Accessibility

Mandatory

The Australian Government has endorsed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.0 for all government websites. This requirement supersedes the previous mandate for compliance with WCAG 1.0.

Advice on how to meet the new standard, including the full scope of the upgrade, is detailed in the Web Accessibility National Transition Strategy (NTS), published on the Department of Finance and Deregulation (Finance) website.

The Minister for Finance and Deregulation, the Hon. Lindsay Tanner, MP, with Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services, The Hon. Bill Shorten, MP, have detailed endorsement of the new guidelines in a media release on 23 February 2010, and announced the release of the NTS on 30 June 2010.

Why Must I?

Accessibility requirements for websites are mandated under government policy, legislation, and through whole-of-government commitments.

The Online and Communications Council (OCC) endorsed WCAG 2.0, requiring all federal, state and territory websites to conform to the guidelines to meet WCAG 2.0 Level A by December 2012. The Secretaries' ICT Governance Board (SIGB) extended the requirement for federal government to conform to WCAG 2.0 Level AA by December 2014.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 agencies must ensure that people with disabilities have the same fundamental rights to access information as the rest of the community.

Furthermore, in 2008, the Australian Government ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which specifically recognises (under Articles 9 and 21) that access to information, communications and services, including the internet, is a human right.

What must I do?

Agencies must update all government websites (as specified within scope under the NTS) to WCAG 2.0 conformance:

  • Level A (Single A) by 31 December 2012
  • Level AA (Double A) by 31 December 2014

To claim conformance websites must meet all five WCAG 2.0 conformance requirements.

Agencies may elect to seek WCAG 2.0 Double A conformance from the outset, and are encouraged to do so, but must still meet the minimum requirements of the NTS (including Single A conformance by December 2012).

Agencies unable to conform to WCAG 2.0 within the approved timeframes or at the mandated conformance level must seek approval from the Expenditure Review Committee (ERC) to opt-out from this arrangement, as detailed in the NTS.

Reporting

Agencies will be required to regularly report to SIGB and the OCC, through Finance, on their progress to WCAG 2.0 conformance in line with the timetable set out in the NTS. The Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO), within Finance, will provide advice to agencies on the reporting requirements as appropriate.

Scope of Upgrade

The full scope of the upgrade required (including issues of retrospectivity) is discussed in the NTS. Briefly:

  • WCAG 2.0 conformance is required on all websites owned and/or operated by government under any domain. This includes external (public-facing or private) and internal (closed community) sites. That is, conformance is required for all internet, intranet and extranet sites.
  • All websites and web content created after July 2010 must meet at least WCAG 2.0 Single A by 31 December 2012.
  • Websites and web content created before July 2010 that will be archived or decommissioned before December 2012 are not required to meet WCAG 2.0.
  • Any web content created before July 2010 that is no longer current, but that is still important and/or popular and not yet appropriate for archival, should remain WCAG 1.0 conformant. Where this type of content is not WCAG 1.0 conformant, agencies should upgrade to WCAG 2.0.

Alternative Formats

Until otherwise stated, agencies must not rely upon any web technology that cannot claim WCAG 2.0 conformance. That is, any technology may be used, but where it cannot prove its accessibility support, agencies must provide an additional alternative format. Web technologies that claim accessibility support must prove WCAG 2.0 conformance through the use of WCAG 2.0 Sufficient Techniques.

Agencies are reminded that it is still a requirement to publish an alternative to all PDF documents (preferably in HTML). Advice on the accessibility support of PDF documents will be made available at the conclusion of the PDF Accessibility Review Project, due mid-2010. In the meantime, agencies must abide by the Australian Human Rights Commission's Disability Discrimination Act Advisory Notes in order to mitigate risk of disability discrimination complaint.

Agencies must provide other alternative formats upon request, but should not rely on this defence, nor consider it an appropriate long-term solution to providing accessible versions. Alternative formats should always be published at the same time.

How Do I?

Accessible by Design

Content should be created in ways that support and maximise accessibility. Agencies should consider the varied needs of their users, and plan for accessibility from the outset.

Where accessibility problems are known, agencies should put in place implementation plans to address the problem, then endeavour to minimise future risk by using standards-based web technologies and best practice content management processes.

Agencies should use the principle of progressive enhancement when building and managing websites, and test for conformance across multiple browsers and operating system configurations.

Resources

Agencies should ensure staff within web, communication, and information technology areas are appropriately educated on WCAG 2.0 and the NTS. Agencies should also begin implementing WCAG 2.0 by following the process outlined in the NTS, seeking advice as necessary from AGIMO.

Community of Expertise (CoE)

AGIMO has established a collaborative space to support a Community of Expertise (CoE) for the transition to, and implementation of, WCAG 2.0. If you are interested in participating in this, register your interest via WCAG2@finance.gov.au.

Website Accessibility National Transition Strategy (NTS)

Detailed technical advice on how to implement WCAG 2.0 across the three proposed phases (Preparation, Transition and Implementation) will be published on the Web Guide shortly.

WCAG 2.0 resources from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
The Australian Human Rights Commission Web Accessibility Advice

Who Can Help?

AGIMO can assist with WCAG 2.0 and web accessibility queries:

Web Policy (Accessibility and Style)
Tel: (02) 6215 1653
wcag2@finance.gov.au