Accessibility

In the beginning...

• 1990: TimBL invents HTML/HTTP/browser
• 1994: W3C founded
• 1995: Trace Center publishes guidelines
• 1997: Microsoft delivers MSAA
• 1997: W3C/WAI founded

WCAG 1 in a nutshell

• alt text
• no relying on color alone
• proper use of markup
• clear language
• graceful transformation / progressive enhancement
• device independence
• clear navigation / operation

WCAG 1 limitations

• very HTML-centric
• over 60 checkpoints
• not very measurable
• technology outpaced it
  • first in multimedia, then in HTML itself

The world in 1999

• Reference PC display: 15” CRT, 1280 * 1024 * 24 bit
• HTML 4.01
• Browser Wars
• ECMAScript 2 (!)
• VR == VRML

Mobile devices in 1999

WCAG 2 vs. WCAG 1

• very HTML-centric pretty agnostic
• over 60 12 checkpoints
• not very pretty measurable
• technology outpaced it (?)

Making POUR decisions

Four principles of WCAG 2.0

1. Perceivable
2. Operable
3. Understandable
4. Robust

Where we are strong

• community(/ies)
• structure
• accessible (assistive) technology

Where we aren't

• space and motion (e.g. VR/AR cases)
• vestibular disorders
• environmental captioning
• new input mechanisms

Thank you