Accessibility #15
Description
Accessibility is very important to us. We've previously undertaken work to bring one of Janeway's themes up to WCAG 2.1 AA standards but this has since slipped.
We are now working with Iowa State University Libraries on a project to begin a review process of all of Janeway including:
- Automated testing
- Manual testing
Meanwhile WCAG 2.2 has been published, so we are now working towards that.This is essential as we want as many people as possible to be able to use Janeway with ease.
Activities
- A11y audit of Janeway Front Office
- Document the sections of WCAG 2.2 AA that apply to Janeway
- Document the tests and their context.
- Review known issues for A11y and include.
- Write up and triage issues into future development work
- Ensure compliance when new features are developed
- Incorporate A11y into the design process
- Document ways in which we can test compliance with the sections of WCAG 2.2 AA that apply to Janeway
- Apply the testing methods
Timeline
Janeway is developed by a small team but we are committed to bringing Janeway up to WCAG 2.2 AA compliance within 2024.
- Oct 2023 - Recruit new staff member to work on accessibility
- Oct - Feb 2024 - Document sections and compliance testing process
- Mar - Dec 2024 - Phase 1 - Janeway Front of House
- Jan - Dec 2025 - Phase 2 - Janeway Back Office (including facilitating more accessible user content for the Front of House).
This process will be ongoing after that with changes reviewed to ensure they meet accessibility standards.
Note
One interesting thing to note is that we can never guarantee that Janeway is WCAG 2.2 AA compliant and any accessibility statement will need to make this clear. This is primarily due to the fact that we allow user-edited content to be published, where we have no control over the accessibility of what they upload. In Phase 2 we will be considering how we can facilitate users in publishing accessible content.