IT Accessibility Checklist

Our goal at Johnston Community College, as stated in our Web Accessibility Guidelines, is to achieve the success criteria of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG ) 2.0 at Level AA. WCAG 2.0 is the de facto standard for web accessibility developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

The following checklist is based on the WCAG 2.0 standards, and is provided to assist the JCC community, including web designers, developers, content creators, and purchasing agents, in creating and procuring accessible IT. It can also be used as a reference for vendors and contractors providing products and services to the JCC community. Many of the items in this checklist apply to web pages and web-based applications as well as electronic documents in Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, and other formats, and other products and services that are not specifically web-based.

Perceivable

Make content and controls perceivable by all users.
  1. Do images have alternative text?
    2. More about Making Images Accessible
  2. Does video have captions and does audio have a transcript?
    3. More about Producing Accessible Multimedia
  3. Does the web page or document include headings, lists, ARIA landmarks, and other semantic elements to communicate document structure?
    4. More about Providing Structure in Web Pages and Documents
  4. Is the tab order and read order logical and intuitive?
    5. More about Ensuring Proper Tab and Read Order
  5. Do form fields within web pages and documents have appropriately coded labels and prompts?
    6. More about Creating Accessible Forms
  6. Have you avoided using visual characteristics to communicate information (e.g., “click the circle on the right” or “required fields are in red”)?
    7. More about Avoiding Reliance on Visual Characteristics
  7. Does the interface have sufficient contrast between text color and background color?
    8. More about Providing Sufficient Color Contrast
  8. Does the content scale well when text is enlarged up to 200 percent?
    9. More about Supporting Enlarged Text
Operable Make content and controls operable by all users.
  1. Can all menus, links, buttons, and other controls be operated by keyboard, to make them accessible to users who are unable to use a mouse?
    2. More about Designing for Keyboard Accessibility
  2. Does the web page include a visible focus indicator so all users, especially those using a keyboard, can easily track their current position?
    3. More about Providing Visible Focus for Keyboard Users
  3. Do features that scroll or update automatically (e.g., slideshows, carousels) have prominent accessible controls that enable users to pause or advance these features on their own?
    4. More about Ensuring Accessibility of Scrolling or Updating content
  4. Do pages that have time limits include mechanisms for adjusting those limits for users who need more time?
    5. More about Providing Accessible Time Limits
  5. Have you avoided using content that flashes or flickers?
    6. More about Avoiding Flashing or Flickering Content
  6. Does the web page or document have a title that describes its topic or purpose?
    7. More about Providing an Informative Title
  7. Are mechanisms in place that allow users to bypass blocks of content (e.g., a “skip to main content” link on a web page or bookmarks in a PDF)?
    8. More about Facilitating Efficient Navigation
  8. Does the website include two or more ways of finding content, such as a navigation menu, search feature, or site map?
    9. More about Providing Multiple Ways of Finding Content
  9. Is link text meaningful, independent of context?
    10. More about Using Meaningful Link Text
Understandable
    Make content and user interfaces understandable to all users.
  1. Has the language of the web page or document (or individual parts of a multilingual document) been defined?
    2. More about Identifying Language of a Document and its Parts
  2. Have you avoided links, controls, or form fields that automatically trigger a change in context?
    3. More about Providing Predictable Behavior
  3. Does the website include consistent navigation?
    4. More about Providing Consistent Site-wide Navigation
  4. Do online forms provide helpful, accessible error and verification messages?
    5. More about Using Accessible Methods of Form Validation
Robust
    Make content robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.
  1. Is the web page coded using valid HTML?
    2. More about Validating Your Code
  2. Do rich, dynamic, web interfaces, such as modal windows, drop-down menus, slideshows, and carousels, include ARIA markup?
    3. More about Using ARIA for Web Applications