Jean Alexander shares about her work as a supervisor with Minnesota IT Services and the team she leads on projects for the Minnesota Department of Human Services and MNsure.

You may have heard the term accessibility but wondered what it really means. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) into law, which guarantees individuals with disabilities the same opportunities as everyone else. However, since this law was written before the World Wide Web arrived, it did not detail how to apply it to web-based or digital technologies.

In support of the ADA and related laws, the State of Minnesota mandated that our digital products, such as applications, forms and documents, meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Levels A and AA, as well as the federal Section 508 rules. WCAG and Section 508 criteria address the access needs of individuals with a cross-section of disabilities including visual, auditory, cognitive, and physical.

For those new to accessibility, WCAG’s organization of accessibility principles can be a great introduction to the importance of digital accessibility. Our applications and forms are improved for all end users when we learn how to make them “Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (or POUR)” for end users with disabilities.

What does accessibility mean? It means having the same capability and quality of user experiences for all users.

Our Desire to Help

The Department of Human Services mission statement is: The Minnesota Department of Human Services, working with many others, helps people meet their basic needs so they can live in dignity and achieve their highest potential. It is our legal duty as employees of the State of Minnesota to ensure we consider accessibility in every document we produce, the technology we create, the contracts we sign, and products we purchase.

In 2017, Minnesota IT Services, in partnership with the Department of Human Services and MNsure, formed the Enterprise Accessibility Quality Assurance Team (EAQAT) to execute accessibility tests on various projects: PDF forms, web applications and websites for digital accessibility. This team:

• Works with Business Analysts and developers to explain accessibility guidelines, and how to use them when writing accessibility requirements.
• Collaborates with the technical teams to provide an understanding of how to put accessibility code into their work.
• Provides services for digital accessibility testing.

Our Approach

The EAQAT took various trainings on how to use screen readers, magnifiers, and other assistive technologies. They scoured the 508 Compliance and WCAG 2.0 Levels A and AA for requirements language used by designers and developers. The team produces Quality Assurance (QA) artifacts including Test Plans, Test Cases, and Test Closures that provide visibility to stakeholders of the testing effort.

It is no small task to ensure the application has met the above and other 508 Compliance guidelines. While a development team may have certified their code as accessible, it does not mean it is without flaws. The EAQAT uses tools to execute their tests in various browsers and versions.

During the testing, discoveries are reported in the defect management tool. These items are discussed with the project stakeholders and, on occasion, the EQUAT demonstrates to the project team.

EAQAT collaborates with the Minnesota IT Services, partnering with DHS Accessibility Coordinator, Lea Dooley. Lea helps prioritize reported defects and provides assistance with accessibility tools.

The Benefits

By testing state products for accessibility and usability, the discoveries and their resolutions provide the following benefits to all end users:

• Encourages collaboration between teams (business analysts, development and quality assurance) to implement accessibility in the state’s products.
• Corrects technical gaps and areas where standards are not met before the final product is available and in use.
• Helps end users successfully navigate through applications and forms.
• Satisfies the state’s legal duty to include accessibility in all products we produce.

Users find our applications, forms, and other documents are more usable after EAQAT has completed their testing, reported their findings, and issues have been resolved. This helps all end users successfully use the state products in their jobs or when completing applications or other paperwork that is required or needed by various agencies.

Where We’re Going

EAQAT is excited to share their findings with project teams, to champion the end user, and to make a difference! The team is working on Fiscal Year19 goals, which include:

• Posting Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on SharePoint.
• Adding accessibility in the QA Process flowchart.
• Using new accessibility tools to enhance testing.
• Making presentations at Program Management Division staff meetings.
• Creating an Accessibility Request form on SharePoint for project teams that need accessibility testing.

If you would like to learn more about the accessibility work being done by Minnesota IT Services and the State of Minnesota, subscribe to our newsletter. Once a month we will bring you more tips, articles, and ways to learn more about digital accessibility.