The European Accessibility Act explained  ## Metadata - Author: [[YouTube]] - Full Title: The European Accessibility Act explained - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: [accessibility, european-legislation, wcag, eaa, compliance] author: Rianne Reehl source: WordCamp Europe 2024 reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM date created: 2024-12-19 14:30 --- # 🏷️ Title: The European Accessibility Act Explained ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Assess EAA compliance status — audit existing e-commerce and service websites #accessibility - [H2] Train development team on WCAG 2.2 AA standards — integrate into workflow #training - [H3] Create accessibility statement and complaint process — legal compliance #documentation ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - [Rianne Reehl's slides](https://riannereehl.com/wcu24) - [OverlayFactSheet.com](https://overlayfactsheet.com) ## 📝 Summary - The European Accessibility Act (EAA) will be enforced starting June 28, 2025, requiring e-commerce websites and digital services to comply with WCAG 2.1 AA standards - Companies selling products or services to EU citizens must comply, with exceptions for businesses under 10 employees and €2M revenue - Penalties vary by country but can include significant fines (up to €90,000 in Spain) and imprisonment (up to 18 months in Ireland) - Best practices include independent audits, team training, gradual implementation, and accessibility statements - Accessibility overlays are not a valid solution and cannot make inaccessible websites compliant ## 📖 Main Content The European Accessibility Act represents a significant shift in digital accessibility legislation across the EU. Building on earlier directives for government websites (2016) and products/services (2019), the EAA mandates accessibility compliance for commercial digital services starting June 2025. The legislation covers a broad range of digital touchpoints including e-commerce websites, mobile services, banking applications, and electronic ticketing systems. Companies must meet EN 301 549 standards, which incorporate WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines for web accessibility. Implementation varies significantly across EU member states. Some countries like Spain have already begun enforcement with substantial penalties, while others are still developing their regulatory frameworks. The Netherlands implemented the legislation just two months before this presentation, highlighting the inconsistent rollout. Key compliance elements include conducting independent accessibility audits, training development teams, integrating accessibility into workflows, and maintaining transparent accessibility statements. The speaker emphasizes that accessibility overlays—JavaScript widgets claiming to provide instant compliance—are ineffective and potentially problematic. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM?t=0) — [H1] Introduction and Speaker Background - Key idea: Rianne Reehl introduces herself as web accessibility specialist from Netherlands - Evidence: "freelance accessibility consultant she works for NL design system the WordPress agency level level and the form plug-in gravity forms" #### ⏱️ [05:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM?t=323) — [H2] Brief History of EU Accessibility Legislation - Key idea: European accessibility legislation evolved from government-only (2016) to commercial services (2019) - Evidence: "2016 the EU member states agreed on a directive 2016 sl212 and these are accessibility requirements for websites and mobile apps for public sector bodies" #### ⏱️ [07:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM?t=465) — [H3] Products and Services Covered by EAA - Key idea: EAA covers both hardware products and digital services including e-commerce - Evidence: "computers and operating systems...e-commerce websites mobile services electronic ticketing ebooks...all these Services must be accessible" #### ⏱️ [09:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM?t=552) — [H2] Implementation Timeline and Status - Key idea: Member states had until June 2022 to implement, enforcement begins June 2025 - Evidence: "June 28th 2022 all member states must have implemented this legislation...the Netherlands only implemented this legislation two months ago" #### ⏱️ [10:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM?t=630) — [H3] Who Needs to Comply - Key idea: Companies selling services to EU must comply, with small business exceptions - Evidence: "companies with less than 10 employees and a global turnover of less than2 million EUR don't need to comply" #### ⏱️ [12:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM?t=735) — [H2] Technical Standards - EN 301 549 and WCAG - Key idea: EAA references EN 301 549 standard which incorporates WCAG 2.1 AA for websites - Evidence: "the part of En 305 549 that covers web accessibility is actually week level able a version 2.1" #### ⏱️ [14:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM?t=860) — [H3] Global Scope and Enforcement - Key idea: Non-EU companies selling to EU must comply, penalties are emerging - Evidence: "Spanish Airline Berling...got fined €90,000 because their website isn't accessible" #### ⏱️ [16:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM?t=1005) — [H2] Compliance Preparation Strategy - Key idea: Aim for WCAG 2.2 AA and conduct independent audits for proof of compliance - Evidence: "aim for wak 2.2 AA for websites that a pretty safe assumption...refer to a recent independent audit" #### ⏱️ [18:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM?t=1110) — [H3] WCAG Success Criteria Overview - Key idea: WCAG has three levels with AA being global standard requiring 55 success criteria - Evidence: "if you meet double A that's 31 success criteria double A is 55 this is a plus 24 extra" #### ⏱️ [20:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM?t=1215) — [H2] Implementation Process - Key idea: Start with audit baseline, create plan, train team, integrate into workflow - Evidence: "let someone one provide an audit for you as a basement measurement...train your team please" #### ⏱️ [23:40](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM?t=1420) — [H3] Accessibility Statements and Complaint Handling - Key idea: Provide accessibility statements and take user complaints seriously - Evidence: "take complaints seriously this is super important someone with a disability doesn't know how how to use your website" #### ⏱️ [25:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM?t=1550) — [H2] Warning Against Accessibility Overlays - Key idea: Accessibility overlays don't work and are opposed by accessibility experts - Evidence: "you cannot turn an inaccessible website into an accessible one by just adding a few lines of JavaScript" #### ⏱️ [28:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM?t=1695) — [H3] Gravity Forms Success Case Study - Key idea: Gravity Forms demonstrates comprehensive accessibility implementation process - Evidence: "they set a goal and that was in 2018...they wanted to comply with week AA 2.1" #### ⏱️ [31:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM?t=1880) — [H2] Personal Story and Motivation - Key idea: Speaker shares personal story about parents struggling with web accessibility - Evidence: "my mother got angry at bad uxx things that changed she couldn't understand her interface anymore" ## 📚 References - [Rianne Reehl's presentation slides](https://riannereehl.com/wcu24) - [Overlay Fact Sheet](https://overlayfactsheet.com) - [WebAIM WAVE accessibility tool](https://wave.webaim.org) - [Ally Collective learning platform](https://allyco) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - The European Accessibility Act will require e-commerce and digital service companies to make their websites accessible to people with disabilities starting in June 2025, with significant financial and legal penalties for non-compliance - Companies should aim for WCAG 2.2 AA compliance through systematic auditing, team training, and workflow integration rather than relying on quick fixes like accessibility overlay widgets - Success requires organizational commitment from leadership, proper budget allocation, user complaint processes, and viewing accessibility as a core quality requirement alongside performance and security ## 📰 Newsletter The European Accessibility Act is coming to WordPress sites across the EU in just one year! If you're running e-commerce or providing digital services to European customers, June 28, 2025 is a critical compliance deadline. **What You Need to Know:** - EAA requires WCAG 2.1 AA compliance (aim for 2.2 AA to be future-ready) - Applies to companies selling products/services to EU citizens - Small business exception: under 10 employees and €2M revenue - Penalties can reach €90,000+ fines and potential imprisonment **Getting Ready:** Start with an independent accessibility audit to establish your baseline. Train your team on accessibility principles and integrate compliance into your development workflow. Create an accessibility statement and user feedback process. **Avoid This Trap:** Accessibility overlay plugins that claim instant compliance don't work and violate best practices. Real accessibility requires proper coding, design, and content practices. Resources: [Learn WordPress Accessibility](https://learn.wordpress.org/), [WebAIM Guidelines](https://webaim.org/), [Overlay Fact Sheet](https://overlayfactsheet.com/) ## ✅ Action Items #### WordPress - Core: Integrate EAA compliance considerations into core accessibility roadmap - Themes: Develop accessibility review criteria aligned with WCAG 2.2 AA standards - Plugins: Create guidance for plugin developers on accessibility compliance - Documentation: Expand accessibility documentation with EAA-specific guidance - Community: Organize accessibility training events and workshops for European WordPress users #### OSPO - Policy & Governance: Develop accessibility compliance policies for open source projects - Developer Support: Provide training on accessibility testing tools and methodologies - Community Engagement: Fund accessibility audits and improvements in key WordPress projects #### Community - Meetups: Host EAA compliance workshops and training sessions - WordCamps: Include accessibility tracks focused on legal compliance - Contributors: Establish accessibility testing protocols for core contributions ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Companies will initially resist accessibility compliance due to perceived costs but will adopt it rapidly as enforcement begins - Accessibility overlay usage will increase initially but decline as their ineffectiveness becomes apparent - WordPress themes and plugins with strong accessibility features will gain market advantage in European markets - Legal enforcement will vary significantly between EU member states creating compliance confusion ### 📊 Methodology - Survey WordPress agencies and businesses about current accessibility practices and EAA awareness - Analyze accessibility compliance rates in European WordPress sites before and after June 2025 - Track adoption patterns of accessibility tools and services in the WordPress ecosystem ### ❓ Questions - How will enforcement inconsistencies across EU member states affect compliance strategies? - What impact will EAA have on WordPress plugin and theme marketplace dynamics? - How can WordPress core better support automatic accessibility compliance checking? ### 🔮 Future Research - Longitudinal study of accessibility compliance costs versus business benefits - Analysis of accessibility overlay effectiveness versus proper implementation - Investigation of user experience improvements from accessibility implementations ### 💡 Implications - Practice: WordPress developers must integrate accessibility testing into standard workflows - Policy: Need for clear WordPress accessibility standards and review processes - Security: Accessibility overlays may introduce security vulnerabilities - Education: Urgent need for widespread accessibility training in WordPress community - Funding: Budget allocation required for accessibility audits, training, and remediation ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 12th grade (technical content with specialized terminology) #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: Slides with clear legislation timeline and compliance flowcharts - Improve: Visual comparison charts of WCAG levels, penalty visualization by country #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Full video presentation with clear verbal explanations - Improve: Audio-only version, podcast format for key compliance steps #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Clear definitions of EAA, WCAG, overlay terminology - Improve: Glossary of accessibility terms, analogy-based explanations #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: Gravity Forms case study provides concrete implementation example - Improve: Step-by-step compliance checklist, hands-on audit exercises #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Clear timeline from 2016 directive to 2025 enforcement - Improve: Decision tree for compliance requirements, cost-benefit analysis #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: Q&A session with community interaction - Improve: Discussion forum for compliance questions, peer review groups #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Self-assessment questions about business compliance needs - Improve: Individual compliance worksheets, self-paced learning modules #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: Personal story about parents' web accessibility challenges - Improve: Real-world user experience examples, ecosystem thinking about accessibility ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Well-structured presentation with clear headings and flow - Improve: Ensure slide content has proper alt text, transcript availability #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Standard presentation format accessible via keyboard - Improve: Interactive elements should be keyboard accessible #### Contrast and readability - Present: Clear slide design with good contrast - Improve: Verify all slide text meets WCAG contrast requirements #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: Slides appear to scale appropriately - Improve: Test slides at 200% zoom for readability #### Media and captions - Present: Video has audio narration - Improve: Closed captions should be available for the video #### Standards reference - Content directly addresses WCAG 2.1/2.2 AA compliance requirements ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: European focus with acknowledgment of global accessibility standards - Improve: Include examples from diverse EU member states, cultural accessibility considerations #### Inclusive language - Present: Uses person-first language ("people with disabilities") - Improve: Expand inclusive terminology throughout, avoid ableist assumptions #### Neurodiversity support - Present: Structured presentation with clear sections - Improve: Provide content warnings for compliance anxiety, chunked information delivery #### Representation - Present: Female accessibility expert presenting, diverse disability examples - Improve: Include broader range of disability experiences, intersectional considerations #### Psychological safety - Present: Acknowledges compliance fears and provides supportive guidance - Improve: Address anxiety about legal consequences, provide reassurance about gradual implementation ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: Clear progression from EU directives to specific compliance requirements - Inductive strength: Gravity Forms case study supports general implementation principles - Causal reasoning: Links inaccessible websites to user exclusion and legal - Document Tags: [[training]] [[accessibility]] [[documentation]] - Summary: The European Accessibility Act explained - URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEvgdJqg3jM hello hi hey everybody this is just about the end of word Camp Europe 2024 day one Friday how's everybody feeling um what the heck this is like the most response out of the entire afternoon is that we're getting ready to go to parties Aunt you're going to some parties yes little bit uh well I hope to see you guys all there but for now we still got a great session lined up for you all but before that we're going to have some announcements and let me get to my announcements so who's visited the sponsor Hall okay I'm assuming no one is just interacting with me because you should have visited the sponsor Hall it's just down the hall uh make sure you do visit them we wouldn't be here without sponsors word camps heavily uh rely on sponsorships so go take swag they don't want to take any of it home on that note as well go get your word Camp Europe swag right here at the information desk in the middle and then as well um if you need any help look for any volunteers or organizers volunteers have gray shirts organizers have black shirts okay um but let's go ahead and get started we're going to bring up our final speaker for this track and that is Ryan ritzel okay okay realville okay and uh Ryan is a web accessibility specialist from the Netherlands as a freelance accessibility consultant she works for NL design system the WordPress agency level level and the form plug-in gravity forms she also teaches at the online learning platform form the allei collective she loves to share her knowledge on word camps meetups workshops and accessibility conferences worldwide when not writing reviewing or teaching you could find Ryan working in her garden come on [Applause] up so thank you all for showing up wow thank you for such a difficult topic as legislation and then it should work sometimes okay my name is Rion reld I'm a web uh accessibility specialist from the Netherlands I a freelance consultant for at anal design system and for level level they over there yeah and for Gravity forms and I'm also teacher at the AL Collective and that's an online learning platform for web accessibility they have a boot so check them out all slides and links are available at ran reel.com backward wcu 24 I will repeat that slide at uh at the LA that URL at the last slide so in this talk I'm going to give you a brief history lesson about European legislation on Vib accessibility how to comply to the European accessibility act how to prepare for it what not to do I will give you talk about a use case about a company that really tackled that well and I'll give you some final thoughts so I don't know why my clicker doesn't work okay one disclaimer I am not a lawyer I am an accessibility expert I can tell you in my point of view what will the best practice for you to comply to the European accessibility act but if you really want to know in your use case what's the best approach uh contact your legal team or hire a lawyer that is specialized in accessibility legislation so please don't sue me okay A Brief History lesson we start in 2016 the EU member states agreed on a directive 2016 sl212 and these are accessibility requirements for website ites and mobile uh apps for public sector bodies that's for government websites most countries already has have legislation for that like the US the UK most member states uh Japan Australia but now the EU actually agreed on that directive that they will Implement accessibility um in their legislation all member states from the EU then in 2019 the member states agreed on the directive 2019 882 accessibility requirements for products and services so that's much broader and this directive is known as the European accessibility act and that's what we are talking about what are products so quite a bit computers and operating systems this is all Hardware should be accessible smartphone smartphones and other communication devices TV equipment ATMs e-readers ticketing and check-in machines they all need to be accessible for people with a disability services phone and banking services if you want to do a payment that help process must be accessible e-commerce websites mobile services electronic ticketing ebooks access to audio visual media calls to the European emergency number 112 all these Services must be accessible for people with a disability I emphasized e-commerce websites and mobile Services because that's what we do as repress Community we build websites and mobile services we do e-commerce all those Services need to be accessible June 28th 2022 all member states must have implemented this legislation these agreement into their own legislation into their laws well it's so you Au and not every country is that fast the Netherlands only implemented this legislation two months ago some states even implemented it at all yet some are really ready and have thought everything really well out it pend per member State and in June June 28 2025 that is one year from now the legislation will enforced how nobody knows I'll talk about that later not all member states have figured it out yet how to comply to the European accessibility act well first who needs to comply companies that sell services and not products I think all the sponsors in the sponsor list sell products or services so their websites probably need to be accessible are they okay there are exceptions if you are a really small company um and you don't have much revenue you don't need to comply but maybe that will be too heavy burden for you companies with less than 10 employees and a global turnover of less than2 million EUR don't need to comply and also if you don't sell sell services or products you also don't need to comply you can you probably need to but it's very good for your Revenue but that's another talk what what do you need to comply to what are the the rules there is a Norm the en 31549 there's even a song about that and that's the European Standard for digital accessibility and it specifies requirements for information and communication techn technology to be accessible for people with disabilities that's huge that's broad that also um um addresses the products and the services everything that also addresses the government services and uh products so it's very Broad but what about websites what does it say about websites thankfully it mentions the web accessibility guidelines and the part of En 305 549 that covers web accessibility is actually week level able a version 2.1 and that's what we use anyway for accessible websites Pew one differ difference there is an addict um the uh is additive sections in the European Standard for electronic documents so if you publish uh PDFs on your website for example they need to be accessible too so that's a good reason to get rid of your PDFs but that's another talk okay yeah a few questions I get a lot my company is based outside of the EU do I need to comply yes if you sell services or products to the EU you need to comply to that standard week 2.1 AA note if you uh create software for the US government you need to comply to section 508 and that's week 2.0 that's a previous version of week so the EU is stricter than the US government take that into account will there be consequences yes how depends on the member States legislation maybe um this is something we don't know yet but there are signs in Spain the Spanish Airline Berling if I pronounce that well got fined €90,000 because their website isn't accessible 90,000 is one thing but the sentence also prohibits the airline to receive public funds for a period of six months so that's severe punishment for an airline another sign and that really went viral within the accessibility um Community Ireland penalties for breaching requirements may include a fine up to 5,000 and or imprisonment for up to six months for a case of summary conviction and a fine up to €60,000 and or imprisonment up to 18 months in case of an indictive conviction right my fantasy she goes wild here okay okay how do I prove that my website is accessible refer to a recent independent audit let an accessibility company audit your website how accessible is it and they can provide you with a report and you can refer that at on your website in an accessible statement I will accessibility statement I will talk more about that later so how do you prepare aim for wak 2.2 AA for websites that a pretty safe assumption at the moment 2.2 is the latest version of uh wak that is released in October last year then you're a bit sustainable for for the future more and more EU countries adopt 2.2 in their own legislation so 2.1 is like the global standard aim for 2.2 and brief update on wak this is the wak quick ref and it gives you a list of all the guidelines web accessibly content guid guidelines and to meet each guideline you have a series of success criteria you have to meet a success criteria to meet a guideline success criteria are ways to measure if you meet a guideline for example there is one guideline text Alternatives provide text alternatives for non-content and there is a success criteria all non text content that is presented to the user has a text alternative for example if you have an image that tells a story that gives meaning to content that image must have an alternative text if images have alternative text then you have a pass for that success criteria how many success criteria are there quite a lot you have three different levels a is basic accessibility double A is global standard and triple a is all the success criteria and that's really for dedicated software if you meet double A that's 31 success criteria double A is 55 this is a plus 24 extra and Triple A is everything that's 86 68 68 yeah okay if you start working on making an accessibility overhaul let someone one provide an audit for you as a basement measurement where am I now what are the issues if you um let the do door uh bu a a good agency they provide you except from the real audit also with recommendations how to fix and best practice how to fix things that are very useful for people with accessibility but maybe not covered by wak then you have a Baseline then you make a plan how to fix in a sustainable way that with each um fix or each new feature the accessibility doesn't break again and in this stage it's very important to get help from a professional too that can guide you through the process what's the most important what's the most severe what can we do later make a plan together with a professional train your team please do don't create something throw it over the fence to uh an accessibility expert and see okay uh this is what we did did fix it that doesn't work you have to include accessibility from the start so all people in um that are um in the project in your team must know from their part what they need to do to create accessible content to create an accessible website ERS designers developers content creators managers but also the CEO the people who can uh manage the budget because you need budget to train your people uh money and maybe time to get everybody on board and to get everybody at the right knowledge then work on the issues one by one as a team and maybe you have to rethink your work if you have a table and that's really important to you a table and that's very complex and it has a horizontal scroll bar and a vertical scroll bar and lots of lots of data that's a hell to make accessible but maybe it's also way too complicated for other people for all people to understand break the table up up in for example three different tables maybe you have to repeat some information but it way it's much more accessible for people who are blind but maybe for all people to perceive the information so you have to rethink do we really need that slider do we really need that complicated uh tabular interface is it no Simplicity is for everybody better then integrate accessibility in your workflow each step you take you test you wax the design Des um the code the content each step has to be accessible before it can go further it's normal that you integrate performance security and responsiveness in your quality this is what you offer to your client accessibility belongs there too it's part of the quality of your work your website has a great performance is secure is responsive and is accessible that should be just what you deliver and then provide an accessibility statement tell your clients that you work on accessibility what are you aiming for Wake able a version 2.2 what needs to be done what the road map and how can someone report an issue now I know that if you state what needs to be done on a website in the US then a lawyer says okay this I can sue you for that I can sue you for that can sue you for so that's the reason why in US Government Us website in the accessibility statement never is mentioned what is wrong only what they're aiming for and how you can ask for help what you do here talk with this about this with your lawyer with your legal team um in the Europe ex uh in the Netherlands um for uh Government website is required to have a link to an audit and to State what is wrong and what needs to be done and when you're going to fix it so it also depends on the legislation but I think it's good if you tell to your audience to your your clients okay I'm really working on it it's not perfect yet and we're trying to fix it that uh that is the date when we think it will be done and if you have a complaint or an issue please tell us and take complaints seriously this is super important someone with a disability doesn't know how how to use your website has an issue with your website it's a client who wants to use your website buy a product and has an issue help them they have the courtesy to report an issue have a ticket system in place so that people um uh can report issues and that you assign people to address them you get all kinds of different uh access ibility issues some are uh real issues other issues are that people really don't understand where they are looking for and maybe you can guide them and then think maybe the ux should be uh uh different or sometimes people run uh your website through an accessibility Checker and get a false positive check that and maybe report that false positive to the accessibility Checker but if you really take complaints seriously that will save you a lot of trouble because then you don't get angry customers what not to do there is no quick fix there are products that claim to use artificial intelligence to meet wak for you just by adding a witchet on their site on your side they are generally called accessibility overlays you cannot turn an inaccessible website into an accessible one by just adding a few lines of JavaScript if you want to know more about this oh go to Overlay fi.com um there is a list of all the overlay companies an explanation of what overlays are um reviews of many people who are disabled how they experience overlays and a petition that is signed by more than 800 accessibility experts World worldwide if you want to know more um check out this website also see an in-depth coverage of Adan rell's 2022 WordPress accessibility day talk over underwhelm Adan relli is a world-renowned accessibility expert he does thoroughly research on overlays and aito Technology um he publishes his research and he tweeted about it and then get sued by an overlay company for publishing his research and for his opinion about it um that was a really hard time for it but I want to thank him for for all his effort and for publishing his research and um Adrien you are a [Applause] hero that was for you yeah okay now for the good news a use case gravity forms um graphitic forms went through all the process from um what we are aiming for until an accessible end result and it was all a team effort the team of gravity forms is really motivated to get an accessible end result so they set a goal and that was in 2018 so that was even before there was a talk about European accessibility act they wanted to comply with week AA 2.1 at the moment um they did initial audit and then trained the team all the issues were put into GitHub issues and they went through the issues one by one they wrote extensive documentation on their websites for people who use the plugin and want to install the plugin on for designers content creators for developers but also a checklist how to implement a form to make it accessible they have an accessible statement on their website and accessibility is being maintained so that's really great and they're super proud of it so tell it to the World on word Camp Europe 20 uh 21 I gave a talk together with Morgan K she is one of the lead developers enhancing the accessibility of a plug-in use case it's link is in the slide okay some final thoughts what are we going to do all these different legislations all these different countries and uh what do I do if I don't want to get sued by a you state how does that work I cannot I cannot look in the future I don't know so um in the standard it says stick to wake 2.1 AA and if some of countries are stricter than that do you need to be better than that standard is there's one country that has super super strict um regulations do you need to improve your work to that super super strict regulation if you aim for wak 2.2 AA then you're and you reach that point you're already better than 99.9 of all websites worldwide so I think you're pretty safe I'm not a lawyer yeah okay what I want to say is create a web that's usable for everyone user test also with people that use the web in a different way than you do I want to dedicate this talk to my parents this is them 60 years ago I they lovely my father a young Lieutenant from the Royal D Air Force and my mother secretary uh she made her own wedding dress they were very smart and also uh very Tech sery my father was an aviation um technician he worked on the meteor on thees a long time and um they really got te technology and they really went well with the web they were the first generation who were using computers and using the web went all well my mother was the secretary and she introduced the word processor on her office and later were perfect and word and she taught everyone in the office how to use it but about 10 years ago that went wrong this is them four years ago um my mother got angry at bad uxx things that changed she couldn't understand her interface anymore and why is it so hard to get an telephone number from a website she couldn't understand where to find the information or how to order anymore my father got Parkinson's disease so he had a Tremor and he couldn't really use the mouse anymore and learning keyboard accessibility when you're 80 is really not an option so he tried to use the mouse and some menus when you have like three layers it's very hard to operate so I think we failed them and they blame themselves I cannot use it why can I not understand it people blame themselves so let's help all people to feel they are welcome and capable because nobody is perfect so don't create for perfect people only users first thank you [Applause] thank you thank you okay so we left time for lots of questions oh and we already got one lined up so yep take it away hi ran hi thanks for your talk I was wondering do you have more informations about regulations in different countries like you were mentioning wcag and you said some states are a bit more strict yeah I know Germany has some extra regulations yeah um there are um in the websites URLs there uh some links to different legislation different countries so uh if you want to check that out if you specifically Target for example Germany Germany has very strict accessibility regulations that go beyond week so uh there's a list on the side thank you thank you okay any other questions oh y hian fantastic talk thank you so much for bring this very important subject in a very timely way on a larger project is often the case wow that me it's often the case that uh accessibility is being addressed by some design teams and some development teams and maybe some hosting teams as well or or some different stakeholders do you think there's an ideal place for for accessib ility to be owned in well yeah is there an ideal role to own accessibility in a complicated build process I think it's good if you have a larger company that you have an accessibility team or an accessibility expert yeah maybe it's that I don't know I think um if you have someone in your company that knows accessibility and can monitor it and can do the refuse that will be reassuring or um is there something you uh you had in mind or well I was wondering if you go it's a design thing or it's a technical thing or maybe it's a product ownership thing yeah that was the thing that sort of sprang to mind product ownership is a good place for it to live where it is to live I think it should live in each uh part yeah um and um each part you develop that should be checked by the people who are knowledging about that kind of part uh and that's why Str tring so important but an overview um that uh someone who is having an overview I don't know which role that should be because I'm not that really into how company is organized um but I think um having an accessibility expert or high in an accessibility expert who monitoring the whole process is okay but each team is responsible for their own work so if a designer sees uh uh delivers something to the development and uh the colorr is okay that shouldn't be happening and also if the developer sees that he should correct the designer so everybody's responsible for their own part of work and then an accessibility consultant can be uh can have an overview and look also at the end result and you can discuss like edge cases with them yeah I I don't know how that should be in the heracle structure of a company that's okay thank you very much okay thank you hi uh thank you so much um I have a question about backend accessibility because I have a client who uses a screen reader H do you know of any way like any resource directory lists um where you can find out if a plug-in is accessible in the back end too or any tips for that well like in the admin yeah yeah uh I know gravity forms does work on that that's the form plugin but there's not like a plugin let's fix the admin for accessibility and you install that plugin in the admin is accessible that doesn't exist no yeah sorry it depend it's the the responsible of the accessibility team of of not it's not the respons it's responsible of the people who develop um the admin and it's responsible of the plugin owner of development team to make their work respons uh accessible yeah so there's no quick fix sorry thank you yeah hello thank you very much for your talks so I actually represent an agency that works a lot on implementing accessibility for our clients and one of the biggest issues that we encounter from audits that we receive from third-party companies is ambiguity on a lot of criteria so different Auditors even within the same company sometimes interpret criterias differently sometimes they say you pass a criteria sometimes you don't pass a criteria so I wonder how that's going to be implemented in the legislation because let's say say uh if youve received an audit a report and the company said you're accessible partially accessible and gives you a percentage and then for example a certain other third part is going to repass your website and say okay we're not you're not accessible in these criterias how do you think in your opinion uh that's going to be interpretated that's a good question because uh auditing is done by humans and um there are errors but also different ways people interpretate web content accessibility guidelines in the Netherlands we have a special um uh we United as accessibility Specialists together to meet and to discuss about these issues this is what we do uh this is how we um um um decide on what is accessible or what fails or what not fails not and I think there's also Global uh discussion form between accessibility experts about what do you how do you audit stuff but it stays is work from a human so it can differ um well um get a second opinion maybe I don't know if there's an audit and you say okay this is not a really good audit maybe you should hire better auditing team um there are very cheap or U yeah I don't know what blame a shame okay yeah my question was more in terms of legislation because for example you mentioned IR land that they're going to have fines and you know well that's in the late stage yeah well you can also say when um it's not from the audit but it um yeah I don't know really an answer to that um um you cannot get fined only because of an audit you get fined if you don't take action if you don't fix things and if you have um uh maybe issues in the audit you can research that and maybe fix it or F don't fix it um I I don't think it has to do with legislation it just has to do with okay this is the audit and how do I respond to it do I fix it or not uh I don't have a real good answer for that I am not a lawyer okay yeah thank you my name is Toby um my question touches a little bit with the question we had a little bit earlier here are you aware of any Frameworks being developed on that would help uh a content creator to do some pre-publishing checks perhaps so that the company when they know what kind of things they are dealing with they could make a list that you need to check off this before you publish there's a workplace plog in for that um yeah you um I have no know name but digital what's what's the WordPress plugin by Amber Hurst yes oh Amber go talk to Amber they have a plugin and then that checks your website for you and that's a WordPress plugin for accessibility issues um okay um well the best thing is always go for a good theme of course I mean a good theme and also as you say you need to First analyze what you are doing and everything yeah and and and your contact team that also that content is accessible and then you know what to look for thank you okay hello my name is B and I have been working with the accessible websites for quite some years now and this is more like an advice than a question and it is to get in touch with your theme developer or your plug-in developer if you encounter an accessibility issue isue in the theme of the plugin because many of these themes are used by tens and thousands of people and it is my experience that these developers are always interested in fixing these errors so by reporting them you can get uh these products to work a lot better for a lot of people on the other hand then you're doing free work for them then you're auditing them their work maybe you should it's like a 50/50 like you can say oh this and this and this is all wrong on your website or your plugin and then you're doing a free audit for them you can say well maybe you should hire an accessibility expert to actually look into your website because I saw many accessibility issues if it's a small issue maybe that's something to do but don't do a whole riew on the website for free that's an interesting point thank you okay we do have time for a couple more questions if anyone would like to step up hi I'm Henry from the internet Society I work as a developer when you audit a website on its accessibility I usually use a tool called Web aim wave and once I have fixed all the issues at the theme level or in the content I usually validate once more with a screen reader yeah can you confirm that this strategy is valid that this seems to be the way to go well uh automatic testing like U wave or um X def tools don't get any all the accessibilities out so gives a good indication but other tools of other issues they cannot detect like keyboard accessibility or like um If U there is there are good um old text on images if they only can detect that there is an old text but they cannot detect if the old text really describes the image so going through it with a screen we is actually a good thing because you then you get the experience if text makes sense and if the order is logic IAL so it's a combination of using automated testing keyboard testing going through it with the screen reader and with your eyes just go through the website and see if the order makes sense if the proximity is okay everything that belongs together is put together um so it's a combination but a web a wave and and a web tools are great tools for getting uh a lot of issues out hello so my next point would be in fact this is a huge job to get a website valid um and here uh I want to mention that it's not easy to convince management of a company that we have we need a a special position that's why I'm super happy with this new law because now is the law you have to thank you okay I'm also very curious if this will be the same as the gdpr when suddenly one month before before everybody needed to have like a security on the website like P the Privacy then everybody just put a cookie Banner on it and a cookie wall on it you cannot enter before you cons send to the cookies and that kind of died out so maybe um what I'm afraid of that people uh just put an overlay on the website and think I'm okay and that isn't the case so that's why mentioned overlays any more questions here yeah uh what do you think about two version of the website so I like to make fancy websites but uh for the uh accessibility I want to make the same page uh in other version so okay so you have a website for for blind people for deaf people for people hard accessible website and fancy website accessible sit and fancy you can make very fancy websites accessible I should advise against two different websites that's two different websites you need to maintain and accessibility is such a broad um Spectrum from people who are colorblind who cannot see color very well up to people who cannot read very well uh of people who are dyslectic of people who really need keyboard accessibility it's so different like this accessible website and then your fancy website I think that's double work and also an insult to the people who uh this is the website for blind people and then you have to go to the website for blind people I think that's an insult take the extra step okay but I meant that in uh every browser has this uh reader uh option so if you click on the reader you will only see the text yeah so I use that a lot yeah so I that it's not a replacement because uh the website need to be built and structured way the read riew doesn't always work on every page maybe only on on like a blog post or a large article page and it g doesn't give all the information so it's not really uh a good replacement but it's an extra Aid because I use it a lot if there's a lot of advertisement a lot of distraction review gives an absolute brilliant way to read through the text but it it doesn't work on every page so it's an ad it it can help you but it's not a replacement okay thank you yeah okay last question go ahead hey D hi ran thank you for the talk um I was wondering I'm um from Germany and you said there are so strict rules in Germany yeah but from my perspective um if a company or um in my case a government's website um need to follow this rules now because uh for governments websites this is uh true um even before this European act so um if you have rules you need to have sanctions and you if you don't have someone who's complaining about it then nothing happens so okay now we have the rules but we need to to sue companies uh which are not following and I'm not sure about if this works so any IDE I cannot look in the future so yeah you I cannot too um maybe that um yeah can you join in hi so in Germany currently for the government project of the government's websites um every state has a different like has our own um um person to look at this so if you have a complaint in a state of accessibility the address and the contact informations have to be in there so if you have a complaint and you can't solve it with the website itself you can tell them and they will solve it for you all right well in the Netherlands we actually have like a regor with all the government website listed and that's a a blame and shame some uh and then you have a then you're accessible and d and then or E then you didn't have done audit and you're not uh working on accessible accessibility and all do you can blame and shame government websites that way and force them into accessibility how that will that will be done with companies I have no idea yeah so I cannot look in the future I think it will be like a hot mess of uncertainty and and uh people sooning and don't know the law and but maybe uh it will be a good motivation for companies to actually spend money for accessibility okay thank you yay, The European Accessibility Act explained, YouTube, 01ka7dbh0nfa6x62amhf25pbn7.