Even though WCAG 2.0 was written before smartphones put mobile accessibility in the public eye, WCAG 2.0 was written to be forward-thinking and has proved to be so. During this session, you’ll learn about available mobile accessibility resources from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. You’ll also learn about the new work going on in the Mobile Accessibility Task Force to create and update techniques for WCAG in mobile websites and native apps.

1. Mobile Accessibility on the Move
MOBILE ACTIVITY IN W3C WEB ACCESSIBILITY INITIATIVE
(WAI)

2. Mobile Has Increased Exponentially
US smartphone ownership has increased
25% to 143 million and tablet ownership
has increased 55% to 71 million
Mobile is more than just phones
Phones
Tablets
TV Remotes
Videogame controllers
Other devices

3. Mobile Internet Use Has Increase
93%
Smartphones and tablets have caused
Internet use to increase 93% since 2010
according to comScore.
According to Pew Internet
Research, 91% of the adult US
population owns a cellphone. The
breakout is as follows:
◦ 56% of US adults are smartphone
adopters.
◦ 35% of US adults have a cellphone that
isn’t a smartphone.
◦ 9% of US adults don’t own a cellphone at
all.

4. US Smartphone Demographics
Among all major US demographic groups, smartphone ownership has increased significantly
according to Nielsen
70% 81% 50%

5. Mobile Challenges All of Us
Smaller everything!
◦ Screens
◦ Keyboards
◦ Fonts
◦ Touch areas
Reliant mostly on touch
Access on the go – noisy
environments, one-handed
access, bandwidth issues

6. Mobile Provides New Opportunities
◦ Cheaper
◦ Portable
◦ Connect anywhere – WIFI and cellular coverage
◦ Reach a network of people easily
◦ Key assistive technology is built in
◦ Allows custom experiences with geo location, environmental awareness, proximity
sensors, accelerometer, camera, microphone, screen orientation etc.

7. What is Mobile Accessibility?
Ability to use device
and applications
effectively despite
challenges

8. Mobile Accessibility Impacts
Everyone
Aging Eyes
One handed
Fat fingers
Busy Eyes and Hands
Outside light
Noisy, public spaces

9. What is W3C WAI?
Web Accessibility Initiative under the W3C
WAI develops strategies, guidelines, resources to make the Web accessible:
◦ Accessibility support in W3C technologies
◦ Guidelines for implementing accessibility
◦ Methods for evaluating accessibility
◦ Developing resources for education and outreach
◦ Coordinating with research and development
◦ Standards harmonization

10. W3C WAI & Mobile Accessibility
Existing accessibility guidelines and standards provide guidance on mobile accessibility
◦ WCAG 2.0 was designed to be forward-compatible, and is proving to be so
◦ UAAG 2.0 includes mobile in guidelines for user agent and user interface accessibility
◦ IndieUI Events is new work toward web apps independent of device or input method
◦ Many additional W3C and WAI resources that support mobile accessibility
See more at http://w3.org/wai/mobile

11. Mobile Accessibility Taskforce
The objective of the Mobile Accessibility Task Force is to produce techniques, understanding and guidance
documents as well as updates to existing related W3C / WAI material that addresses the mobile space.
Creating mobile techniques for WCAG using HTML5, ARIA, CSS and JavaScript
◦ Draft WCAG Techniques
◦ Draft Understanding WCAG 2.0
Developing design guidance or mobile web accessibility best practices
◦ Gap Analysis Discussion: BBC Mobile Guidelines
◦ Gap Analysis Discussion: Funka Nu Mobile Accessibility Guidelines
◦ Gap Analysis Discussion: IBM Accessibility Guidelines
◦ Accessibility Concerns in Responsive Design for Mobile
Reviewing existing resources, including those outside of W3C
Task Force Homepage: http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/mobile-a11y-tf/

12. How WCAG 2.0 Applies to Mobile
WCAG 2.0 was designed to be flexible.
It's Principles can be applied to different types of web
sites, different technologies and different devices.

13. Perceivable
1.3.2 MEANINGFUL SEQUENCE: WHEN THE SEQUENCE IN WHICH CONTENT IS PRESENTED
AFFECTS ITS MEANING, A CORRECT READING SEQUENCE CAN BE PROGRAMMATICALLY
DETERMINED. (LEVEL A)

14. Operable
GUIDELINE 2.1 KEYBOARD ACCESSIBLE: MAKE ALL FUNCTIONALITY AVAILABLE FROM A
KEYBOARD
Source: http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1649

15. Understandable
GUIDELINE 3.2 PREDICTABLE: MAKE WEB PAGES APPEAR AND OPERATE IN PREDICTABLE WAYS.
◦ Navigation patterns are different 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions: Labels or
instructions are provided when content
requires user input.
Which layout is
better for mobile?

16. Robust
GUIDELINE 4.1 COMPATIBLE: MAXIMIZE COMPATIBILITY WITH CURRENT AND FUTURE USER
AGENTS, INCLUDING ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
Source: http://caniuse.com/#search=aria

17. Standards for Web Applications on
Mobile
Standards for Web Applications on Mobile: current state and roadmap
◦ Quarterly update on the open web platform
◦ Links to all the standards and APIs that are being developed for mobile

18. UAAG Mobile Examples
As the web is increasingly becoming the platform for interoperable applications, the need for accessibility
guidelines for the user interface is also increasing.
Setting preferences for text display (1.4.1) Ben chooses the larger text for font size in the mobile settings dialog
box so that it is easier to read with his low vision. Note: This requires that the mobile OS reveals the system font
setting to the app developer, which is not yet available on all mobile platforms.
Open on Request (1.8.9) Ray's mobile device automatically opens location links and calendar dates found on web
pages in native apps available on the device. When he returns to the browser, focus on the original link is
maintained so he knows his location, even though he cannot see the page.
Multimodal keyboard operation (2.1.1) Karen cannot easily use the onscreen keyboard to navigate Web pages on
her mobile phone because of muscle weakness. Instead, she uses gestures to move between elements on the
page. As focus moves from one element to another, there is a visible focus indicator.
Move viewport to focus (1.8.2) Lee typically views web content on her mobile phone at a high level of
zoom, frequently positioning elements outside the viewport. When moving between focusable elements, the
viewport automatically scrolls to the element currently in focus.
See more at: http://www.w3.org/TR/IMPLEMENTING-UAAG20/mobile

19. Events for User Interface
Independence
Events for User Interface Independence (IndieUI) First
Public Working Draft
◦ specifies a layer between device input abilities and what
the user wants to do, such as
◦ scrolling a view
◦ canceling an action
◦ adding a value to a widget
◦ selecting a range, etc.
so that the device can infer what action the user wants
— no matter what the modality
(keyboard, mouse, touch, gesture, speech) or the raw
input (e.g. a 3 finger swipe custom gesture) — and send
the appropriate event to the web application

20. W3C WAI Mobile Page
Summary of all the resources related to mobile accessibility
See more at: http://www.w3.org/WAI/mobile/

21. W3C WAI Mobile Task Force
MOBILE ACCESSIBILITY TASK FORCE
http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/mobile-a11y-tf/
MOBILE A11Y TF WIKI
https://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/mobile-a11y-
tf/wiki

22. Questions?