By: Jennie Delisi, Accessibility Analyst, Office of Accessibility

Minnesota Management and Budget recently posted “When you bring your career to the State of Minnesota, the work you do affects the quality of life of millions of Minnesotans.” For those working in information technology, this includes work on: 

• Websites. 
• Web applications. 
• Mobile apps. 

We create and support technology for use by Minnesotans and state employees. This includes people with disabilities. Because digital inclusion is a priority, learning how to improve accessibility is important. Let’s talk about how to begin incorporating the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 into your work.

Step 1 - Start by Thinking About People

We create information and communication technologies for people. Our intentions are good – we want everyone to find them helpful. When you imagine people using this technology think about people using it in different ways.

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) created “quotes from personas (fictional people) to help you understand some aspects of the success criteria” for WCAG 2.1. They share these quotes in What’s New in WCAG 2.1. Each quote will help you understand more about how people may be using your digital solution.

I find the following example about “orientation” is very simple to understand. 

“Problem: ‘I can't rotate my tablet — it's attached to my wheelchair.’

Works well: ‘The application works whether I attach my tablet horizontally or vertically.’”

Step 2 – Think about Your Current Project

Open your current project or one you worked on in the past. Can you view and use it in both portrait and landscape orientation (also known as vertical and horizontal positions)? Like smartphones and tablets, today you can use many desktop monitors in both portrait and landscape positions. You may be able to set your operating system to display using either orientation. Example: for Windows, go into the Display settings. In the Scale and Layout group go to Display orientation. If set to landscape, change the setting to portrait. If viewing the project on your smartphone, try changing your device’s physical orientation from portrait to landscape and back.

Did the content respond to this change?

Step 3 – Review the Understanding Document

Each success criteria for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 has an Understanding Document. Like the others, Understanding Success Criterion 1.3.4: Orientation has the following sections:

• Intent.
• Benefits.
• Examples.
• Related resources.
• Techniques.
• Key Terms.

Start by reading the specific rule. It is at the top. In this case, 

“Content does not restrict its view and operation to a single display orientation, such as portrait or landscape, unless a specific display orientation is essential. Examples where a particular display orientation may be essential are a bank check, a piano application, slides for a projector or television, or virtual reality content where content is not necessarily restricted to landscape or portrait display orientation.”

Read more in the Understanding Document about how and when this applies.

Step 4 – Run One of the Tests for a Technique

Go to the Techniques section of the Understanding Document. Orientation has a failure called: F97: Failure due to locking the orientation to landscape or portrait view. Following the link for each failure or sufficient technique will bring you to a page with more information. This includes a test you can run.

Like the Understanding Document, each of these pages has the following sections:

• Important information about techniques.
• Applicability.
• Description.
• Examples.
• Tests.

Some may also have Related Techniques.

After reviewing this page, go down to the Tests section. There is a procedure to follow and expected results.

Step 5 – Accessibility in Action

Now you are ready to begin adding this requirement into your projects. Don’t worry if you don’t know everything as you begin. You are not alone in this work! The digital accessibility community has many people ready to help.

• If you are a state of Minnesota employee, connect with your digital accessibility coordinator. They can help you get connected with people and resources when you have questions.
• Follow #a11y on Twitter and LinkedIn to learn from posts the international digital accessibility community shares.
• Take one of the trainings listed in the Office of Accessibility newsletter. The subscribe link is at the bottom of this page.
• Join lists for community groups. Some examples include:
  • WebAIM’s Web Accessibility E-mail Discussion List is for anyone interested in discussing web accessibility issues. Individuals from all organizations and specialties are encouraged to join.
  • For those who are members of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP), the website has IAAP Connections, where you can join an existing discussion or start your own.

Your organization, like the state of Minnesota, may even have its own community of practice. Ask around.

Most Important – Don’t Let Fear Stop You From Taking That First Step

Everyone in digital accessibility started somewhere. Don’t let fear stop you. Start with one small step. Even if you only feel confident doing step 1 above, start. Reviewing the quotes from personas will have an impact on your work. You will start to begin to find opportunities to advocate for greater inclusion. You will start to imagine solutions for projects. And, you will play an important role in making our digital spaces more inclusive for everyone.