The Collaborative Road to Maine State Web Accessibility

Kelly Hokkanen, Kathy Record, Ellen Wood

State Web Accessibility Sub-Committee

Maine.gov - the official Web portal of the state of Maine

Objectives

• Describe Maine’s collaborative path to increasing access to government web sites

• Discuss Maine’s web standards

• Describe Maine templates developed for Dreamweaver to support a consistent, accessible, and usable government web site.

Background

1. 1997 “Maine’s Opportunity: Maximizing Economic Potential conference”

– Ensuring Information Technology provides access for ALL Maine citizens

– White Paper with Guiding principles & recommendations

2. 1999 Legislation passed to create InforME, Maine’s e-government partner and portal

Maine’s IT Accessibility Committee

• Government Information Services Policy Board recognizes State commitment to people with disabilities

• Establish accessibility committee - 1998, Charter in 1999

• More than web…”to integrate accessibility into our everyday business processes and practices”

• Maine Government Accessibility Committee

Accessibility Committee Charter

• Propose and maintain standards for information technology accessibility

• Expand and maintain an evaluation methodology for current and future information technology endeavors

• Prepare periodic updates on technology, ADA compliance, and other legal requirements

• Complete an annual report on previous year's accomplishments and proposed future work plan

• Work in partnership with the Accessible Information Technology Coordinator on identifying issues and providing technical assistance and solutions

• Annual Reports –these reports go to Governor’s, Cabinet, Commissioner, Maine State Library government publications

The Web Problem

• What we knew: The Web is a critical means by which the State communicates with the public

• Where we were:– Everyone did their “own thing”– Many sites unusable & inaccessible– No compliance to standards, lack of

consistency, browser compatibility issues, not forward compatible, costly to maintain, lack of accountability

Roadblocks to Accessibility

• No coordinated state plan or management for web presence

• Costs• Lack of accessibility training and information• Resistance to change; ownership issues• No accountability• No enforcement of accessibility policy• No web standards

Solutions – Policy & Leadership

• Accessibility Committee wrote Maine State government web accessibility policy – adopted by the Information Services Policy Board July

2001

• CIO became champion for accessibility initiative: Top IT official is accountable

• CIO hired half-time IT accessibility coordinator • CIO provided a budget• Web accessibility sub-committee formed &

developed an action plan

Steps for Change• 2002

– Launched new state accessibility website - "one stop shopping" for those looking for IT accessibility information.

• 2003– Summer intern researched issues to bring

Maine State websites into compliance with State policy– Web accessibility recommendations

– Updated web accessibility policy & more usable format for implementation guidelines

2004 Steps for Change

• Accessibility Committee & IT Accessibility Coordinator, Kathy Record, worked on accountability & standards

• Web Design Consistency Initiative – collaboration & support by Accessibility Committee, Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), Department of Administrative and Financial Services, & InforME

– InforME: Maine’s e-Government Partner and the winner of the Center for Digital Government’s 2004 Best of the Web competition.

• Web Sub-Committee established– Focused on prioritizing and implementing Web Accessibility Plan

recommendations– 5 Action Areas for 2004-05 goals

Committee Action 1: Training

• Make basic web design training available for every state employee who works on web pages affiliated with Maine State Government.– InforME provides monthly webmaster training– Committee offers quarterly free half-day accessibility workshops

open to state webmasters and their managers.

• Review the current training course curriculum and the process for selecting training instructors

• Issues- costs, time away from job, levels of skills, what to teach, who trains

Committee Action 2: Web Resources

• Transition webmasters to one software – Support & training only for Dreamweaver

• Each agency should have access to web testing and accessibility tools on at least one computer.

– Committee purchased HiSoftware: 50 licenses of AccVerify/AccRepair, Hi-Caption, Link Checker

– Enterprise evaluation with AccMonitor– All provided to agencies at NO cost

• Develop Webmaster Resource Center Website and online forum – Set up by InforME, Fall 2004

Committee Action 3: Evaluation & Governance

• Purchased enterprise accessibility evaluation software– Chose HiSoftware’s AccMonitor

• Evaluate all state sites at least twice a year for accessibility – Hisoftware’s AccMonitor initial run Spring 2005 with ongoing

quarterly reports

• Agencies must develop internal web management plan– identify roles and responsibilities, site monitoring and evaluation,

content maintenance, oversight, user feedback and other aspects of site management.

– Web sites need project management and planning

Committee Action 4: Personnel • Require all agencies to appoint a primary web coordinator

– Responsible for ensuring compliance to all state standards

• Create Webmaster Directory for communications and security purposes– Mandate that all state employees who have access to and work on state

web pages register with the Office of the CIO, using the directory

• Issues– Use of employees who have both time and training to design

professional pages, – Fewer working on pages, less problems– HR and job classification– Pages meeting standards – Accountability & communication of policies– Support of senior management important

Web Standards

Purpose:• Web is one of the most important means by which the

State communicates with the public

• An agency's website may be the only interface that a citizen or business has with a particular agency

• Maine state government's presence on the Internet must be professional, comprehensive and coordinated.

• All state websites must be accessible to the broadest possible audience and easy to understand and use.

Web Standards – Business Value

• Reinforce Maine.gov identity and make it clear to users they are on a Maine state site

• Provide consistency and continuity in website appearance

• Improve the quality, usability and accessibility of State websites for the public

• Ensure that critical state links appear on all agency sites

• Integrate agency sites and the portal, to support the "one government" approach

• Increase efficiency of website development and management by agencies

Web Standards Developed

• Web standards revised and passed by Information Service Policy Board, Spring 2005

• Governor’s Order, Jan. 2005 charging CIO and InforME to develop accessible web templates that all departments will utilize to ensure unified e-government web services

Scope of Standards• These standards apply to all agencies within the Executive Branch of

Maine State Government. In addition, all sites must comply with the Web Accessibility Policy of the State of Maine

• Web design and content requirements – Maine.gov header – Design templates – Developed at no cost to government by InforME– Style Guide

• Agency Site Management Plan

• Webmaster Directory

• Website Coordinators

• Approved Web Software: Macromedia Dreamweaver

Summary of Standards Benefits

• Improved usability for the public• Professional presentation• Improved accessibility for all users• Consistent branding of state sites• Browser compatibility, standard code, fast

download• Easier development and maintenance by

agencies• Reduced costs

Next Steps

• Support webmasters in transitioning to templates with resources and training

• Continue monthly InforME webmaster meetings with targeted training

• Hold monthly web coordinators meetings• Monitor level of accessibility through quarterly

AccMonitor testing• Full Accessibility Committee broader initiatives – More

PR, studying legal aspects, network with others• E-government Manager position from Office of

Information Technology• Continue summer intern program

Maine State Library Home Use of Template

Agency Leadership makes a Difference

• With the strong support of the State Librarian and the Deputy Librarian, Maine State Library is reporting close to a 100% web accessibility compliance for Maine’s Web Accessibility Policy

• Other key factors for Maine State Library:– Use of the templates, InforME’s training, HiSoftware’s

tools, Dreamweaver /Contribute accessibility settings, and the continual support of InforME and the CIO’s Accessibility Coordinator

Template - Bureau of Parks & Lands (green

style)

Another Template Example – Maine’s Fall Foliage

• Some flexibility in color scheme, header, use/non-use of right navigation

Template Accessibility Features – Skip Nav

• “Skip navigation” links (required by federal Section 508)

– These “invisible” links allow a blind user with screen reader software to skip over repetitive header and navigation links and move directly to the page’s main content.

– Two levels of “skip” links are included: Skip header links, & skip to content.

Template Accessibility Features –Text Nav

Text navigation• Very few graphics are used in

the templates.• All navigation is text. • This is more accessible than

graphical text, since it can be enlarged as needed.

• It also downloads more quickly.

• Uses CSS

Template Accessibility Features – Alternative navigation systems

• Search and site map available from every page. Specific to each site.

• A textual site map provides information about how the site is organized.

• Breadcrumb trail navigation provides information about site organization and another way to navigate.

Template Accessibility Features - Fonts

Sizing & Styling• The State accessibility policy requires that

sites use relative font sizing. • Effective font sizing within the style sheets

that meets all accessibility requirements and is cross-browser compatible.

• All font styling and sizing comes from the style sheets automatically.

Template Accessibility Features - CSS

CSS - Cascading Style Sheets• Separation of presentation from content

• Allows users to control the site display to their own preferred settings

• Provides a cleaner page that is more accessible to screen reader software, text browsers, and alternative devices.

• Improves download speed of web pages.

Template Accessibility Features - Other

• Consistency of layout, navigation and appearance.

• Home link and “Contact Us” link available from every page

• Navigation systems include clear “you are here” indicators as the user moves deeper into the site.

Presenters’ Contact Information

• Ellen Wood, Web Coordinator for Maine State Library, Chair of the State Web Accessibility Sub-Committee, ellen.wood@maine.gov, www.maine.gov/msl/

• Kelly Hokkanen, Director of Creative Services, InforME: Information Resource of Maine, and member of Web Accessibility Sub-Committee, kelly@informe.org, www.maine.gov

• Kathy Record, IT Management Analyst/Accessibility Coordinator, Office of the CIO, kathy.record@maine.gov, www.maine.gov/cio/

Resources mentioned (in order of appearance)

• Maine.gov - the official Web portal of the state of Maine http://www.maine.gov/

• White Paper with Guiding principles & recommendations -http://www.mainecite.org/docs/wpaper.htm

• Maine State Accessibility Committee http://www.maine.gov/CIO/accessibility/committee.htm

• Accessibility Annual Reports http://www.maine.gov/CIO/accessibility/annualreports.htm

• Website Accessibility Policy of the State of Maine http://www.maine.gov/CIO/accessibility/policy/webpolicy.htm

• Office of the CIO Accessibility web site http://www.maine.gov/CIO/accessibility/index.htm

• Web accessibility recommendations http://www.maine.gov/msl/accessibility/recommend03.htm

• Accessibility policy implementation guidelines http://www.maine.gov/CIO/accessibility/policy/guideline1.htm

• InforME: Maine’s E-Government Partner http://www.maine.gov/informe/

• HiSoftware http://www.hisoftware.com/• Maine State Library http:www.maine.gov/msl/• Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/• Maine’s Fall Foliage http://www.mainefoliage.com