Use BAD for Good Examples of Accessibility in Action

Web accessibility means designing pages and applications so that they can be used by everyone, including people with disabilities, some of whom use assistive technologies to browse the web. Accessibility is required by federal law in many instances and courts are broadening their interpretation of how the legal requirements are implemented. Many know that web accessibility is an increasingly important issue, but are not sure what to do.

BAD is good for the accidental accessibility expert

It is not uncommon for individuals who recognize and speak up about the need for accessibility within an organization to find that they have become experts by default. For those in this situation and who are invited to speak to groups about web accessibility, an updated tool from the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) can help.

The Before and After Demo (BAD) is an updated set of related web pages that provide fully integrated examples of accessibility at work. Sharp, new, and fun to use, BAD is designed to serve a variety of purposes. In addition to raising general awareness of web accessibility issues, BAD is a highly effective way to show how Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2) can be applied without sacrificing visual appeal or interactivity.

BAD shows common accessibility barriers using practical examples. The demonstration consists of an inaccessible Web site, an accessible version of the same site, as well as a report about the demonstrated barriers. The demonstration does not attempt to cover every checkpoint of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) nor to provide an exhaustive list of examples but to demonstrate some key aspects of Web accessibility appropriate for short, focused presentations.

Providing practical examples during a talk is usually very effective. The BAD overview outlines the features of the Demo and gives tips on best use. Together with the inaccessible and accessible Demo pages, concrete before and after coding samples, and notes explaining related WCAG rules, there is much rich content to share during presentations.

Let the community know how you use it

I will be using BAD in my upcoming accessibility training sessions at AccessU at CSUN. Presenters are encouraged to use the demo live or to download the pages with the understanding that some pages will not have full interactivity without connection to a server. WAI is interested to hear if BAD is good for you. Please use the demo and then let WAI know about your experience. Send your comments to wai-eo-editors@w3.org (a publicly archived list) or wai@w3.org (a WAI staff-only list).