Web Accessibility for All:
CLF 2.0 / WCAG / 508 made easy
Seminar Description | Resources for Attendees | Resources for Hosts
"Eye-opening. Love your method of teaching."
- Jean Descrochers, National Research Council
"I love David's approach."
- Carole Dubuc, Canadian Armed Forces
"Clear, concise, and very useful."
- Annette Kallevig
| LATEST EVENTS | LOCATION | HOST/REGISTRATION | FEE* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu Feb 3, 2011 | Ottawa, ON | David Berman Communications | $495. |
| Wed April 14, 2010 | Ottawa, ON | David Berman Communications | $495. |
| Fri Mar 19, 2010 | Montreal, PQ | Explorance | private event |
| October 28, 2009 | Beijing, China |  Icograda World Congress 2009 |
see host site |
| Thu April 30, 2009 | San Francisco, CA | Voices That Matter Web Design Conference |
speaker breakfast |
| April 2, 2009 | Delhi, India | World Summit Award Grand Jury |
by invitation |
| Thu November13, 2008 | Ottawa, ON | David Berman Communications | $495. |
| July 6, 2008 | Daegu, Korea | Icograda Design Week in Daegu 2008 |
see host site |
| Tue April 29, 2008 |
Ottawa, ON | David Berman Communications | $495. |
| Thu March 13, 2008 | Tunney's Pasture, Ottawa, ON | Statistics Canada | private event |
| Tue February 19, 2008 |
Tunney's Pasture, Ottawa, ON | Health Canada | private event |
| Wed November 7, 2007 |
Minto Business Centre, Ottawa, ON | David Berman Communications | $495. |
| Thu November 9, 2006 |
Minto Business Centre, Ottawa, ON | David Berman Communications | $495. |
| Thu February 16, 2006 |
Minto Business Centre, Ottawa, ON | David Berman Communications | SOLD OUT |
| Tue December 6, 2005 |
Oslo, Norway | Norwegian
Design Council |
SOLD OUT |
| Thu October 20, 2005 |
Minto Business Centre, Ottawa, ON | David Berman Communications | SOLD OUT |
| Thu June 9, 2005 |
Minto Business Centre, Ottawa, ON | David Berman Communications | $495. |
| Tue December 22, 2004 |
Tunney's Pasture, Ottawa, ON | Health Canada | private event |
*Discount packages for non-profits, and travel subsidies available. Additional discounts available for groups over three people. If you refer at least four registrants to one of our seminars, we'll give you a complimentary registration to a seminar of your choice. Call (613) 728-6777 for details.
All prices, offerings, and dates subject to change without notice.
To register for a seminar given by our own organization, register online or call (613) 728-6777.
"Wonderful handout! The way extra information, like links and explanations, is included works beautifully."
- Elizabeth Strand, Making Waves, Oslo (Norway)
"Very understandable and fun."
- Liz Breines, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Oslo (Norway)
"Highly valuable."
- Maureen Quirouet, Parliament of Canada
Demystify accessibility standards! Most adults suffer from some level of disability or difficulty that can be mitigated through accessible Web site design. By using the immediately-applicable tips and techniques you'll learn in this powerful one-day Web accessibility seminar, not only will you comply with standards: you'll be broadening the audience for your Web site while enriching the experience of all your visitors.
"Inspiring, engaging... techniques I can use."
- Liv Stenersen, Government Administration Services, Oslo (Norway)
David Berman will convince you of why accessibility and standards are important for everybody, then provide in-depth familiarity with federal and international guidelines that will help your Web presence be a more effective resource for your entire audience. You'll also gain familiarity with technologies that help people with specific disabilities and difficulties. The full-day seminar includes a thorough review of pertinent standards to comply with the Canadian government's world-leading Common Look and Feel 2.0 policy and international W3C guidelines, as well as testing recommendations for both. Finally, you'll venture into where accessibility meets usability. Not only will you leave with ideas you can use right away, you may also gain a whole new attitude towards how technology can improve lives. By the end of the day you willnot only be aware of why accessibility and standards affect everyone: you'll be equipped with a thorough understanding of what needs to be done and how.
"Excellent... knowledge I can use."
- Sandra Clark, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Oslo (Norway)
Each full-day participant leaves with a comprehensive 75+ page learning guide, detailing every major accessibility guideline.
"Inspiring!"
- Morten Budeng, King Design
"Excellent."
- Sylvie Nyman, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
"Excellent storytelling. Thanks!"
- Sarah Rosenbaum, Norwegian Knowledge Centre for Health Services
What's Wrong
Computer-mediated accessibility to information perhaps represents the greatest liberation in human history. Most people in our societies have some sort of physical or mental difficulty which can stand in the way of clear Web communication unless proper design steps are taken.
Although most professional Web developers now create their sites with an awareness of technical design issues such as browser incompatibilities and platform dependencies, they are still experiencing difficulties with emerging accessibility standards. Many Web sites continue to be designed based on assumptions that don't address the specific needs of people with disabilities and difficulties and thus fail to deliver the promise of the Web to all users.
"Very good speaker - good sense of humour."
- Johan Fong, House of Commons
"Entertaining."
- Sjur Kristiansen, Telenor Telecommunications Group
What Makes This Seminar Unique
Our seminar leader, David Berman is a consultant on common look and feel implementation for large Web sites, and has worked on CLF projects for many large organizations including Statistics Canada, the National Research Council, and IBM. He has been the project manager of numerous accessible Web projects, has developed strategy and design for CRA, Health Canada, Canadian Heritage, Industry Canada, CMHC, and the International Space Station …as well as many private sector and non-profit organizations.
By addressing and understanding accessibility issues, Web developers can more effectively deliver their message to their whole audience, while complying with the legal and moral responsibilities, regardless of physical or mental impediment.
"I enjoyed it all."
- Robert Hallat, Public Service Commission
"Right on target."
- Marius Monsen, Reaktor ID
What You Will Learn
You will learn how to make your current sites more accessible by complying with current standards and guidelines. Specifically, you will learn:
- Why accessibility matters to everyone, not just those with disabilities
- The major disabilities and challenges: what they are and what technologies are typically used to mitigate them
- W3C WCAG checkpoints
- Common Look and Feel 2.0 standards and guidelines
- Specific technologies and design techniques used to satisfy accessibility concerns
- Testing frameworks for accessibility issues
- How to make PDF files more accessible
- Where accessibility meets usability
"Very good: made me think..."
- Bente Mollevik, Norwegian Savings Bank Association
Goals
At the end of this event, you will:
- Know many simple techniques you can apply right away to make Web content more accessible
- Have a comprehensive understanding of CLF and W3C accessibility guidelines and how to tackle them
- Be able to make informed decisions as to what degree you can practically comply with accessibility standards
- Understand better the experience of those with disabilities using the Web and new media products
- Know you're doing the "right thing" by ensuring accessibility for all
"Excellent."
- Steinar Sandum, Adax, Svelvik (Norway)
What You Get
When David Berman Communications hosts this seminar*, each participant receives:
- a complimentary, comprehensive learning guide (also available separately for $89 with optional 1-on-1 distance coaching)
- complimentary meals, snacks and beverages throughout
- a thirty-minute personal coaching tele-session within a month of the seminar
- the option to attend this seminar again in the future, as a refresher at no additional cost
- a money-back guarantee: if, after coaching and refresher,
you don't think you've got your money's worth, we'll refund your entire
registration fee
(*If you are attending one of our seminars hosted by another organization, confirm with them which of these items apply.)
Prerequisites
Some familiarity with the management and/or development of Web sites.
About the Expert Speaker
David Berman is the principal of David Berman Communications. He has over 20 years of experience in graphic design and strategic communications. He has worked extensively in adapting the printed word for electronic distribution, including software interface development.
David has extensive experience as a senior consultant in applying accessibility and CLF standards to federal government Web sites, as well as to public sector clients such as IBM, both as a strategist and compliance testing leader. He regularly teaches accessibility principles as part of his professional development workshops, and developed a custom two-day workshop for the National Research Council on common look and feel. His plain writing, design, and accessibility work include award-winning projects for the City of Ottawa, the Ontario government, and Canada's federal government. Clients include IBM, Justice Canada, HRDC, Canada Revenue Agency, Norwegian Design Council, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Region of Ottawa-Carleton and the Ontario Literacy Coalition. David has been featured in the Financial Post, Marketing, and Applied Arts magazines.
In addition to operating as one of the leading design strategists in our nation's capital, in recent years David has also recommitted his career toward sharing his knowledge and unique talent as a manager and organizer through professional development seminars for creative organizations. He is an internationally-celebrated speaker, having taken engagements in over 10 countries.
David is a National Professional Member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS) and the International Federation for Professional Speakers. Berman has been on the board of the world body for design, Icograda, since 2005. David is currently the Ethics Chair of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, and was named a Fellow (the highest professional honour for graphic designers in Canada) in 1999.
Who Should Attend
This seminar is targeted to all project managers, Webmasters, production coordinators, programming leaders, strategists, and controllers, involved in developing Web or other new media projects.
- People who need to get their Web site compliant with CLF 2.0, Section 508, and/or W3C WCAG accessibility standards
- People who manage or plan Web sites
- People who coordinate people who build Web sites
- People who design or program Web sites
- People who represent clients who hire others to develop Web sites
Language: English
Duration: One-day seminar, or keynote presentation
This seminar is also available customized and on-site for your organization. Please ask for more details.
To be notified via e-mail of when we schedule new instances of this topic, subscribe to our Events E-Newsletter.
For the convenience of seminar attendees, we provide this list of hypertext links and books cited in this seminar's manual:
Comparison of accessibility features in various versions of Microsoft Windows
Search for assistive technology products
Jaws for Windows
Browsealoud
Some popular sites that do not respect text size:
canada.com
Some sites that respect text size well:
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/clf2-nsi2/index-eng.asp
http://www.norskdesign.no
http://www.davidberman.com
Advanced On-Screen Keyboard:
Screendoors 2000
Mouse Grid Software:
Hippocampus Mouse Grid
Treasury Board of Canada Recommended Policy for Common Look and Feel for Intranets (CLFIE)
USA Laws, Standards and Regulations regarding accessibility
“Section 508” of the USA's Federal Rehabilitation
Act Amendments (1998)
"Section 508" Full Standards
eNorway 2009: Norwegian Ministry of Modernization strategy for e-government
Australian web accessibility standards and guidelines
Other International Government Policies Relating to Web Accessibility(CH, DE, DK, ES, EU, FI, FR, HK, IL, IN, IT, JA, NZ, PT, UK)
UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities
Roundup of how Canada ranks in international studies
ISO 639-2 Codes
W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
W3C Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0
The W3C
W3C WCAG 1.1
W3C WCAG 1.2
W3C WCAG 1.3
W3C WCAG 1.4
National Center for Accessible Media rich media samples
Magpie (for creating captions and audio descriptions for rich media)
W3C WCAG 2.1
W3C WCAG 2.2
Colour Deficiency Simulator
“How To Design Web Accessible Page For The Colorblind”
W3C WCAG 3.1
W3C WCAG 3.2
W3C WCAG 3.3
W3C WCAG 3.4
W3C WCAG 3.5
W3C WCAG 3.6
W3C WCAG 3.7
W3C WCAG 4.1
W3C WCAG 4.2
W3C WCAG 5.1
W3C WCAG 5.2
W3C WCAG 5.3
W3C WCAG 5.4
W3C WCAG 6.1
W3C WCAG 6.2
W3C WCAG 6.3
W3C WCAG 6.4
W3C WCAG 6.5
W3C WCAG 7.1
W3C WCAG 7.2
W3C WCAG 7.3
W3C WCAG 7.4
W3C WCAG 7.5
W3C WCAG 8.1
W3C WCAG 9.1
W3C WCAG 9.2
User Agent Accessibility Guidelines
Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines
W3C WCAG 9.3
W3C WCAG 10.1
W3C WCAG 10.2
W3C WCAG 11.1
W3C WCAG 11.2
Replacing Radio Buttons With Selects
W3C WCAG 11.4
W3C WCAG 12.1
W3C WCAG 12.2
W3C WCAG 12.3
W3C WCAG 12.4
W3C WCAG 13.1
W3C WCAG 13.2
Dublin Core Metadata Initiative
Government of Canada Metadata Implementation Guidelines for Web Resource
Discovery
Complete list of Health Canada Metadata
W3C WCAG 13.3
Sample Help Page
W3C WCAG 13.4
Canada CLF Standard 6.1
Canada CLF Standard 6.2
W3C WCAG 14.1
Core Techniques for Web Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
CLAD Readability Mark Certification
Writing Effective Web Documents
XHTML 1.0
Alternatives for deprecated elements and attributes
Browser support for CSS Properties
Free online PDF conversion tools
Creating Accessible Adobe PDF Files
Sample Accessibility Notice on the “Help” Page
Where to get testing:
David Berman
Go Training
W3C CSS Validation service
Browser emulator for really early browsers
Checking for bad links, HTML syntax, broken tags: ChangeAgent
WAVE Toolbar for Firefox
Government of Canada Communications Policy
Government of Canada Common Look and Feel Template Technical Guide
Directive on the Use of Official Languages on Web Sites
Directive on the Use of Official Languages in Electronic Communications
Designing Web Content For Persons With Disabilities
Accessible Initiative Link Solution
Sample Accessibility Features Statement
Government of Canada Treasury Board CIO Common Look and Feel for the
Internet
Government of Canada CLF Guidelines 1.1 for intranets and extranets
CPB/WGBH – NCAM
HTML Writers Guild – AWARE Center
IBM Human Ability and Accessibility site
30 Days To A More Accessible Web Site
Creating a Welcoming Workplace for People With Disabilities
Employment Equity and Diversity for Managers
Current standards for Government of Canada CLF 2.0:
Part 1
All four CLF 2.0 parts in one document
Crosswalk table from CLF 1.1 to CLF 2.0
CLF 2.0 Toolbox
ISO 639-2 codes
CLF Standard 3.1
Part 2
CLF 2.0 Text Equivalents Repository
Sample Help page
Canada CLF 1.1 Standard 6.1
Canada CLF 1.1 Standard 6.2
CLF 2.0 CSS FAQ
CLF 2.0 Compliance Checklist for Web sites
Government of Canada Common Look and Feel 2.0 Template Technical Guide
SMIL to create multimedia presentations:
What is SMIL
Accessibility Features of SMIL
SMIL example
Privacy Notice for the Collection of Personal Information template
CLF 1.1 Sample Common Menu Bar
Bilingual Welcome Page template
FIP Signatures for GoC Web Sites
Where to buy usability testing
TBS Common Look and Feel Self-Assessment Guide (1.1)
TBS Pages Templates for CLF 1.1
TBS Model cascading style sheets 1.1
Government of Canada CLF: Accessibility (1.1)
Government of Canada CLF 2.0 Guidelines
Government of Canada Internet Guide - Universal Accessibility
WebABLE
Additional browsing:
http://www.websitesthatsuck.com
http://www.webaim.com
More Reading on clear English:
"Eats, Shoots & Leaves" (by Lynne Truss
ISBN: 1-592-40087-6)
"Writing Readable Regulations" (by Thomas A.
Murawski, Carolina Academic Press ISBN: 0-89089-849-9)
"Beyond Readability" (by Dr. Janice
C. Redish, American Institutes for Research, no ISBN)
Great Books about Usability Testing:
"Don’t Make Me Think" (by Steve Krug, Que Publishing,
2000 ISBN: 0-7897-2310-7)
"Handbook of Usability Testing" (by Jeffrey Rubin, John Wiley
& Sons, 1994 ISBN: 0-471-59403-2)
Great Books about Information Architecture:
"Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-scale
Web Sites (2nd Edition)" (by Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville,
2002, O’Reilly ISBN: 0-596-00035-9)
"The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint" (by Edward R. Tufte, 2003, no ISBN)
Great Books about Typography:
"Stop Stealing Sheep" (by Erik Spiekermann ISBN: 0-201-70339-4)
More Reading:
“The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our
Capacity for Processing Information” (by George A. Miller, 1956,
no ISBN): http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Miller
Speaker
introduction for this event 
[50KB]
FEATURED CRITIQUE OF SEMINAR FROM
RECENT PARTICIPANT:
(If you've got something to say, please
e-mail us at youspeak@davidberman.com)
I think I graded the whole seminar above average. This is because the information you gave during the walk through of the list of accessibility-requirements was very informative and educational. I appreciated this section a lot.
My critique comes at the beginning and somewhat at the end of the seminar, where I found both the argumentation that was used to be polarized and one-sided. I'm sure you did this in order to get the attention the topic deserves and to be convincing. But being one-sided and polarized can rapidly decrease the credibility of a speaker when the arguments that are used are too obvious.
I'll give you two examples.
1. I do not believe all accessibility improvements profit everybody. You said so yourself later in the seminar. Some read text best when it's black text on white background, while other read it best when it's the other way around.
2. Not everybody has a disability. I get your point with the above 40-year-olds.
But I wish you would have had more nuance when explaining this.
In general, I think there is a need to support both clients and designers/
programmers with this lecture. Designers are tired of people viewing them
as in the old joke:
"How many graphic designers does it take to put in a light bulb?"
Answer: "If it doesn't work it’s not my damn problem."
And I believe you need these people on your side in order to create better
sites... and change the world.
Below I have put forward a walk through and an explanation of some of
the comments I made during the lecture. Not all of them are in chronological
order; I hope they still make sense.
1. It's how it feels
I am often confronted with usability specialists that forget that it's
not how long it takes the user to complete the task that matters, it’s
the perception of how long – or how difficult/easy it was –
that matters. I see that with accessibility, the rules of the game change
a bit – it's not about feeling – it's about the ability to
be able to use it. But in the first half of the seminar, you were at many
points attacking what you call bad design as if humans were machines,
measuring things in steps, page changes and time.
2. I do not shower in hot or cold water
We are getting more and more wary of politicians and other "people
in the media" that talk with a very rhetoric tongue. Personally I've
become very wary of people who present their arguments in isolation from
debate (I'm sure you would have preferred a debate with the audience,
unfortunately there was none – I get back to this at the end). It
might be that I am a tad sensitive on this part, but I felt that the credibility
of the seminar dropped a lot in the beginning because the arguments only
came from one side and where presented as un-attackable truths. Things
are never black and white and I think it would be fruitful to have more
nuance. As an example, I was looking for some understanding regarding
the "fact" that some of the changes forced by accessibility
would not benefit everybody.
3. The 7 things
I think I fell off here, but I never got the link between "the rule
of seven" and the rest of the seminar. Anyway, that's not my point.
My point is that most people using this example never put it into it's
correct context. Thankfully Malcolm Gladwell has, in his book "Blink"
(an extremely good book about gut feeling and marketing). In this book
he refers to the test and says that it was done in the 1950's. The subjects
were asked to look at a number of irrelevant objects and then recall them
afterwards. Now, that is the clue to the whole research – irrelevant
objects. Because if they are relevant, people tend to remember more of
them, and the rule of 7 doesn't apply. Now I think that is an important
fact to remember. If people feel your site is irrelevant, then there is
no hope anyway.
4. Steve Krug – "Don't make me think"
Now Steve Krug’s book is good. I especially like his point about
how humans make decisions, that we do not look at all the choices and
evaluate them as a whole, but rather evaluate each until we find one that
is in isolation determined as "good enough" or "no risk".
5. 256 Colors
A. One of the campaigns my company is running right now, has a target
group that is "the whole smoking population of Norway". The
statistics from this campaign shows us that only 2.7% of Norwegian computers
use 256 colors.
B. Dithering doesn’t cut it. There is a reason for graphic designers'
pickiness with color – color conveys emotions and they are extremely
sensitive on this point. If we screw them up we are in danger of communicating
the wrong brand message. When aprox. 97.3% of Norwegian computers display
thousands or millions of colors, we should accommodate these people, not
the minority that aren't going to enjoy the correct colors anyway.
6. Isn't technology driven by games, sex and war?
I appreciated your information on the "reason" behind the Internet,
but I've always learned that it is the military, the sex industry and
the games industry that has made technological advances. (This is computer-based
enhancement off course.)
7. Point well taken
You demonstrated site navigation on a site that had it's content sorted
alphabetically. There was a list of letters and you clicked on the letter
"B" in order to show us how useable this was. Then you demonstrated
how difficult it would be to use this site if you were using the "talk"-navigation.
Telling the computer which rectangle of the screen to focus on, and then
dividing this section into new rectangles. Then you chose the "I"
for this demonstration. I felt that choosing the "B" again would
both be a fair comparison and you still would have proven your point quite
well. This is picky of me, but it was a detail that I found unnecessary.
I was thinking "typical".
8. American analogy crazyism
I can’ t recall exactly the analogy here – it was something
about a wheelchair on the "why should we care" slide. But some
analogies are in no obvious or determinable relation to the subject being
discussed and therefore applying them as proof does not prove a thing,
or lead to a constructive debate. I said I was sensitive. This is an "American"
way of making things simpler, fortunately the culture in Norway is a bit
different. – at least for now.
9. Everything is not for the benefit of all
Especially during the "stand up" part when you managed to include
everybody – and then said that anything you do for one disability
will improve the usability for everybody. Just because two-thirds or 99%
of the audience has some sort of disability, does not mean that they all
will benefit from the same changes.
10. Now the PDA-example, I could see and appreciate!
11. Not everything was relevant
Especially the part on assistive technologies. It might help me understand
how some people will navigate the site, but there is nothing in particular
I can do to accommodate these directly. I would have included these technologies
later on. As their slide appeared in the lecture they came before what
was the topic of the lecture, and therefore I wondered what you were really
going to talk about when we were going through this slide.
12. The graphic designer
Today the graphic designer gets less and less to say. And you should support
these people, not pick on them. They are the ones you have to get on your
side in order for the affects to be understood by the people who are going
to design the interface that will use them. Just convincing the client
that they "need more accessibility" does not improve the product
as long as the graphic designer who is going to implement all the changes
doesn't understand why they are required.
13. Do not use color as a primary cue...
According to Edward Tufte, this is one of the most powerful cues when
it comes to differentiating between elements. Removing this tool from
the designers toolbox will decrease the possibility for way finding and
intuitiveness in the interface for everybody who can see colors properly.
14. Who visits a Web site and turns of the programming?
And do these people still require and anticipate full web usability?
15. Bigger landing zones are a bigger problem to able users
Landing zones need to be logical and users need to understand why clicking
here or there leads to this or that. When a click outside of a logical
element still leads to a page-change or an action, the users get confused.
16. Forms
You showed us the world's worst example, or not even a real example for
that matter.
Now nothing needs to say that a direct and polarized lecturer doesn't convince and/or convey the truth. Look at Tom Peters. He simplifies, polarizes, isolates and draws conclusions based on the worst analogies. Still he is often right, it's just the way that he says it – in order to entertain and convince that raises the questions.
As soon as you reached the list of accessibility requirements I learned a lot and got quite impressed. But... I was an inch away from leaving the whole seminar after half time, because at that point you didn't give me any credibility.
I recently saw the Nobel lecture by Harold Pinter. He doesn't at any one point remove himself from the known facts, he even questions his own arguments. Still he comes out as the utmost authority. Just because of that, putting his own arguments up for the chop – only proving that they are un-attackable. I believe your lecture could do the same, and that would improve the lecture. Both by being more inviting towards a debate, and by being more open towards the designers. They are sensitive and need some understanding for the difficult job they are doing.
I hope this has been helpful and interesting.
Please contact me again when you are coming back to Norway if you need
some fresh statistics that you could use in your lecture.
Best regards,
Helge Tennø, interactive designer, Norway
Reviewed March 24, 2010
