The WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) document explains how to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities. Web "content" generally refers to the information in a Web page or Web application, including text, images, forms, sounds, videos, etc... WCAG 1.0 has 14 guidelines that are general rules for making web pages equally accessible to all. Each guideline has one or more checkpoints that explain how the guideline applies in a specific area. These guidelines were approved in 1999 and have become a kind of check list to web developers and site designers who strive to make their web sites enjoyable and usable by all.
WCAG 2.0 is being developed to apply very broadly to different technologies that exist now, and also will attempt to govern future technology. Another goal of the WAI (Web Accessibility initiative) is to make the guidelines easier to use and understand. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly to web developers, according to the Requirements for WCAG 2.0 , developers will be have access to tools that will auto-validate their websites to ensure that they meet these accessibility guidelines. The WAI anticipates that the WCAG 2.0 could be completed by 2008 (which is now). But until that time, WCAG 1.0 will remain the latest approved version until WCAG 2.0 is complete.
Now that we have the boring stuff out of the way, what does the changing of the guidelines mean to you as a web developer? I am going to make a prediction. According to the response article by Joe Clarke, the last working revision of WCAG 2.0 was 14,000 words long. That's a lot of verbage for what should be a few simple guidelines. So here's my prediction. Lot's of lawsuits. Target Stores was sued last year for non-compliance with the current accessibility standards by making their web site difficult for blind people to navigate. In my opinion that is pure ridiculousness. More rules means its gonna be a lot harder to make sure you have everything covered and a greater possibility that someone with a disability will exploit you for your inconsiderate website. Don't get me wrong, I believe that we should have rules and standards, otherwise 99% of the web would be un-surfable without downloading some 3rd party plugin at every new site. I like the fact that we have universality in web design, but I think that things can be taken too far. What is wrong with guidelines 1.0. Why do we need a much larger document?
I propose that we skip WCAG 2.0 all together and jump right into WCAG 3.0. It will go something like this:
Rule # 1: Use CSS for layout, no tables and definitely NO FRAMES.
Rule # 2: Make sure that your page follows a Heirarchal layout that can be easily deciphered by a screen reader, braile machine, etc. p.s. Include subtitles as an option for multimedia presentations.
Rule # 3: Avoid content on your website that will cause color-blind people to be confused, or photo-sensitive epileptics to begin seizing.
Rule # 4: NO PORNOGRAPHY
All I can say, is that I'm very glad that I'm taking my web classes now, and not in 5 years, when poor students will have to write 5 WAR papers each weekend instead of only one, in order to cover all the guidelines in a single semester.
