11y by Paul Spencer • Accessible Astronomy by Yuma Decaux • ThisAbles for Ikea
Initiate Plan Execute Close
An arrow on the last phase, Close
Arrow moves to the previous phase, Execute
Arrow moves to previous phase, Plan
Arrow is now at the first phase, Initiate
A woman in a modern wheelchair on smooth footpath
A wheelchair made from bicycle parts, with long levers instead of armrests
“Nothing about us, without us.” Disability activists
Julie Grundy julie@intopia.digital www.intopia.digital
What do digital accessibility and public works projects by civil engineers have in common? It’s that we are both trying to make functional things that work for the largest number of people, and maybe make those functional things actually enjoyable to use as well. Let’s investigate what we can learn from each other.
for free. You
can too.