Skip to content 
Translations
About RSS
Search- Overview
- Accessibility Topics
- Presentation Outlines
- Workshop Outline
Example Outline for a Web Accessibility Workshop
[Editor's draft in progress - updated 20 August 2010]
Page Contents
Introduction
This page provides an overview and outline for an example three-day hands-on workshop on web accessibility, as a basis for developing customized training for specific audience needs and goals. It links to Accessibility Topics and WAI resources that you can use as building blocks to develop your presentation and activity materials.
See also: How to Make Your Presentations Accessible to All for guidance on ensuring that your training is accessible to all of your audience, including participants with disabilities.
Overview
Scenario: A three-day hands-on workshop to inform participants about web accessibility and to teach developers how to implement accessibility requirements.
Target audience:
- Day 1: Managers and decision makers
- Days 1 and 2: Web content authors and visual designers
- All 3 days: Website developers and application programmers
Other key audiences include staff from public relations, marketing, communications, human resources, procurement, legal and policy advisors, staff representatives, and many more involved with the Web.
Overall learning objectives:
After the training, managers and decision makers should be able to:
- Explain the importance of web accessibility for people with disabilities and older people
- List common barriers experienced by people with disabilities and older people
- Describe the business case that influences an organization's web accessibility efforts
In addition, authors and non-technical developers should also be able to:
- Explain the role of the WAI guidelines and other components in achieving an accessible Web
- Apply basic principles of accessibility during the preparation of web content
- Carry out preliminary checks of websites for accessibility and communicate the results
Website developers and application programmers should additionally be able to:
- Utilize WCAG 2.0 and its supporting documents as a guide to implementing accessible websites
- Apply WCAG 2.0 techniques to develop accessible layouts, forms, tables, and other content
- Evaluate websites for conformance with WCAG 2.0 and communicate the results
Schedule
Day 1 schedule
- 09:00 - 10:30 Session 1 - Introduction to web accessibility
- 10:30 - 11:00 Break
- 11:00 - 12:30 Session 2 - Components of web accessibility
- 12:30 - 13:30 Lunch
- 13:30 - 15:00 Session 3 - Managing web accessibility
- 15:00 - 15:30 Break
- 15:30 - 17:00 Session 4 - Accessible content authoring
Day 2 schedule
- 09:00 - 09:30 Session 1 - Working with WCAG 2.0
- 09:30 - 10:30 Session 2 - Accessible visual design and CSS
- 10:30 - 11:00 Break
- 11:00 - 11:45 Session 3 - Accessible images
- 11:45 - 12:30 Session 4 - Accessible multimedia
- 12:30 - 13:30 Lunch
- 13:30 - 15:00 Session 5 - Accessible page structure
- 15:00 - 15:30 Break
- 15:30 - 17:00 Session 6 - Accessible navigation and orientation
Day 3 schedule
- 09:30 - 11:00 Session 1 - Accessible tables
- 11:00 - 11:30 Break
- 11:30 - 12:30 Session 2 - Accessible forms
- 12:30 - 13:30 Lunch
- 13:30 - 15:00 Session 3 - Basics of accessible scripting and WAI-ARIA
- 15:00 - 15:30 Break
- 15:30 - 16:00 Session 4 - Principles of conformance evaluation
- 16:00 - 17:00 Session 5 - Workshop review and lessons learned
Session Descriptions
Day 1 - Session 1: Introduction to web accessibility
Target audience: Project managers and decision makers; corporate communications and marketing staff; content authors; website developers
Learning Objectives - participants will be able to:
- Explain the importance of web accessibility for people with disabilities and older people
- List common barriers experienced by people with disabilities and older people
- Describe the benefits of web accessibility for people with and without disabilities
- Understand that the W3C/WAI Guidelines are the international standard for web accessibility
Outline:
- Overview of web accessibility, including:
- Videos showing people with disabilities using the Web
- Information about the ageing population and age-related impairments
- Relevant legislation or other policies applicable to participants' organizations
- Carry-over benefits of universal design for people with and without disabilities
- Business benefits of web accessibility, including some case studies
- Overlapping experiences of people with disabilities and mobile users
- Introduction to WAI guidelines as the international standard for making the Web accessible
Related Accessibility Topics:
- Introducing Web Accessibility
- How People with Disabilities Use the Web
- Business Case for Web Accessibility
- Web Accessibility and Older People
- Web Accessibility Policy and Legislation
- Accessibility and the Mobile Web
Day 1 - Session 2: Components of web accessibility
Target audience: Project managers; communications and marketing staff; content authors; website developers
Learning Objectives:
- Explain the components of web accessibility, including authoring tools and user agents
- Explain the role of the W3C/WAI Guidelines in providing a technical standard for accessibility
- Define the basic concepts of WCAG 2.0, its organizing principles, and supporting guidelines
- Describe the importance of authoring tools that support the production of accessible content
- Describe the benefits of involving people with disabilities throughout any web development
Outline:
- Hands-on experiential session showing the use of adaptive strategies and assistive technologies
- Introduction to the Components of Web Accessibility
- Introduction to WCAG 2.0 and its four basic design principles
- Benefits of WCAG 2.0 (Benefits of WCAG 2 presentation)
- Importance of accessible authoring tools, including content management systems
- Benefits of involving users in all aspects of web projects from the beginning
Handouts:
Related Accessibility Topics:
- Components of Web Accessibility
- Involving Users in Web Projects
- Introducing WCAG 2.0
- How People with Disabilities Use the Web
Day 1 - Session 3: Managing web accessibility
Target audience: Project managers; communications and marketing staff; content authors; website developers
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the steps needed to develop an implementation plan for web accessibility
- Describe the steps needed to develop organizational policies on web accessibility
- Identify key players in achieving an accessible website
- Describe the principles for selecting appropriate authoring and evaluation tools
- Conduct a preliminary check of websites for accessibility and communicate the results
Outline:
- Developing a web accessibility implementation plan
- Requirements for an accessibility policy for an organization
- Approaches to improving the accessibility of an organization's existing website
- Identification of key players (people, departments) with the organization who might be responsible for developing, managing, and maintaining an accessible site
- Considerations in selecting authoring tools and content management systems (CMS's)
- Selecting evaluation tools for checking web accessibility
- Undertaking and documenting a quick check for web accessibility with exercise
Related Accessibility Topics:
- Improving the Accessibility of Existing Websites
- Web Accessibility Policy and Legislation
- Authoring Tool Accessibility and ATAG
- Quick Check for Web Accessibility
Day 1 - Session 4: Accessible content authoring
Target audience: Content authors; communications and marketing staff; website developers; project managers
Note: This session is just an introduction to the preparation of accessible web content. Additional and focused training may be required for web content authors.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe the accessibility requirements for text, including colors and presentation
- Author accessible web content, including text-alternatives, text, links, and other page elements
Outline:
- Introduction to the accessibility requirements for making web content readable and understandable (including reading level considerations and creating clear links)
- Introduction to other important accessibility features of good content:
- Describing the purpose of images with good alt-text (e.g. non-text content)
- Page organization (e.g. headings, labels, and other relationships)
- Visual presentation of text (e.g. color, contrast, visual presentation, etc)
- Hands-on accessible content exercise, for instance one of the following:
- rewriting material to make it more readable and understandable
- organizing/structuring page content
- writing appropriate alt-text for a variety of different images in different contexts
- visual presentation of the page
- Additional requirements for preparing accessible content (e.g. abbreviations and acronyms and jargon and unusual words)
Related Accessibility Topics:
Day 2 - Session 1: Working with WCAG 2.0
Target audience: web developers and application programmers; content authors; project managers
Learning Objectives:
- Explain the concepts of WCAG 2.0 and list its supporting documents
- Use WCAG 2.0 documents to support practical implementation and testing
- Explain the technical benefits of and improvements in WCAG 2.0
Outline:
- Introduction to the WCAG 2.0 documents
- Demonstration of the customizability and the usage of How to Meet WCAG 2.0 in different situations
- Benefits of WCAG 2, especially in relation to testability and adaptability to different situations
- Applicability of WCAG 2.0 to all web technologies
- Introduction to accessibility support
Related Accessibility Topics:
Day 2 - Session 2: Accessible visual design and CSS
Target audience: web developers and application programmers; content authors
Learning Objectives:
- Embrace the differences between the Web and print media
- Know the accessibility requirements for visual web page design and how to test for them
- Incorporate accessibility requirements in the visual design and development of web pages
Outline:
- Overview of the adaptability of the Web, highlighting the differences from print media
- Accessibility aspects of the visual design of a website
- Importance of the use of color and contrast in accessible design
- Advisory techniques that enhance a site's readability, including the visual presentation
- Accessibility requirements for resizable text and flexible page layout
- Practical exercise, such as identifying pages with inaccessible visual design
- Introduction to the issues associated with movement on web pages (e.g. scrolling text, animations, flashing/flickering)
Related Accessibility Topics:
Day 2 - Session 3: Accessible images
Target audience: web developers and application programmers; content authors
Learning Objectives:
- Know the technical accessibility requirements for non-text material
- Implement and test appropriate text alternatives for a wide range of image-based content
Outline:
- Introduction to the many different types of images and different contexts that require consideration for accessibility
- Providing access to data and longer descriptions for diagrams, graphs, photographs, etc
- Use of CSS to include decorative and formatting images
- Introduction to the accessibility issues of images of text
- Practical hands-on exercise, for instance to improve the accessibility of some image-heavy pages
- Introduction to additional image-related issues such as sensory experiences and use of CAPTCHA
Related Accessibility Topics:
Day 2 - Session 4: Accessible multimedia
Target audience: web developers and application programmers; content authors
Learning Objectives:
- Know the accessibility requirements for multimedia
- Implement and test appropriate accessible alternatives for multimedia materials
Outline:
- Introduction to the need for accessible synchronized media (audio & video; recorded & real-time)
- Requirements for accessible user agents
- Illustration of the accessibility issues with some media players
- Solutions for accessible pre-recorded media, including transcripts , captions, audio-description, and sign language
- Practical hands-on exercise, for instance captioning some video with an appropriate tool
- Introduction to the Issues and solutions for live audio and live synchronized media (video)
Related Accessibility Topics:
- Designing Accessible Websites with WCAG 2
- Conformance Evaluation for Web Accessibility
- Browser Accessibility and UAAG
Day 2 - Session 5: Accessible page structure
Target audience: web developers and application programmers; content authors
Learning Objectives:
- Know the necessity of information and relationships for understanding web page structure
- Implement and test semantic structure and links to aid understanding and navigation of web pages
Outline:
- Introduction to the accessibility benefits of page information and structure
- Use of headings for organizing page content, and the use of correct heading levels
- Importance of lists in understanding and navigating web pages
- Additional page navigation techniques such as 'skip links' and providing a table of contents
- Importance of ensuring that content is presented in a meaningful sequence with a sequential navigation order
- Practical hands-on exercise, for instance one of the following:
- Identification of accessibility improvements for page structure required for some sites
- Coding accessible page navigation, headings and lists from text files or page printouts
Related Accessibility Topics:
Day 2 - Session 6: Accessible site navigation and orientation
Target audience: web developers and application programmers; content authors
Learning Objectives:
- Know the requirements for accessible website navigation and orientation
- Implement and test accessible navigation elements and provide meaningful navigation sequences and orientation features
Outline:
- Introduction to the importance of website navigation, including
- Provision of multiple ways to locate a web page
- Provision of consistent navigation across a website
- Ensuring that the purpose of links is clear
- Provision of information about the user's current location, including
- Importance of having page titles that describe the page's topic or purpose
- Practical hands-on exercise, for instance one of the following:
- identifying inaccessible navigation on some sites
- identifying orientation improvements for some sites
- Introduction to some of the known failures for creating links and menus such as scripts emulating links and scripted drop-down boxes
Related Accessibility Topics:
Day 3 - Session 1: Accessible tables
Target audience: web developers and application programmers
Learning Objectives:
- Know the requirements for accessible data tables
- Implement and test accessible data tables
Outline:
- Introduction to the concept of accessible tables requiring explicit information and relationships to aid understanding
- Introduction of the known failures for presenting tables
- Accessible table markup, including header cells with scope attributes, table titles and summaries
- Advanced table markup for more complex tables, including cell association
- Illustration of table navigation techniques used by assistive technology users
- Practical hands-on exercise, for instance one of the following:
- coding some simple and complex tables
- evaluating some tables for accessibility and recommending improvements
- Introduction of some advisory techniques for tables such as cell highlighting on hover
Related Accessibility Topics:
Day 3 - Session 2: Accessible forms
Target audience: web developers and application programmers
Learning Objectives:
- Know the accessibility requirements for accessible forms
- Implement and test accessibility features of forms
Outline:
- Introduction of the information and relationship requirements for basic form accessibility
- Introduction of some of the known failures for forms such as automatic submission and issues with phone numbers
- Accessible form features such as labels and instructions, keyboard compatible controls, and required fields
- Advisory techniques such as linear form design and warning users about changes of context
- Practical hands-on exercise, for instance one of the following:
- Code some forms accessibly from printed versions
- Evaluate some online forms for accessibility and recommend improvements
- Introduction to advanced accessibility approaches for completing forms, including error correction suggestions, error prevention, context sensitive help, client-side validation, and re-authenticating
- Accessibility implications of error correction and reporting approaches (client-side - server-side)
- Adequate interaction time as an issue for form completion security
Related Accessibility Topics:
Day 3 - Session 3: Basics of accessible scripting and WAI-ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications)
Target audience: web developers and application programmers
Learning Objectives:
- Identify common barriers in scripted content
- Learn to include progressive enhancement techniques in the development process
- Understand the additional accessibility provided by WAI-ARIA for rich internet applications
- Implement and test basic accessibility scripting features
Outline:
- Introduction to the barriers created by some scripting techniques
- Introduction to the concept of progressive enhancement with scripting
- Introduction to scripting techniques that satisfy WCAG 2.0 success criteria
- Introduction to WAI-ARIA and accessibility barriers in rich internet applications
- Implications of scripting for keyboard usage and WAI-ARIA techniques to improve keyboard usage and setting of focus
- Hands-on analysis of scripting challenges related to common applications and the techniques that can be used to satisfy WCAG 2.0. Among features analyzed will be:
- embedded objects such as media players
- device specific events
- generic elements as interface controls
- scripting elements to emulate links
- scripted drop-down boxes
- Provision of related resources, including the use of libraries and toolkits with WAI-ARIA built in
Related Accessibility Topics:
- Designing Accessible Websites with WCAG 2
- Accessible Rich Internet Applications
- Conformance Evaluation for Web Accessibility
Day 3 - Session 4: Principles of conformance evaluation
Target audience: web developers and application programmers
Learning Objectives:
- Define the concept of a conformance evaluation for websites and the role of testing with users
- Understand the concept of accessibility support and its applicability to the organization's website
Outline:
- Introduction of the concept of website conformance testing as a formal extension of the testing done in previous sessions
- Process for conformance evaluation of websites for accessibility
- WCAG 2.0 conformance requirements and conformance claims
- Selection of automated tools and their benefits and drawbacks
- Combining testing with users with formal conformance evaluation methods
- Introduction of the concept of accessibility supported within the organization, the country, the target-market, etc
Related Accessibility Topics:
Day 3 - Session 5: Workshop review and lessons learned
Target audience: web developers and application programmers
Session Objectives:
- Ensure participants have understood the key messages from the workshop
Outline:
- General question and answer (Q&A) to elaborate on anything needing clarification
- Summary of the overall requirements for accessible web design and development
- Reiteration of the value of using How to Meet WCAG 2.0 as a gateway to WCAG 2.0
- Opportunities for follow-up, including the WAI-IG email list
Suggested activity:
- Ask participants to write down something they learned in the last two days that they will incorporate in their work immediately, something that surprised them, or the most interesting thing they learned; then share it with the group
Important Notes
Note: this is an initial workshop outline and a follow up may be appropriate for content authors as a quality assurance 'line of defence', working more with their content management system (CMS) or authoring tools on accessibility checking, and reinforcing their role in developing and publishing accessible content.
Additional notes for presenters for the technical sessions on days 2 and 3:
- Allow time at the end of each session to sum up the requirements and clarify any issues arising from the session
- Finish days 1 and 2 with a brief summary of the day; start days 2 and 3 with a brief summary of the previous day
- Not all WCAG 2.0 success criteria are being presented and discussed in this workshop
- Describe the issues conceptually, the barriers that exist for people with disabilities and older people, the benefits to others like mobile users, benefits for search engine optimization (SEO), etc
- Illustrate barriers with the Before and After Demonstration (BAD) site or pages from the organization's website (or a similar or competitor organization)
- Introduce the solutions (sufficient techniques) and how to find them in How to Meet WCAG 2.0, highlighting advisory techniques as 'best practice'
- Introduce appropriate evaluation techniques and tools for each issue
- Carry out an activity or exercise, possibly based on the Before and After Demo (BAD) site or the organization's site (or a similar or competitor's site), to reinforce the learning for some issues, with discussion of the solutions applied
[Previous Page - Presentation Outlines | Top of Page]
Status: Editor's draft in progress - updated 20 August 2010.
Please send comments to wai-eo-editors@w3.org (a publicly archived list)
