Social Inclusion 2000

Gallant Accessibility Standards

Gallant Web Accessibility Standards

The Gallant standard is split into three levels:

• Level One should be regarded as the minimum requirement.
• Level Two should be regarded as an acceptable level, but which might be difficult for some organisations to achieve initially.
• Level Three represents best practice.

The levels, priorities and checks used by Gallant are based on the WCAG 1.0 guidelines issued by the W3C which have been used as the basis for USA and other legislation.

The WCAG checklist is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505/full-checklist

Level 1 is by far the most important section with the most immediate effect on accessibility. The Gallant version is more stringent than the WCAG - and, we believe, should be the compulsory minimum.

Level 1

Gallant specific requirements

• The organisation has a web accessibility strategy, recognising its current strengths and weaknesses and planning future developments.
• The web site has an accessibility policy published on the site detailing what provisions the site makes for accessibility.
• The web site includes a contact page that is fully accessible and contains a complete range of methods in which a user can contact the organisation.
• The organisation has a process for providing the web site content in alternative media on request.
• The web site pages validate (both html / xhtml and css). The WCAG sees this as a Priority 2 checkpoint (WCAG 3.2); Gallant regards validation as a foundation for accessibility and has upgraded this checkpoint to level 1.
• There are alternatives for any content on the website, or distributed through the web site that is not in html or another open (and accessible) standard. For example, alternatives will be required for documents in Word format.
• Any new pages created using layout tables, must be linearised. Gallant recognises that retrofitting existing pages will depend on time and cost constraints which need to be assessed as part of the web accessibility strategy. (Level 2 requires all pages using layout tables to be linearised.)
• Identify the primary natural language of a document. This is a priority 3 checkpoint for the WCAG (WCAG 4.3); like validation, Gallant regards this as a level 1 requirement.

WCAG requirements

• Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (WCAG 1.1)
• Ensure that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup. (WCAG 2.1)
• Clearly identify changes in the natural language of a document’s text and any text equivalents (e.g., captions). (WCAG 4.1)
• Organize documents so they may be read without style sheets. For example, when an HTML document is rendered without associated style sheets, it must still be possible to read the document. (WCAG 6.1)
• Ensure that equivalents for dynamic content are updated when the dynamic content changes. (WCAG 6.2)
• Until user agents allow users to control flickering, avoid causing the screen to flicker. (WCAG 7.1)
• Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site’s content. (WCAG 14.1)
• Provide redundant text links for each active region of a server-side image map. (WCAG 1.2)
• Provide client-side image maps instead of server-side image maps except whenever possible (WCAG 9.1)
• Title each frame to facilitate identification and navigation. (WCAG 12.1)
• For data tables, identify row and column headers. (WCAG 5.1)
• For data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers, use markup to associate data cells and header cells. (WCAG 5.2)
• Ensure that pages are usable when scripts, applets, or other programmatic objects are turned off or not supported. If this is not possible, provide equivalent information on an alternative accessible page. (WCAG 6.3)
• Until user agents can automatically read aloud the text equivalent of a visual track, provide an auditory description of the important information of the visual track of a multimedia presentation. (WCAG 1.3)
• For any time-based multimedia presentation (e.g., a movie or animation), synchronize equivalent alternatives (e.g., captions or auditory descriptions of the visual track) with the presentation. (WCAG 1.4)
• If, after best efforts, you cannot create an accessible page, provide a link to an alternative page that uses W3C technologies, is accessible, has equivalent information (or functionality), and is updated as often as the inaccessible (original) page. ( WCAG 11.4)

Level 2

• all of Level 1

Gallant specific requirements

• Ensure that foreground and background color combinations provide sufficient contrast when viewed by someone having color deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen. The WCAG (WCAG 2.2) assess this as priority 2 for images and priority 3 for text. Gallant assesses it as level 2 for both images and text.
• do not use pop-ups, or spawn windows without allowing user option of opening in same window.
• do not use pop-unders (This and the point above are more stringent versions of the WCAG 10.1 — see below.)

WCAG requirements

• When an appropriate markup language exists, use markup rather than images to convey information. (3.1)
• Use style sheets to control layout and presentation. (WCAG 3.3)
• Use relative rather than absolute units in markup language attribute values and style sheet property values. (WCAG 3.4)
• Use header elements to convey document structure and use them according to specification. (WCAG 3.5)
• Mark up lists and list items properly. (WCAG 3.6)
• Mark up quotations. Do not use quotation markup for formatting effects such as indentation. (WCAG 3.7)
• Ensure that dynamic content is accessible or provide an alternative presentation or page. (WCAG 6.5)
• Until user agents allow users to control blinking, avoid causing content to blink (i.e., change presentation at a regular rate, such as turning on and off). (WCAG 7.2)
• Until user agents provide the ability to stop the refresh, do not create periodically auto-refreshing pages. (WCAG 7.4)
• Until user agents provide the ability to stop auto-redirect, do not use markup to redirect pages automatically. Instead, configure the server to perform redirects. (WCAG 7.5)
• Until user agents allow users to turn off spawned windows, do not cause pop-ups or other windows to appear and do not change the current window without informing the user. (WCAG 10.1)
• Use W3C technologies when they are available and appropriate for a task and use the latest versions when supported. (WCAG 11.1)
• Avoid deprecated features of W3C technologies. ( WCAG 11.2)
• Divide large blocks of information into more manageable groups where natural and appropriate. ( WCAG 12.3)
• Clearly identify the target of each link. ( WCAG 13.1)
• Provide metadata to add semantic information to pages and sites. ( WCAG 13.2)
• Provide information about the general layout of a site (e.g., a site map or table of contents). ( WCAG 13.3)
• Use navigation mechanisms in a consistent manner. ( WCAG 13.4)
• Do not use tables for layout unless the table makes sense when linearized. Otherwise, if the table does not make sense, provide an alternative equivalent (which may be a linearized version). (WCAG 5.3)
• If a table is used for layout, do not use any structural markup for the purpose of visual formatting. (WCAG 5.4)
• Describe the purpose of frames and how frames relate to each other if it is not obvious by frame titles alone. ( WCAG 12.2)
• Until user agents support explicit associations between labels and form controls, for all form controls with implicitly associated labels, ensure that the label is properly positioned. ( WCAG 10.2)
• Associate labels explicitly with their controls. ( WCAG 12.4)
• For scripts and applets, ensure that event handlers are input device-independent. (WCAG 6.4)
• Until user agents allow users to freeze moving content, avoid movement in pages. (WCAG 7.3)
• Make programmatic elements such as scripts and applets directly accessible or compatible with assistive technologies [Priority 1 if functionality is important and not presented elsewhere, otherwise Priority 2.] (WCAG 8.1)
• Ensure that any element that has its own interface can be operated in a device-independent manner. (WCAG 9.2)
• For scripts, specify logical event handlers rather than device-dependent event handlers. (WCAG 9.3)

Level 3

• all of levels 1 and 2

Gallant specific requirements

• provide a rich experience for all users.
• provide full redundancy of information.

WCAG requirements

• Specify the expansion of each abbreviation or acronym in a document where it first occurs. (WCAG 4.2)
• Create a logical tab order through links, form controls, and objects. (WCAG 9.4)
• Provide keyboard shortcuts to important links (including those in client-side image maps), form controls, and groups of form controls. (WCAG 9.5)
• Until user agents (including assistive technologies) render adjacent links distinctly, include non-link, printable characters (surrounded by spaces) between adjacent links. (WCAG 10.5)
• Provide information so that users may receive documents according to their preferences (e.g., language, content type, etc.) (WCAG 11.3)
• Provide navigation bars to highlight and give access to the navigation mechanism. (WCAG 13.5)
• Group related links, identify the group (for user agents), and, until user agents do so, provide a way to bypass the group. (WCAG 13.6)
• If search functions are provided, enable different types of searches for different skill levels and preferences. (WCAG 13.7)
• Place distinguishing information at the beginning of headings, paragraphs, lists, etc. (WCAG 13.8)
• Provide information about document collections (i.e., documents comprising multiple pages.). (WCAG 13.9)
• Provide a means to skip over multi-line ASCII art. (WCAG 13.10)
• Supplement text with graphic or auditory presentations where they will facilitate comprehension of the page. (WCAG 14.2)
• Create a style of presentation that is consistent across pages. (WCAG 14.3)
• Until user agents render text equivalents for client-side image map links, provide redundant text links for each active region of a client-side image map. (WCAG 1.5)
• Provide summaries for tables. (WCAG 5.5)
• Provide abbreviations for header labels. (WCAG 5.6)
• Until user agents (including assistive technologies) render side-by-side text correctly, provide a linear text alternative (on the current page or some other) for all tables that lay out text in parallel, word-wrapped columns. (10.3)
• Until user agents handle empty controls correctly, include default, place-holding characters in edit boxes and text areas. (WCAG 10.4)

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