Internet Resources: Wcag 2.1 Guidelines Report (Assessment)

Introduction

Regardless of traffic and direction, Internet resources must comply with the accessibility principles established by WCAG 2.1 guidelines. However, it is of great interest to attempt to correlate these principles with alternative forms of data provision: banners,.pdf,.pptx, or.docx files. It is essential to assess how widespread off-websites availability is, which is the purpose of this work.

Billboard

For advertising products hung on the streets, the convenience of perception of information is critical. For this reason, designers often use vibrant colours that can attract attention. However, as WCAG 2.1 postulates¹, these colours need to be matched in contrast. If to address poster Samsung², Figure 1, it is possible to find out two base colours: blue background and white text. The contrast ratio calculator³ determines that between two colours, the ratio is 2.04:1, which is absolutely inadmissible under conditions 1.4.6, Level AAA. In order to make it easier to view ads for people with visual impairment, designers should change the background colour, for example, to RGB (4:91:128).

Poster

Meanwhile, WCAG 2.1 gives other relative picture recommendations: for example, 1.1.1, Level A. As it can be seen in Figure 2⁴, there is a man’s face and a small signature at the bottom of the poster. Although this form is impressive and makes us feel certain emotions, for people with impaired vision or cognitive impairment, it is necessary to introduce a text alternative. For instance, designers could add text elements to the poster from below, as shown in Figure 3.

PDF

Fiction and science literature often uses column format when the text is presented in two parallel lines on the page. This is always difficult because there is no single standard regarding the reading sequence. Figure 4⁵ illustrates this misunderstanding: the user may be wrong in which order to read the information after the word “In”. This is not following the principle stated in 1.3.2, Level A. However, one can either add “read more on this page” or change the sequence of text to a single column to address this shortcoming.

DOCX

Most often, if a website offers access to a.docx text file, the document is usually downloaded to the user’s computer. Moreover, while such documents can often be customized to fit one own needs, the manufacturer must take care of readability. Figure 5⁶ shows that the downloaded.docx cannot be changed because this action is locked. 1.4.8, Level AAA, indicates that a 1.5 line spacing is required, but the document only provides a single one. Fixing this situation does not seem difficult: it is enough for the manufacturer to change the interval.

Labels

In stores designers need to use WCAG 2.1 guidelines, as all customers have different levels of health opportunities. Cases, where the manufacturer is responsible for placing the customer in a discriminatory position, should be excluded, as can be interpreted in Figure 6⁷. Although IKEA is known for its unique product naming, according to 3.1.3 and 3.1.6, Levels AAA, the mechanisms of reading should be presented for compound words. For instance, for a word shown in Figure 6, designers could add a transcription, as shown in Figure 7.

References

Jason in Hollywood, Unbox Your Phone Samsung Galaxy S8 Billboards [Website], Web.

Joblo’s Movie Posters, Joker Poster (#4 Of 6) [Website], Web.

Kirkpatrick, A., Connor, J. O., Campbell, A., and Cooper, M., Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 [Website], Web.

Owen Ontwerpt, Digital Labels, [Website], Web.

Renema, N. et al., ‘RANK–RANKL Signalling in Cancer’, Bioscience Reports, vol. 36, no. 4, 2016, pp. 1-17.

Seattle Information Technology, ‘2016 Annual Report’, 2016, Web.

Verou, L., Contrast Ratio[Website], Web.

Footnotes

1. Kirkpatrick, A., Connor, J. O., Campbell, A., and Cooper, M., Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 [Website], Web.
2. Jason in Hollywood, Unbox Your Phone Samsung Galaxy S8 Billboards [Website], Web.
3. Verou, L., Contrast Ratio [Website], Web.
4. Joblo’s Movie Posters, Joker Poster (#4 Of 6) [Website], Web.
5. Renema, N. et al., ‘RANK–RANKL Signalling in Cancer’, Bioscience Reports, vol. 36, no. 4, 2016, pp. 1-17.
6. Seattle Information Technology, ‘2016 Annual Report’, 2016, Web.
7. Owen Ontwerpt, Digital Labels, [Website], Web.