Accessibility is on the minds of most public sector and many private sector organizations in Ontario, Canada that are creating new or significantly upgrading their existing websites. The government is mandating conformance to strict guidelines defined by WCAG 2.0. Does SharePoint have what it takes to do the job? In this presentation I provide you with an overview of the Accessibility to Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and its relationship to WCAG 2.0, and outline the key areas that need to be considered when building AODA-compliant sites. Finally I will present results of short experiments I did on SharePoint 2010 as it relates to accessibility.

1. Accessing SharePoint 2010
Haniel Croitoru, MSc, PMP, PMI-ACP
J U NE 21 , 20 1 1

2. Haniel Croitoru
• Senior SharePoint consultant with over 15 years of
experience
• Worked in public and private sector verticals including
healthcare, financial services, utilities, and consulting
Scrum Master,
Project Manager,
SharePoint Evangelist
• Since 2003 focusing on SharePoint, delivering solutions
and contributing as Business Analyst and Trainer
• Masters of Science in Computer Science with a specialty
in Computer-Assisted Orthopedic Surgery from Queen’s
University and a Master’s Certificate in Project
Management from the York Schulich School of Business
• Project Management Professional (PMP) since 2007 and
an Agile Certified Practitioner since 2013
From Folders to Metadata – a short lesson in history
6/21/2011
2

3. Agenda
• Disability in everyday life
• Accessibility to Ontarians
• Achieving accessibility
• SharePoint experiment
• Final thoughts
From Folders to Metadata – a short lesson in history
6/21/2011
3

4. disabilities in everyday life

5. Internet in our everyday lives

6. A reality for disabled people
may look like

7. A reality for disabled people
2+2=
may seem like

8. People with disabilities in Canada
25.0%
• In 2006, 14.3% (4.4M) of Canadians reported
having a disability.
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
NL
PE
NS
NB
QC
ON
MB
SK
AB
BC
YT
NT
NU

9. Types of Disabilities
Dysfunction in one or more
of the processes involved in
understanding or using
symbols or spoken language
Auditory (deafness or
hearing impediment)
Coordination (lack of
physical co-ordination,
diabetes mellitus,
amputation)
Coordination
(epilepsy, a brain
injury, varying
paralysis)
Mental impairment or a
developmental disability,
mental disorder
Visual (blindness or
visual impediment)
Speech (muteness or
speech impediment)
Mobility (physical reliance on a
guide dog or other animal or on a
wheelchair or other remedial
appliance or device)

10. accessibility to ontarians

11. AODA
• Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005
• Recognizing the history of discrimination against persons with
disabilities in Ontario, the purpose of this Act is to benefit all
Ontarians by,
1.
2.
•
Developing, implementing and enforcing accessibility standards in
order to achieve accessibility for Ontarians with disabilities with
respect to goods, services, facilities, accommodation, employment,
buildings, structures and premises on or before January 1, 2025; and
Providing for the involvement of persons with disabilities, of the
Government of Ontario and of representatives of industries and of
various sectors of the economy in the development of the
accessibility standards. 2005, c. 11, s. 1.

12. AODA Section 14
• Section 14 (INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
STANDARDS) applies to Accessible websites and web
content
• AODA uses W3C WCAG 2.0 as its conformance
benchmark.
• By 2021 all new and existing internet and intranet sites
for the Government of Ontario, Legislative Assembly,
designated public sector organizations and large
organizations must conform to WCAG 2.0 Level AA.
• Other guideline: Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines
(ATAG), Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA)
and the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG).

13. WCAG 2.0
• The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) explain how to
make Web content more accessible to people with disabilities.
• Content - information presented to a user in a web page: text, images, forms,
sounds, etc.
• Principles of Accessibility
• Perceivable
• Operable
• Understandable
• Robust
• For each guideline, there are testable success criteria, which are at
three levels: A, AA, and AAA

14. WCAG 2.0
• Perceivable - Information and user interface components must be
presentable to users in ways they can perceive (it can't be invisible
to all of their senses).
• Operable - User interface components and navigation must be
operable (the interface cannot require interaction that a user cannot
perform).
• Understandable - Information and the operation of user interface
must be understandable (the content or operation cannot be
beyond their understanding).
• Robust - Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted
reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive
technologies (as technologies and user agents evolve, the content
should remain accessible).

15. achieving accessibility

16. Achieving accessibility using WCAG
2.0
• Text Alternatives
• Seizures
• Time-based Media
• Navigable
• Adaptable
• Readable
• Distinguishable
• Predictable
• Keyboard Accessible
• Input Assistance
• Enough Time
• Compatible

17. Achieving accessibility using WCAG
2.0
• Text Alternatives
The logo on the left is
meaningless to someone
who doesn’t know
SharePoint and its
branding.

18. Achieving accessibility using WCAG
2.0
• Time-based Media
Users need the ability to
control the time it takes to
perceive video. This implies
having controls to pause,
stop, and rewind movies.

19. Achieving accessibility using WCAG
2.0
• Adaptable
Username: JDoe
DOB: Oct 20, 1974
Member since: Jan 1, 2012
Content should be
presentable in different
ways (e.g. simpler layout)
without losing information
or structure
Member Status:
Active
Last Access:
Today
Username:
DOB:
Member since:
Member Status:
Last Access: Today
JDoe
Oct 20, 1974
Jan 1, 2012
Active

20. Achieving accessibility using WCAG
2.0
• Distinguishable
Hello World
Make it easier for users
to see and hear content
including separating
foreground from
background

21. Achieving accessibility using WCAG
2.0
• Keyboard Accessible
Make all functionality
available from a
keyboard

22. Achieving accessibility using WCAG
2.0
• Enough Time
Provide users enough
time to read and use
content

23. Achieving accessibility using WCAG
2.0
• Seizures
Do not design content in
a way that is known to
cause seizures

24. Achieving accessibility using WCAG
2.0
• Navigable
Provide ways to help
users navigate, find
content, and determine
where they are

25. Achieving accessibility using WCAG
2.0
• Readable
pLaNeS Clip Each Other at
O'HARE;
Make text content
readable and
understandable

26. Achieving accessibility using WCAG
2.0
• Predictable
Make Web pages appear
and operate in
predictable ways

27. Achieving accessibility using WCAG
2.0
• Input Assistance
Help users avoid and
correct mistakes

28. Achieving accessibility using WCAG
2.0
• Compatible
Maximize compatibility
with current and future
user agents, including
assistive technologies

29. sharepoint experiment

30. Validating website accessibility
• Over 80 tools available
to validate website
accessibility (source:
W3C Web Accessibility
Initiative).
• Tools vary in scope of
validation, levels of
automated testing,
reporting, accessibility
guidelines tested,
licensing and more.

31. SharePoint 2010 Experiment
• Scenario 1: Out of the
box publishing site

32. SharePoint 2010 Experiment
Issues
Achecker
10 known errors, 220 potential
errors, 54 HTML validation errors,
804 CSS validation errors
PowerMapper
14 accessibility issues
AMP
80% WCAG Level A compliance
100% WCAG Level AA compliance
HiSoftware® Cynthia Says™
90% WCAG Level AA compliance
W3C Markup Validation Service
54 errors
Total Validator
97 errors, 8 warnings

33. SharePoint 2010 Experiment
• Scenario 1: Out of the
box team site

34. SharePoint 2010 Experiment
Issues
Achecker
31 known errors, 412 potential
errors, 151 HTML validation errors,
462 CSS validation errors
PowerMapper
22 accessibility issues
AMP
88% WCAG Level A compliance
100% WCAG Level AA compliance
HiSoftware® Cynthia Says™
83% WCAG Level AA compliance
W3C Markup Validation Service
151 errors, 33 warnings
Total Validator
291 errors, 16 warnings

35. Why the differences
• Qualitative vs. quantitative
• Automated (e.g. computer) vs. Manual (e.g. CNIB)
• Server-generated pages vs. final viewable (DOM) pages
• Categorization of inconsistencies

36. final thoughts

37. Final Thoughts
• Accessibility is here to stay (as long as there are
disabled people)
• Don’t always believe Microsoft’s claims.
• WCAG 2.0 are guidelines to achieve AODA compliance.
They are not strict standards.
• Validation tools vary in the way they test websites.
• Agree on validation tool(s) early in the project lifecycle.
• When possible, content validation should be excluded
as it will often be out of control of the team building the
site.

38. Useful Links
• Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005
www.elaws.gov.on.ca/html/source/regs/english/2011/elaws_src_regs_r1119
1_e.htm
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0
www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/
• Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog – Accessibility and SharePoint 2010
sharepoint.microsoft.com/blog/Pages/BlogPost.aspx?pID=431
• CNIB Accessibility Services
www.cnib.ca/en/services/accessibilities/

39. Validation Tools
• Achecker
achecker.ca/checker/index.php
• AMP
amp.ssbbartgroup.com/express
• HiSoftware® Cynthia Says™ Portal
www.contentquality.com/
• PowerMapper SortSite – Accessibility Checker and Validator
www.powermapper.com/products/sortsite/checks/accessibilitychecks.htm
• Total Validator
www.totalvalidator.com
• W3C Markup Validation Service
validator.w3.org/

40. Thank You
haniel@vertexpoint.com
ca.linkedin.com/in/hanielcroitoru
@TheSharePointPM
www.thesharepointpm.com