《Digital Authority:ADA无障碍时代的政府网站分析白皮书(英文版)(24页).pdf》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《Digital Authority:ADA无障碍时代的政府网站分析白皮书(英文版)(24页).pdf(24页珍藏版)》请在三个皮匠报告上搜索。
1、STUDY An Analysis of Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory Accessibilitywww.digitalauthority.meDigital Authority PartnersCopyright 2019 All Rights Reserved 01Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityMichael ReddyPresident,Digital Authority P
2、artnersmichael.reddydigitalauthority.meOver 40 million Americans have reported disabilities covered by the ADA.Thats 40 million people who deserve the right to benefit from online content,services,and products-and 40 million people who represent potential customers for your business.Furthermore,ADA-
3、related lawsuits are on the rise.In recent years,weve seen an increase of accessibility-related legal action,with several high-profile companies being sued for millions of dollars because of non-compliant websites.This white paper investigates where websites fall short,issues to pay a close eye to,a
4、nd the best courses of action for businesses to achieve ADA compliance.In particular,we take a close look at the state of Wisconsins county websites as an investigation into whether government entities meet ADA compliance laws,and where they should look to improve.If you have any questions about acc
5、essibility,ADA compliance,or this white paper,dont hesitate to contact me directly.I read every email.02Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityTABLE OF CONTENTSOverview of ADA laws03Study:Wisconsin County Websites and ADA Compliance06Results and
6、 Findings07How Municipal Governments Can Achieve ADA Website Compliance09Website ADA Action Plan11Conclusion1203Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityINTRODUCTIONThe extent to which the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990(ADA)applies to com
7、panies websites remains something companies continue to navigate,especially considering the law was passed while the internet was in its nascent stage.However,when the Supreme Court refused to hear Robles v.Dominos and allowed the 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals ruling to stand,a precedent was
8、setbusinesses are liable under the ADA to maintain an accessible website.The 9th Circuit found for the plaintiff,agreeing that Dominos Pizza had an obligation under Section 508 of the ADA to make its website accessible to the visually or hearing impaired.With an onslaught of potential lawsuits on th
9、e horizon,Digital Authority Partners(DAP)audited a set of nearly 70 county websites in Wisconsin,looking to assess the degree to which government websites achieve ADA compliance and provide some guidance for other government entities looking to ensure their sites meet requirements.Our findings sugge
10、st that government websites,one of the most essential entities for democratized access,have a long way to go.Among our findings included more than 4 out of 10 websites failing,and fewer than 10%receiving a passing score of 90%or higher.Lets take a deeper look into ADA laws,the state of Wisconsins co
11、unty websites,and what lessons state and local governments as well as other organizations can take from our findings.04Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityOVERVIEW OF ADA LAWSThe ADA is a spiritual successor to the Civil Rights Act of 1964,wh
12、ich illegalized discimination based on race,national origin,religion,sex,and other identifiers.The National Council on Disability(NCD)drafted a report titled“Toward Independence,”recommending sweeping reform by Federal mandate.The recommendations of the NCD gained bipartisan support in 1988.Both Hou
13、ses of Congress worked together to produce the ADA,which passed Congress and was signed into law by President George H.W.Bush on July 26,1990.Amendments signed into law by President George W.Bush went into effect January 1,2009 to expand the definition of“disability”and allow more people under its u
14、mbrella of protection.Disabilities Covered Under The ADAThe ADA does not specify what disabilities it applies to.This is intentional,so it may be expanded to include disabilities not yet recognized at the time of passage.A list of covered conditions promulgated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Co
15、mmission is widely accepted as a list of conditions that easily fall under the purview ofthe ADA.They include conditions of varying severity,both permanent and temporary,including deafness and blindness,motor impairment,intellectual disabilities,cancer,autism,autoimmune deficiencies like HIV/AIDS an
16、d multiple sclerosis,limb impairments that result in reliance on a wheelchair,and mental illnesses like severe depression,anxiety,PTSD,schizophrenia,and OCD.Certain disorders ruled“anti-social,”like kleptomania or exhibitionism,are not protected by the ADA.05Study of ADA Compliance Among County Gove
17、rnment Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityLike many far-reaching laws,numerous Titles and Sections of the ADA are open to interpretation.It falls on the Federal judiciary,in cases like Robles v.Dominos,to set a precedent of interpretation.In the case,plaintiff Guillermo Robles,a legally b
18、lind American,sued Dominos Pizza after finding it too difficult to order food from the Dominos website with the help of a screen reader,a device that reads web test aloud to the vision-impaired.Companies like Dominos resist the interpretation of the pre-Internet-age ADA that would require them to sp
19、end thousands of dollars(by some estimates,up to$1 million)retrofitting their existing websites to comply with ADA standards.Since the ADA does not address website accessibility directly,disagreement exists on what even constitutes an ADA-compliant website.Titles Under The ADATitle I:EmploymentTitle
20、 II:Public Entities(and Public Transportation)Title III:Public Accomodations(and Commercial Facilities)Title IV:TelecommunicationsTitle V:Miscellaneous Provisions06Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityIn the wake of Robles,however,more high-pr
21、ofile lawsuits have targeted major companies for inaccessible websites.Other targets include Blick Art and the Five Guys restaurant franchise.Perhaps most notably,142 lawsuits addressing digital ADA compliance are pending against government entities,representing 50%of all ADA suits since 2011 and an
22、 increase by 37%since 2016.This follows a ruling by the US Department of Justice that local governmentsare liable under ADA Section 508.Jurisdictions facing ADA lawsuits over non-accessible websites include:The State of Florida The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Harris County,TX(Includes Hou
23、ston)Palm Beach County,FL The City of New York,NY The New York Police Department The City of Baltimore,MD The City of Boca Raton,FLThe applicable statute is Title III of the ADA.Title III is most clearly a civil rights law.It entitles“public accommodations”(businesses and government organizations)to
24、 provide effective communications with its consumers.Websites are,at their heart,a means of communication.Persons with disabilities represent a segment of consumers,so if they cant rely on the website as a means of communication they way other consumers can,they have a credible case that the site pr
25、oviders are failing to comply with Title III.The State of FloridaThe Pennsylvania Department of CorrectionsHarris County,TX(Includes Houston)Palm Beach County,FLThe City of New York,NYThe New York Police DepartmentThe City of Baltimore,MDThe City of Boca Raton,FLAny of these impairments could be eno
26、ugh to render key web-based content and functionality inaccessible to those Americans.Any website seeking to act as a venue of“public accommodation”must correct this inaccessibility or face the prospect of 1)lawsuits,and 2)a failure of core goals and values.8.1 million Visually-impaired Americans.7.
27、6 million Hearing-impaired Americans.19.9 million Mobility-And Motor-impaired Americans.07Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityNearly 1 in 5 Americans lives with a disability.This includes:run on two variables expected to correlatemedian house
28、hold income(y)and completion of a Bachelors degree(x).The model produced an R-Squared value of 0.56,meaning the x variable explains 56%of the variations in the y variableindicative of a very strong correlation and a high degree of data integrity.DAP conducted a study that examined the websites of ro
29、ughly 70 counties in the state of Wisconsin.In this study,we discuss the methodology,findings,conclusions,and how local governments can achieve ADA website compliance.The purpose of the study was to determine how common are incidents of inaccessible county websites,the median pass or fail rates,and
30、to examine those pass/fail rates against various demographics.STUDY:WISCONSIN COUNTY WEBSITES AND ADA COMPLIANCE08Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityDefinition Of“Pass Rate”Websites were assessed to have either passed,partially passed,or fai
31、led in regards to a specific metric of accessibility.A“Pass”was assigned a value of+1.0.A“Partial Pass”was assigned a value of+0.5.A“Fail”was assigned a value of+0.We attempted to factor in the presence or absence of accessible forms on the subject websites,but discovered that this metric was non-ap
32、plicable to roughly 40 of the subject websites,so it was left out of the models.METHODDAP used the“Pass Rate”of the subject websites as the Y-axis variable for statistical models representing how many of the sites met various standards of compliance.The Pass Rate was compared against county demograp
33、hic data,including population size,population density,median household income,unemployment rate,and median age.To ensure data integrity,a linear regression model was09Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityDefinition Of“Accessible Forms”Accessib
34、le forms are online user-entry forms(e.g.contact forms,service request forms,order forms)that can be read and completed by persons with disabilities with no substantial extra hindrances.To be accessible,a web form must have clear labels for each field requiring user input,including adequate screen c
35、ontrast and other accommodations for the visually-impaired.Accessible forms must also have clear error messages with clear instructions for correction.If a form error only results in a field highlighted in read,a colorblind person or a blind person relying on a web reader may have no idea which fiel
36、d is creating the error message or how to remedy it.ANALYSES USEDDAP used the following analyses to draw its conclusions from the study:Linear RegressionLinear regression attempts to model the relationship between a“scalar response”(Y-axis,the dependentvariable)and one or more“explanatory variables”
37、(X-axis,independent variables).Univariate RegressionAlso known as“simple linear regression,”univariate regression analyzes only one explanatory variable(X-axis,independent variable)IBM WatsonA computer that can answer questions posed in verbal language,best-known for having defeated two returning ch
38、ampions in the game show Jeopardy in 2011.The Watson was used to perform:Predictive Modeling to determine which demographic data points most correlated with passing,partial passing,or failing results.Field Correlation Modeling to determine which fields were highly correlative.counties with lower pop
39、ulation density,there is a wide variance indicating a lack of governance and oversight to produce ADA compliant county sites.Median Household IncomeThe study did not reveal a correlation between median household income and the pass/fail rate of subject counties.10Study of ADA Compliance Among County
40、 Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityRESULTS AND FINDINGSThe study revealed widespread failures of compliance according to commonly-accepted standards of website accessibility under the ADA.This indicates a widespread exposure to potential lawsuits under the ADA,which could cost
41、 these jurisdictions money they can ill afford to lose,both in court costs and compliance costs.County Demographic DataOn the whole,the demographics of a county played little discernible role in the distribution of pass/fail results,although the wide variance of results at lower population sizes and
42、 densities could be indicative of lax governance in smaller populations.Population SizeThe study did not reveal population size to influence the pass/fail rate as a dependent variable.However,in counties with lower population sizes,there is a wide variance indicating a lack of governance and oversig
43、ht to produce ADA compliant county sites.Population DensityThe study did not reveal population density to influence the pass/fail rate as a dependent variable.However,inFigure 1.Average population versus pass rate11Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory Acce
44、ssibilityUnemployment RateThe study did not reveal a correlation between unemployment rate and the pass/fail rate of subject counties.Median AgeThe study did not reveal a correlation between median age and the pass/fail rate of subject counties.Figure 2.Pass rate versus median household income12Stud
45、y of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityOVERALL FINDINGSOur analysis revealed failing ADA compliance scores to be widespread.Nearly 44%of subject government websites are found to fall within a“failing”range of 40%-60%ADA-compliant.Further,only six of
46、 the municipal government websites surveyed achieved a“passing”score over 80%,and only two of the sites surveyed achieved passing scores higher than 90%.Interestingly,five government-contracted website design firms are responsible for nearly 80%of all government websites.The widespread nature of fai
47、led ADA audits on these sites suggests that they are not doing right by their government clients,considering the liability to expensive lawsuits this opens them up to.Median Fail RateThe median fail rate for surveyed websites that received failing grades fell between 50%and 55%,meaning sites that fa
48、iled usually failed significantly.Counties that PassSurveyed websites that received passing grades had median scores of 70%,indicating that counties that passed did so by significant margins.Website Elements that Contributed to Failing ScoresWebsite elements that commonly contributed to failing scor
49、es included:Non-Descriptive Alt Text.Alt text found in the websites images are either nonsensical(title assigned by the digital camera that took it);or the alt text is insufficiently descriptive.Either way,visually-impaired users who rely on a screen reader to read website content aloud to them are
50、left without any way to know what the image represents,undermining their comprehension of the site owners intentions.Small Font Sizes.Sub-standard font sizes are difficult for people with visual impairments to read.Improperly-Nested HTML Markup.Failing to nest HTML in an orderly fashion could result
51、 in a screen reader failing to read site content in the proper order,resulting in a jumbled and nonsensical reading of the site content.Non-Descriptive Links.Links are not anchored with text that provides a clear description of what the user will find when they click the link.This includes both link
52、s anchored by text,and links anchored by images that have insufficiently descriptive alt text.Descriptions of“Click Here”are insufficient if they do not tell the user what they will find when they click the link,because the screen reader might only read“Click Here.”Insufficient Color Contrast.Font c
53、olor is insufficient for people with visual impairments to distinguish it from the background in a way that it is legible.Even fonts that are different colors but in the same color tone may not be visible to users with color blindness or difficulty distinguishing that particular color.Inaccessible f
54、orms were the metric on which surveyed websites failed the most frequently.However,due to the limited applicability of this element,it was not included in the statistical modeling of the study.13Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityAlt Text“Al
55、t text”is short for“alternative text.”This is a kind of metadata assigned to each image on a website to describe the image.Most people who browse the website may never know that the alt text is there,but every web image has it.Alt text can be modified using tools in the sites Content Management Syst
56、em(CMS,i.e.Wordpress,Squarespace,etc.)or it can be embedded directly into the HTML code along with the photo-insertion code.Attention to alt text is critical for users of screen readers.Screen readers interpret the data on a website and attempt to“read aloud”what the code tells it.Screen readers can
57、not interpret images,only text.It can read metadata,including alt text,so if the alt text is highly descriptive,the site becomes much more functional for people with severe visual or reading impairments.If a site features a picture of a police officer directing traffic,the same image could With so m
58、any municipal governments failing to provide a compliant website,and so few compliant websites knocking it out of the park,clearly there is room for improvement.Municipal governments can take a number of proactive steps to increase the accessibility of their websites.While no agreed-upon universal s
59、tandard exists,any plan to bring a website into ADA compliance must address:Accommodations for visually-impaired users.Accommodations for screen readers with audio output,used by people who are legally blind or have severe visual or reading impairments.Accommodations for people who lack the motor fu
60、nction to manipulate a mouse or trackpad and must rely on keyboards or other input devices.The most common points of failure for municipal website accessibility are as follows:HOW MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS CAN ACHIEVE ADA WEBSITE COMPLIANCE14Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in th
61、e Age of Mandatory Accessibilityhave a range of alt texts.If the image was taken with a digital camera,the camera usually assigns each picture an alphanumeric sequential file name.If no one bothers to change the alt text,that gibberish title could remain in the alt textin other words,useless to a sc
62、reen reader.The alt text of the image could be changed to read“police officer.”Thats not bad but what is the police officer doing?Changing the alt text to a rich description“Police officer directing traffic while small children cross a busy street”is the most compliant choice,because it most closely
63、 approximates for the user of the screen reader the experience a person without visual impairments has while browsing the site.Accessible FormsAs mentioned before,accessible forms are user-input submission forms that require fields to be filled out,boxes to be checked,dropdown menus to be activated,
64、etc.The could include email contact forms,order forms,service request forms anything that requires user input.To comply with ADA Section 508,form fields need to include clear written instructions,since this might be clear to a user relying on a screen reader.For example,for a field marked“Address,”i
65、t might not be clear that only the street address should be entered,the city,sate,and zip code in later fields.“Street Address Including Unit Number”would be more complete.Form error messages also need to be addressed.Some forms indicate an error only by highlighting the culprit field in red.This is
66、 useless to a user relying on a screen reader,or a user who is red-colorblind.The user may have no idea which field is holding up the submission.Accessible forms will supplement any color-coding with text explaining the error(for example,text that says“Required Field Not Filled,”positioned next to t
67、he relevant field).15Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityProperty Nested HTML MarkupHTML is short for“hypertext markup language.”It is the standard coding language of web development,the code that allows web browsers to interpret data and ren
68、der it as the user experience intended by the web designer.Whether constructing the site from bare HTML code or using a CMS to manipulate site elements more intuitively,all websites are built on a bedrock of HTML code.HTML“nesting”refers to the sequence of elements from first to last,usually startin
69、g with the site title and then descending through header sizes,down to body text.If the HTML nesting is out of whack,a screen reader may read back site content in a jumbled,nonsensical order,destroying the users ability to comprehend the site.16Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Website
70、s in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityImage-anchored links create an extra problem if the alt text of the image is not adjusted.(See above.)The alt text will need to have the same lengthy“Click Here to Find”description in the alt text before it can be useful to visitors relying on screen readers.De
71、scriptive LinksLinks allow users to navigate to different subpages of the website,or to different websites entirely.Links can either be images or text.Text used as a link is called“anchor text.”Some anchor text is as simple as“Click Here.”For someone without visual impairment,the context of that“Cli
72、ck Here”link maybe be clearit could be obvious to them where they will end up when they“Click Here.”For a person using a screen reader,it might not be clear at all.“Click Here to View a Directory of Departmental Phone Numbers”is a much more descriptive,useful anchor text convention to useall the inf
73、ormation a user relying on a screen reader needs to know to get by on the site.Color ContrastContrasting colors are colors that are very different from each other in shade and tone.When set next to each other,they dont blend together and are not hard to distinguish from each other.White and black ar
74、e the two colors with the most contrast.White and light gray has much less contrast,because light gray is not that many shades darker than white.Red and green have high contrast,but green and slightly-lighter green do not.Failure to create enough contrast between the background and the text could re
75、sult in the site being difficult or impossible for visually-impaired people to read.The easiest way to address this is to place darker text against a lighter background,or vice versa.17Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityThe size of the font
76、plays a role in how much darker or lighter the text should be.Normal-sized text is usually fine if the text is at least 4.5x darker or lighter than the background.Larger text may only need 3x contrast.Larger text is defined as font size 18(24px)or larger;or 14(18.66px)or larger in bold typeface.Atte
77、mpting to create contrast will color alone may not be enough.For example,a designer might place green text against a red background in a similar shade.However,a person who is colorblind might just see that one uniform blank shade.However,if the background were a substantially lighter shade,the contr
78、ast could be sufficient for a colorblind person to read the content.18Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityCREATING YOUR WEBSITE ADA ACTION PLANWhile not a universally adopted model,the World Wide Web Consortium(W3C)published the first Web Con
79、tent Accessibility Guidelines(WCAG)in 1999.The guidelines were last updated in 2018(WCAG 2.1),and contain over 100 rules to follow in order to maintain an ADA-compliant website.Its easy to see why this feels like a heavy lift.WCAG 2.1 evaluations routinely unearth 40+ADA-compliance failures on the h
80、omepage alone.While scans for compliance failures can be performed by automated tools,digging into the underlying problem often requires a human to inspect the site at the code level.Many organizations will find it prudent to hire a third-party expert or firm to perform the evaluation.This evaluatio
81、n takes an average of two weeks,but turnaround times vary.To make the task of compliance more manageable,it helps to triage the fixes in order of priority:AAShould-HavesImportant but less-than-critical elements like proper content structure and HTML-nesting,as well as proper font sizes with adequate
82、 color contrast.ANice-To-HavesHelpful elements like no background during audio playback,scrolling elements,and content calibrated to a ninth-grade reading level.AMust-HavesCore elements like keyboard-accessible content and labels or instructions in form fields.19Study of ADA Compliance Among County
83、Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityOnce the checklist is compiled and triaged,the organization should look for a compliance-assist firm that is capable of addressing all of them at once.It can take anywhere from three weeks to several months for a qualified fixer to retrofit an
84、 entire site,depending on the complexity of the site.The purpose of the triage is to position at the top the biggest liabilitiesthe functions most likely to result in a user being unable to access site functionality,exposing the organization to an ADA Title III lawsuit.The further down the triage li
85、st the organization is able to get within available budget parameters,the lower the liabilityand,more importantly,the more users are able to obtain value from the website.Keeping an accessible website is also an ongoing task.ADA standards can and do change.The task should be revisited periodically t
86、o ensure continued compliance.Every new element added to the website must be audited for compliance as well.This will ensure that more costs are not incurred going back to fix elements that could have been rendered ADA-compliant in the first place.20Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government We
87、bsites in the Age of Mandatory AccessibilityCONCLUSIONup to the highest ideals of inclusive governance.Why wait to be sued?Government entities that have faced lawsuits have usually not only lost or settled,but faced hundreds of thousands of dollars in court costs and they have had to do the complian
88、ce retrofit anyway.In other words,money will need to be spent either now or later,but its cheaper to spend it now.Organizations can get out in front of potential lawsuits by:Performing an audit of their current websites accessibility,either in-house or with the help of third-party experts,assessing
89、the sites ADA compliance against the standards of WCAG 2.1.For organizations with the opportunity to start fresh or build their first websites from scratch,the project can be inaugurated with a commitment to ADA compliance from the start,coupled with an ongoing commitment to remain accessible as the
90、 site evolves.This is far-and-away the cheapest way to go about creating an accessible digital presence.Dominos loss in Robles means that the push for ADA-compliant websites is only just beginning.Moreover,government websites are particularly in the crosshairs,with the sharpest increase and represen
91、tation of any class of organization facing an ADA lawsuit on account of its website.In a way,this is appropriate.Governments,in theory,are the arm of the people.Their services,including web services,are in service of the people who vote for them,pay their salaries with tax dollars,and benefit from o
92、rganizations of public good.Thats the commission of a government,be it municipal,state,or Federal.What good is that mandate if up to a fifth of the people the organization was meant to represent and serve are left out in the cold?If theres any lesson from the ADA as a part of the legacy of Civil Rig
93、hts,it is that disabled citizens are entitled to the same level of service from their government as anyone else.State and municipal government entities face not only a challenge and a legal hurdle,but an opportunity to live21Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mand
94、atory AccessibilityEither choice is a step into a more compliant future,and a vote in favor of the voices of historically marginalized people,whose valuable voices can re-enter the public square with a perspective that benefits people of all ability profiles.Brick-and-mortar businesses and public ac
95、commodations faced growing pains and transition expenses when the mandate came to ensure access to all consumers and constituents,able-bodied or otherwise.It resulted in a more democratized public square.The Internet is the next frontier on this playing field and its full steam ahead to a more accessible online public square.22Study of ADA Compliance Among County Government Websites in the Age of Mandatory Accessibility+1 312- W Merchandise Mart Plaza#1212 Chicago,Illinois 60654hellodigitalauthority.meFor more about ADA compliance and website accessibility,contact us directly: