Accessibility workshop for OpenProject

When an application or a website is correctly designed and developed, all users can equally access the information and functionalities. This is a goal of OpenProject. Already for the first release of OpenProject, major aspects with regard to accessibility have been considered when designing and implementing new functionalities. Now, we set the goals even higher. We want to eliminate remaining barriers within the software and to coach the team with regard to future design and development of the software.
Carola Meixner, Consultant User Centered Test, from T-Systems Multimedia Solutions was invited to give a one day accessibility workshop for the OpenProject Foundation in Berlin.

What have we learned during this day?

What is digital Accessibility?

There are several definitions of accessibility. In general, one can say that the software should be usable for disabled people without any major difficulties and without the help of others.
The principles of the WCAG 2.0 divide this into four principles:

• Perceivable (e.g. visual content needs text alternatives)
• Operable (i.e. key board usage)
• Understandable
• Robust (compatibility with a variety of user agents and assisitive technologies)

What to consider when building accessible software?

Software cannot just be accessible at some point and loose the user at one specific functionality. Everything needs to be designed and implemented with regard to accessibility. There shouldn’t be any traps or dead ends.

How can we better understand the user groups?

Users can have a multitude of different disabilities, e.g.

Disabilities in visibility, e.g. for colours, contrasts or eye sight

What to consider for the development?

• Perceivable
  • enough contrasts
  • big font size
  • scaleable font size
  • avoid use of images of text

Physical disabilities

What to consider for the development?

• Operable
  • each functionality can be used with the keyboard
  • there is no limitation in time
  • there are no keyboard traps or dead ends
  • assistance for orientation and navigation are available
  • skip groups of elements
  • alternative access points
  • understandable focus order
  • visual keyboard focus
  • visual position in the application

• Understandable
  • focus and activation are separated
  • change of settings does not lead to context change
  • navigation mechanisms are standardized
  • avoiding errors and error correction is supported

Deaf users

What to consider for the development?

• Perceivable
  • videos have subtitles
  • sign language for videos and audio

• Understandable
  • easy language will be used
  • avoid abbreviations

Blind users

What to consider for the development?

• Perceivable
  • videos have alternative audio or texts
  • visuals have alternative texts
  • colour is not the only point of information
  • relations and information are available without layout
  • meaningful order of content
  • control of audio play

• Operable
  • structural elements are available
    • headers
    • labels
    • field groups
    • lists
    • table headings, etc.
  • website headers are available
  • the purpose of a link is clear

• Understandable
  • focus and activating are separated
  • change of settings does not lead to context change
  • avoiding errors and error correction is supported
  • same content is named equally
  • obligatory fields are marked
  • navigation mechanisms are standardized
  • language is marked
  • avoid or explain abbreviations

• Robust
  • correct syntax
  • name, role, value will be detected by program

What to consider for OpenProject?

For the design and development of OpenProject we follow the criteria of the Accessible information technology regulation (BITV 2.0).
Further information: WAI ARIA, the official site of Web Accessibility initiative W3C: http://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria/complete