Web accessibility cluster
De Belgif.
EN . NL . FR
This impact study targets different web accessibility standards : HTML, XHTML, CSS, WCAG, gathered at Accessibility interface design principles. These four standards are since 12/04/06 in the recommended state. To check the current status of the availability of Belgian websites : availability observatory
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Scope
Web accessibility standards are used for accessing web pages.
We can distinguish :
- Publicly available governmental web pages or web applications (first priority)
- Governmental internal web pages (intranets) or web applications (second priority)
It is important that governmental sites are largely accessible for all citizens and companies. The compliance of those sites is a first priority. Interoperability between governmental institutions is also important. Internal access to web-based applications should be vendor neutral. The compliance of intranets and internal web-based applications is our second priority.
It should really be mentionned that the four standards involved in this scope take part in a better way to design web sites and eventually making them accessible. Using them properly enhances the overall quality and browsing experience while giving to the designers the best foundations for their everyday work.
Accessibility recommendations
- AnySurfer website
- Presentation of the 2005 EC Communication on eAccessibility - Complete text of the EC communication
- Recommendations from the Dutch government (in Dutch only, not available in English or French).
- Recommendations from the French government
- Recommendations for the europa.eu.int website
- European Internet Accessibility Observatory : this is new and could maybe help us.
Conformity tests
- W3C recommendations about HTML validation
- HTML Tidy
- Watchfire - web content for quality, accessibility, and privacy issues
Migration methodology
Web developpement teams should not only be aware of the importance of HTML compliance, but also able to implement it. After running validation tests, code should be cleaned up. Feed-back and training should be given to developers about possible improvements : reporting of the two W3C validators - for (X)HTML and CSS compliance - is excellent on this point.
It is much more difficult to correct an existing project, so is it important to work from the beginning in the optics of valid and accessible pages, to regularly call upon the validator in the work's course.
Here is the proposed methodology by the Belgif Team to obtain an fully accessible web site :
First step : (X)HTML+CSS validation
The first step consists in an iterative validation loop of the (X)HTML pages and the CSS stylesheets used in the target website, in order to obtain the W3C certification. The two first validators in the previous section "Conformity tests" are the reference.
Second step : WCAG compliance
The second step deals with WCAG compliance. Following the advices given by the BlindSurfer website is highly recommended.
Third step : AnySurfer label
Finally, a call for certification shall be submitted to the AnySurfer organisation. When the first two steps have been completed, this step is easy to take for this organisation and has a very small cost.
High-level impact
Contribution to the global level of interoperability
Very high contribution. The world wide web is one of the most important electronic communication tool. Non-compliance can lead to the exclusion of some users on vendor-based criteria. It is also important to allow access to many web users with disabilities.
Organisational impact
- Internal teams : all web developers should be able to write HTML compliant code. Additional training could be necessary for some persons.
- Suppliers : HTML compliance should be included in tenders where applicable.
Financial impact
Global agreement on the fact that the ability to write HTML compliant code is supposed to be a mandatory qualification for a web-developer. Therefore, the cost for achieving compliance should theoretically be included in the budget foreseen for the development of the web application.
For the BlindSurfer label, the cost can be considered negligible in regard of the usual cost of a website.
Accessibility of Belgian authorities
On-going evaluation
An on-going evaluation of some belgian authorities websites compatibility is available at :
Results are currently not good. Action plan needed.
Federal government
- On 20/03/2004 (Gembloux meeting), the council of Ministers decided that every website of the federal government should have the blindsurfer label at latest at 01/10/2004. More info : NL (Dutch), FR (French).
- On 18/02/2003, the Belgian federal portal site receives the Blindsurfer label. More info : NL (Dutch), FR (French).
- On 01/07/2006, the Blindsurfer Label has changed to the AnySurfer Label. More info : NL (Dutch), FR (french).
