Web Accessibility Goals: FY 07

Western Illinois University Web Accessibility Committee
Revised 9/26/2006

As part of Western Illinois University's ongoing effort to provide for an accessible web presence, goals for FY 07 have been identified. Goals for FY 07 are based upon needs identified by the WAC committee of campus stakeholders. The following tasks have been identified as goals for this year.

1. Analysis of WIU's Web Presence

Complete a comprehensive review of WIU's most utilized web sites. This will include:

  1. Identify the top 100 most utilized sites and determine which of those to focus on for this year,
  2. Identify sites that, though they may not be the most utilized, should be reviewed based upon the services they provide to significant audiences (i.e. the Disability Support Services website)
  3. Check identified sites for accessibility and revise as necessary

2. Revise WIU Web Presence

As part the overall revision of the university's web presence, templates will be created for WIU web developers that will serve as a starting point for their web development. These templates will define the basic look and feel for the university web presence and will meet Illinois Web Accessibility Standards (IWAS) guidelines.

3. Accessible Web Development Policy and Standards

Accessibility guidelines will be established for developing websites at WIU. These guidelines will support the Illinois Web Accessibility Standards and be available on the WIU website. Additionally, these standards will be reviewed and revised as needed. Included in this initiative:

  1. Create appropriate policy defining web accessibility requirements at WIU.
  2. Establish a technical coding sub-committee to define coding standards and procedures for coding and developing media-rich web sites.
  3. Establish a user group of persons with disabilities to assist the technical sub-committee.
  4. Work in partnership with other Illinois institutions in the development of a common coding standard foundation. Currently, an informal agreement has been made with University of Illinois to share work around defining these standards.

4. Training and Awareness Activities

In order to raise awareness of the need for designing and building websites with accessibility in mind, awareness and training activities will be offered to both raise awareness of accessibility design as an important issue, and to provide a how-to for developers and designers. This will include:

  1. Provide demonstrations of accessibility software
  2. Provide training activities for web developers. Dr. Jon Gunderson, Director University of Illinois's IT Accessibility Services has agreed to provide at least one workshop on developing accessible websites.
  3. Online training options are being reviewed that would be available for the entire campus community. EASI, Equal Access to Software and Information, is being considered as an institution-wide online resource for both web developers and faculty.
  4. Work with appropriate committees at WIU to inform and educate regarding the needs of accessible web development and design, and the importance of considering accessibility when purchasing software for web deployment.