Authoring Tools Briefs Project

Overview

Authoring tools are used to generate the majority of digital content, but those who generate this content don’t think they are using an 'authoring tool'. Ordinary people just don’t think in these terms. Whether they use a content management system (CMS), code, video or graphics editors - these tools have a primary role in guiding and supporting users in creating accessible content.

Using a tool that supports the creation of accessible content, as well as being accessible itself, is the sweet spot we want to hit. These tools are, by nature, more inclusive and can greatly improve the efficiency of designers, developers, and content authors in employment, education and other contexts.

Where a content author has little knowledge of accessibility, a good tool can also assist the author, and provide them with the ques and support they need to produce accessible content. Procurers of technology for use in education and the workplace have a responsibility to choose tools that support people with disabilities, so the tool is not itself a barrier and is usable.

Outreach Goals

We aim to create resources to raise awareness of the benefits of accessible authoring tools. The objective of these resources is to target various sectors with informational briefs that are designed to both illustrate the importance and power of authoring tools for accessibility. This is both for the user of these tools and for their ability to create accessible content.

At a high level, the proposed target audience (for each sector) is generally two types:

• Management / Decision Makers

• Technical people / Content creators

To support these goals, we aim to create 'briefs' for various industry sectors that are suggested below.

Overview of briefs

These will include:

• Short written briefs that highlight the benefits of accessible authoring tools. Each brief will be a single page with several related sections (similar to (https://www.w3.org/WAI/planning/involving-users/ [Involving Users in Web Projects for Better, Easier Accessibility])

• Tone (@@ I’m not sure how to express what the tone should be? How is this decided in EO - My preference would be for friendly, informative, informal but I’ll take a steer.)

• These will be for web only (@@ Shadi is this ok? Or do you want to include print?)

• Potentially the creation of graphics for dissemination that are thought-provoking/useful. These could be downloaded from GitHub for distribution and printing.

Suggested structure for briefs

• [@@ Related Video on authoring tools?] Authoring Tools Accessibility Overview

• Introduction

• How using accessible authoring tools helps

• Procuring the right accessible tools

• Practical things you can do

• More Information and Guidance

• Terminology

Feedback is welcome on the suitability of the target audience options, as well as the messaging.

Note on general takeaways we want to get across

There are some common takeaways that we would like to make that can be either added to each of the sectors: These may include:

• Procure accessible only.

• The tools you choose impact how accessible your content is.

• Choose an authoring tool with an accessible user interface.

• Choose an authoring tool that produces accessible content.

• Promote learn about simple, non-technical thing’s user can do to create accessible content with authoring - this could be structuring content using headings, clear descriptive link text etc.

• Promote positive engagement with vendors to ask for more or improved accessibility if not satisfied.

• Raise awareness of ATAG.

• Encourage procurers to check the documentation of the system they aim to use, to ensure it supports accessibility. You can suggest that this can be measured using ATAG. You could ask for report, and point them towards the ‘[https://www.w3.org/WAI/atag/report-tool/ ATAG Report Tool]’.

• Do not disable accessibility related features in tooling.

• When building industry-specific tools, ensure accessibility is supported by the content creation aspects of the tool.

• When building industry-specific tools, make sure each sector develops according to ATAG.

Outreach to specific audience sectors & options

The following are some suggested topics for the briefs described above, from which we propose to select 3 topics to develop into final briefs. Please review and let us know if there are preferences, gaps or omissions.

Option 1: Publishing - e-books

Audience: Product Owners, Content Designers, Writers, Designers Producers, 3-party services, etc.

Key Messages

• Digital publishing tools need to be accessible to everyone, including staff with disabilities.

• Q: I’m not sure what the focus should be here? Are we saying the tools to create e-books themselves need to be covered in this project? To what degree do we need to cover e-book accessibility itself?

@@ Josh to arrange calls and get input from domain experts

Option 2: Publishing - web

Audience: Product Owners, Content Designers, Writers, Designers Producers, 3-party services, etc.

Key Messages

• Digital publishing tools need to be accessible to everyone, including staff with disabilities working in getting content online.

• the output of these tools should be accessible to end users

• staff should be assisted in getting their accessibility right, e.g. with automated checks, prompts for table captions, form labels or image alternatives, etc

• These include CMS, blogging tools, wikis, video creation tools, graphics tools, presentation tools.

Option 3: Education

Audience: Teachers, education IT departments, 3-party services, etc.

Key Messages

• Learning management systems need to be accessible to everyone, including students as well as teachers with disabilities.

• Bespoke systems need to be designed with accessibility in mind and support the creation of accessible content.

• Your courses need to be accessible to students with disabilities

• Your platforms need to be usable by teachers with disabilities

• Chose the correct accessible learning management system

• CMS, blogging tools, wikis. Video creation tools, graphics tools. Presentation tools.

@@ Josh to arrange calls and get input from lecturers etc

Option 4: Social Media

Audience: End-Users, e.g. marketing departments, influencers, product owners, innovation managers, etc.

Key Messages

• Your postings may not be accessible to everyone

• Most platforms provide accessibility features that are easy to use - such as providing alternate text for images.

• Social media postings need to be accessible for everyone

• Many social media platforms provide accessibility features

• You also need to provide features if you want to be relevant

• Your platform can be more inclusive by being more accessible

Option 5: Healthcare

Audience: Developers, esp. IT departments, 3-party services, etc.

Key Messages

• HR / CRM systems need to be accessible to everyone

• This includes doctors and nurses as well as patients with disabilities

• Formats that people receive any online prescriptions or healthcare advice need to be accessible, and accessible authoring tools can help with that.

@@ Josh knows little about this space and not sure who to talk to