The Collaborative Road to Maine State Web Accessibility

The Collaborative Road to Maine State Web Accessibility Kelly Hokkanen, Kathy Record, Ellen Wood State Web Accessibility Sub-Committee Maine. gov - the official Web portal of the state of Maine

Objectives • Describe Maine’s collaborative path to increasing access to government web sites • Discuss Maine’s web standards • Describe Maine templates developed for Dreamweaver to support a consistent, accessible, and usable government web site.

Background 1. 1997 “Maine’s Opportunity: Maximizing Economic Potential conference” – Ensuring Information Technology provides access for ALL Maine citizens – White Paper with Guiding principles & recommendations 2. 1999 Legislation passed to create Infor. ME, Maine’s e-government partner and portal

Maine’s IT Accessibility Committee • Government Information Services Policy Board recognizes State commitment to people with disabilities • Establish accessibility committee - 1998, Charter in 1999 • More than web…”to integrate accessibility into our everyday business processes and practices” • Maine Government Accessibility Committee

Accessibility Committee Charter • Propose and maintain standards for information technology accessibility • Expand maintain an evaluation methodology for current and future information technology endeavors • Prepare periodic updates on technology, ADA compliance, and other legal requirements • Complete an annual report on previous year's accomplishments and proposed future work plan • Work in partnership with the Accessible Information Technology Coordinator on identifying issues and providing technical assistance and solutions • Annual Reports –these reports go to Governor’s, Cabinet, Commissioner, Maine State Library government publications

The Web Problem • What we knew: The Web is a critical means by which the State communicates with the public • Where we were: – Everyone did their “own thing” – Many sites unusable & inaccessible – No compliance to standards, lack of consistency, browser compatibility issues, not forward compatible, costly to maintain, lack of accountability

Roadblocks to Accessibility • No coordinated state plan or management for web presence • Costs • Lack of accessibility training and information • Resistance to change; ownership issues • No accountability • No enforcement of accessibility policy • No web standards

Solutions – Policy & Leadership • Accessibility Committee wrote Maine State government web accessibility policy – adopted by the Information Services Policy Board July 2001 • CIO became champion for accessibility initiative: Top IT official is accountable • CIO hired half-time IT accessibility coordinator • CIO provided a budget • Web accessibility sub-committee formed & developed an action plan

Steps for Change • 2002 – Launched new state accessibility website "one stop shopping" for those looking for IT accessibility information. • 2003 – Summer intern researched issues to bring Maine State websites into compliance with State policy– Web accessibility recommendations – Updated web accessibility policy & more usable format for implementation guidelines

2004 Steps for Change • Accessibility Committee & IT Accessibility Coordinator, Kathy Record, worked on accountability & standards • Web Design Consistency Initiative – collaboration & support by Accessibility Committee, Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), Department of Administrative and Financial Services, & Infor. ME – Infor. ME: Maine’s e-Government Partner and the winner of the Center for Digital Government’s 2004 Best of the Web competition. • Web Sub-Committee established – Focused on prioritizing and implementing Web Accessibility Plan recommendations – 5 Action Areas for 2004 -05 goals

Committee Action 1: Training • Make basic web design training available for every state employee who works on web pages affiliated with Maine State Government. – Infor. ME provides monthly webmaster training – Committee offers quarterly free half-day accessibility workshops open to state webmasters and their managers. • Review the current training course curriculum and the process for selecting training instructors • Issues- costs, time away from job, levels of skills, what to teach, who trains

Committee Action 2: Web Resources • Transition webmasters to one software – Support & training only for Dreamweaver • Each agency should have access to web testing and accessibility tools on at least one computer. – Committee purchased Hi. Software: 50 licenses of Acc. Verify/Acc. Repair, Hi-Caption, Link Checker – Enterprise evaluation with Acc. Monitor – All provided to agencies at NO cost • Develop Webmaster Resource Center Website and online forum – Set up by Infor. ME, Fall 2004

Committee Action 3: Evaluation & Governance • Purchased enterprise accessibility evaluation software – Chose Hi. Software’s Acc. Monitor • Evaluate all state sites at least twice a year for accessibility – Hisoftware’s Acc. Monitor initial run Spring 2005 with ongoing quarterly reports • Agencies must develop internal web management plan – identify roles and responsibilities, site monitoring and evaluation, content maintenance, oversight, user feedback and other aspects of site management. – Web sites need project management and planning

Committee Action 4: Personnel • Require all agencies to appoint a primary web coordinator – Responsible for ensuring compliance to all state standards • Create Webmaster Directory for communications and security purposes – Mandate that all state employees who have access to and work on state web pages register with the Office of the CIO, using the directory • Issues – Use of employees who have both time and training to design professional pages, – Fewer working on pages, less problems – HR and job classification – Pages meeting standards – Accountability & communication of policies – Support of senior management important

Web Standards Purpose: • Web is one of the most important means by which the State communicates with the public • An agency's website may be the only interface that a citizen or business has with a particular agency • Maine state government's presence on the Internet must be professional, comprehensive and coordinated. • All state websites must be accessible to the broadest possible audience and easy to understand use.

Web Standards – Business Value • Reinforce Maine. gov identity and make it clear to users they are on a Maine state site • Provide consistency and continuity in website appearance • Improve the quality, usability and accessibility of State websites for the public • Ensure that critical state links appear on all agency sites • Integrate agency sites and the portal, to support the "one government" approach • Increase efficiency of website development and management by agencies

Web Standards Developed • Web standards revised and passed by Information Service Policy Board, Spring 2005 • Governor’s Order, Jan. 2005 charging CIO and Infor. ME to develop accessible web templates that all departments will utilize to ensure unified e-government web services

Scope of Standards • These standards apply to all agencies within the Executive Branch of Maine State Government. In addition, all sites must comply with the Web Accessibility Policy of the State of Maine • Web design and content requirements – Maine. gov header – Design templates – Developed at no cost to government by Infor. ME – Style Guide • Agency Site Management Plan • Webmaster Directory • Website Coordinators • Approved Web Software: Macromedia Dreamweaver

Summary of Standards Benefits • • • Improved usability for the public Professional presentation Improved accessibility for all users Consistent branding of state sites Browser compatibility, standard code, fast download • Easier development and maintenance by agencies • Reduced costs

Next Steps • Support webmasters in transitioning to templates with resources and training • Continue monthly Infor. ME webmaster meetings with targeted training • Hold monthly web coordinators meetings • Monitor level of accessibility through quarterly Acc. Monitor testing • Full Accessibility Committee broader initiatives – More PR, studying legal aspects, network with others • E-government Manager position from Office of Information Technology • Continue summer intern program

Maine State Library Home Use of Template

Agency Leadership makes a Difference • With the strong support of the State Librarian and the Deputy Librarian, Maine State Library is reporting close to a 100% web accessibility compliance for Maine’s Web Accessibility Policy • Other key factors for Maine State Library: – Use of the templates, Infor. ME’s training, Hi. Software’s tools, Dreamweaver /Contribute accessibility settings, and the continual support of Infor. ME and the CIO’s Accessibility Coordinator

Template - Bureau of Parks & Lands (green style)

Another Template Example – Maine’s Fall Foliage • Some flexibility in color scheme, header, use/non-use of right navigation

Template Accessibility Features – Skip Nav • “Skip navigation” links (required by federal Section 508) – These “invisible” links allow a blind user with screen reader software to skip over repetitive header and navigation links and move directly to the page’s main content. – Two levels of “skip” links are included: Skip header links, & skip to content.

Template Accessibility Features –Text Nav Text navigation • Very few graphics are used in the templates. • All navigation is text. • This is more accessible than graphical text, since it can be enlarged as needed. • It also downloads more quickly. • Uses CSS

Template Accessibility Features – Alternative navigation systems • Search and site map available from every page. Specific to each site. • A textual site map provides information about how the site is organized. • Breadcrumb trail navigation provides information about site organization and another way to navigate.

Template Accessibility Features - Fonts Sizing & Styling • The State accessibility policy requires that sites use relative font sizing. • Effective font sizing within the style sheets that meets all accessibility requirements and is cross-browser compatible. • All font styling and sizing comes from the style sheets automatically.

Template Accessibility Features - CSS - Cascading Style Sheets • Separation of presentation from content • Allows users to control the site display to their own preferred settings • Provides a cleaner page that is more accessible to screen reader software, text browsers, and alternative devices. • Improves download speed of web pages.

Template Accessibility Features - Other • Consistency of layout, navigation and appearance. • Home link and “Contact Us” link available from every page • Navigation systems include clear “you are here” indicators as the user moves deeper into the site.

Presenters’ Contact Information • Ellen Wood, Web Coordinator for Maine State Library, Chair of the State Web Accessibility Sub -Committee, ellen. wood@maine. gov, www. maine. gov/msl/ • Kelly Hokkanen, Director of Creative Services, Infor. ME: Information Resource of Maine, and member of Web Accessibility Sub-Committee, kelly@informe. org, www. maine. gov • Kathy Record, IT Management Analyst/Accessibility Coordinator, Office of the CIO, kathy. record@maine. gov, www. maine. gov/cio/

Resources mentioned (in order of appearance) • • • • Maine. gov - the official Web portal of the state of Maine http: //www. maine. gov/ White Paper with Guiding principles & recommendations http: //www. mainecite. org/docs/wpaper. htm Maine State Accessibility Committee http: //www. maine. gov/CIO/accessibility/committee. htm Accessibility Annual Reports http: //www. maine. gov/CIO/accessibility/annualreports. htm Website Accessibility Policy of the State of Maine http: //www. maine. gov/CIO/accessibility/policy/webpolicy. htm Office of the CIO Accessibility web site http: //www. maine. gov/CIO/accessibility/index. htm Web accessibility recommendations http: //www. maine. gov/msl/accessibility/recommend 03. htm Accessibility policy implementation guidelines http: //www. maine. gov/CIO/accessibility/policy/guideline 1. htm Infor. ME: Maine’s E-Government Partner http: //www. maine. gov/informe/ Hi. Software http: //www. hisoftware. com/ Maine State Library http: www. maine. gov/msl/ Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands http: //www. maine. gov/doc/parks/ Maine’s Fall Foliage http: //www. mainefoliage. com