Comparing peer accessibility ratings in evaluation (COMPARE)
COMPARE: a repository and an information and learning module
The COMPARE project ran from 01/2017 to 12/2018. The WIKI-based repository for comparing evaluation ratings is no longer available. Another project result, Access & Use, an information and learning module, remains available online. It describes the requirements for important interactive components of web design and documents practical problems of users, mostly via annotated screencasts. For some elements covered, new techniques have become available that did not exist at the time of its development, like the native dialog element, but mostly, the design approaches presented remain relevant.
About the COMPARE project
The need for an accessible society
The starting point of the project was that access to online information and services has become a critical requirement for the successful inclusion in society. Now and then, however, many digital resources are not accessible to people with disabilities. An aging population means the share of people with disabilities is rising. This, and the digitisation of all parts of society, makes inclusive digital content and services more important than ever.
A new benchmark set by the EU
In 2016, the EU created a new law that calls for all public web sites and mobile apps across Europe to be accessible for people with disabilities. It is called the "Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies" (COM/2016/2102).
The common benchmark for accessibility evaluation are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines which are developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). As part of the EU law, the adherence of public web sites and apps to WCAG is supposed to be evaluated in a uniform manner. Ideally, there should be a common European evaluation method so that results per Member State are comparable.
This raised the question about the status quo of accessibility evaluation across Europe. What were the actual differences in EU Member states at the time? The COMPARE project tried to answer this question.
Diverse accessibility evaluation methods across Europe
Most accessibility evaluation methods were (and are still) based on WCAG, conformance level AA. They are usually defined in more detail on a national or organizational level. It was therefore no surprise that across the spectrum of organisations, many differences existed in the way WCAG success criteria were applied to actual web content. This was partly due to the way the common WCAG success criteria were translated into specific technical checkpoints. Another aspect is that some evaluation methods go beyond WCAG 2.0 to include additional accessibility criteria or usability aspects that are important for people with disabilities.
What was the COMPARE project all about?
COMPARE (Comparing peer accessibility ratings in evaluation) documented and compared differences in evaluation practices of accessibility experts across Europe. The partners in the EU-funded Erasmus Strategic Partnership were DIAS (DE), Funka (SE) and BrailleNet (FR). The project set up a Wiki-based repository of web content and associated accessibility ratings to document actual differences and discuss rating approaches that would contribute to a consensual rating approach. Expert organisations and individuals from other countries were invited to contribute to the repository. Also, COMPARE developed the Access & Use information and learning module which remains available today. A strong point of this module are the many videos demonstrating the way people with disabilities use the web and encounter problems when content is not accessible.
Project details
Compare was a Strategic Partnership Project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission.
Project number: 2016-1-DE02-KA202-003453