Workshop with focus on web accessibility

A workshop was held at Karlstad University together with students studying Information Systems – what was the purpose of this workshop?

- We looked at the EU directives, laws and standards that regulate web accessibility, says Gunnar Olsson, Lecturer in Information Systems at Karlstad University. During the workshop, students had the opportunity to look at how well different websites live up to the standards that govern web accessibility.

Why is web accessibility important?

- It is important in order for as many people as possible to be able to access web content regardless of variations in physical and cognitive abilities.

What are the challenges with web accessibility, in your opinion?

- One of the challenges is to get developers and content creators to realise the value of making web content accessible, so-called situation-based accessibility – that it benefits all of us. As an example, measures to ensure that a person who is not able to use a mouse still can navigate the site are useful to all users, for example, if your mouse runs out of battery. Measures to help people who are visually impaired, is another thing that can benefit other users as well. Another challenge is to set a reasonable level for accessibility requirements. If the requirements are too strict, there is a risk that certain content is not even created because the content creator may find that it “costs” too much to meet the requirements.

Karlstad University is an authority – in what ways do we have to give extra consideration to accessibility?

- Karlstad University’s website turns to a lot of different people and there are, of course, variations in terms of abilities among the people of this big target group. This makes accessibility especially important. There is also the legal aspect, that we as an authority must meet certain accessibility requirements on our website.

The University Printing Office took part in the workshop – how can they assist when it comes to web accessibility?

- The printing office has a lot of experience and knowledge of the craft behind making electronic documents accessible, and in particular PDF documents.

Can Karlstad University improve its web accessibility or are we already doing a good job?

- We are doing a good job, but things can always be improved. Kau.se was one of the websites that the students got to look at during the workshop in relation to web accessibility – and the result showed that there is room for improvement.

In what way is web accessibility incorporated in courses in Information Systems?

- We have a course dedicated to web accessibility called “Accessibility of Digital Services and Documents”. This is an elective course for students enrolled in the programmes “IT Design: Information Systems Design” and “Web Developer”. Web accessibility is also part of the mandatory course “Portable Formats” which is included in the programme for web developers, as well as being touched upon in a few other courses.