Accessibility: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 22:03, 12 July 2014

Moodle's goal is to be fully accessible and usable for all users regardless of ability.

This page describes the current state of accessibility in Moodle as well as our plans for the future.

Established practices

Moodle core developers spend a lot of time making sure new developments are accessible. Part of the process when building new code in Moodle is to follow established best practices and part of the process for accepting new code into core is to test pages carefully and gather feedback from experts.

Screen-reader support

From Moodle 2.7 onwards, supported screen-reader/browser configurations are described in release notes.

Conformance to standards

The Moodle platform is a complex system with many parts. Its code is always evolving. Modules can be enabled and disabled. The interface can be heavily customised using themes and thousands of settings. Actual content can be produced by any teacher or any student. As such it is impossible to say with 100% certainty whether Moodle or any site based on Moodle is absolutely accessible or not. Accessibility is not a state, it is a process of continuous improvement in response to our users and the wider technical environment.

WCAG 2.0

When deciding how Moodle should present its content for best Web accessibility, the WCAG 2.0 guidelines is followed.
We hope to have document here soon discussing how well Moodle meets WCAG 2.0 requirements.

ATAG 2.0

As Moodle is a place to construct content (as well as consume content), we also refer to the ATAG 2.0 guidelines.
In Moodle 2.7 a new editor Atto was added that not only helps to improve how everyone can use the editor itself, but also helps to improve the accessibility of the content produced with it.

ARIA 1.0

As many parts of the Moodle user interface are dynamic and interactive, we follow the ARIA recommendations to inform assistive technologies, such as screen-readers.

Section 508 (US)

As Moodle is used by US Government agencies, the US Section 508 amendment can be relevant to Moodle.
Moodlerooms (a Moodle Partner) have a VPAT statement on their web site.

Discussions

One of the main places accessibility work is being carried out right now is on the Moodle Accessibility Collaboration Group mailing list, see http://collaborate.athenpro.org/group/moodle/

There are also many discussion on issues in the Moodle Tracker

Known Bugs and issues

This is the main list of accessibility issues, organised by priority. This list is always changing.

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-Websites built with '''accessibility''' in mind are flexible in meeting different user needs, preferences and suituations. Though these methods can increase [[usability]] for everyone who uses the web they are often legally required to be implemented in a specific effort to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities.
+{{About Moodle}}
-== Starting points ==
+Moodle's goal is to be fully accessible and usable for all users regardless of ability.
-These are some readable introductions to accessibility that cover; what accessibility is, why it is important, as well as practical advice.
+This page describes the current state of accessibility in Moodle as well as our plans for the future.
-* [http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/accessibility.php Web Accessibility Initiative's ''Introduction to Web Accessibility'']
-* [http://diveintoaccessibility.org/ Mark Pilgrim's ''Dive into Accessibility'']
-* [http://joeclark.org/book/ Joe Clark's ''Building Accessible Websites'' book]
-== Standards, guidelines and legislation ==
+== Established practices ==
-* [http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld200001/ldbills/003/2001003.htm SENDA - Special Educational Needs and Disability Act/Bill]
+Moodle core developers spend a lot of time making sure new developments are accessible.  Part of the process when building new code in Moodle is to follow established best practices and part of the process for accepting new code into core is to test pages carefully and gather feedback from experts.
-* [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1995/1995050.htm Disability Discrimination Act 1995]
-* [http://www.section508.gov/ Section 508]
-* [http://www.w3.org/WAI/ Web Accessibility Initiative]
-** [http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.php Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)]
-** [http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag20 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (draft)]
-*** [http://www.alistapart.com/articles/tohellwithwcag2 an article on the problems with WCAG2]
-== Tools ==
+== Screen-reader support ==
-* [[Web developer extension]] for [[Firefox]]
+From Moodle 2.7 onwards, [[:dev:Moodle_2.7_release_notes#Screen_reader_support|supported screen-reader/browser configurations]] are described in release notes.
-* [[Accessibility extension]] for Firefox
-* [[Validator]]s (for [[HTML]],[[CSS]] and [[RSS]])
-* [http://cynthiasays.com/ Cynthia Says accessibility checker]
-see also this [http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/complete long list of accessibility tools].
+== Conformance to standards ==
-== Resources ==
+The Moodle platform is a complex system with many parts. Its code is always evolving.  Modules can be enabled and disabled.  The interface can be heavily customised using themes and thousands of settings.  Actual content can be produced by any teacher or any student. As such it is impossible to say with 100% certainty whether Moodle or any site based on Moodle is absolutely accessible or not.  Accessibility is not a state, it is a process of continuous improvement in response to our users and the wider technical environment.
-* [http://webstandards.org/action/atf/manifesto/ Web Standards.org's ''Accessibility Task Force Manifesto'']
+=== [http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20 WCAG 2.0] ===
-* [http://alistapart.com/topics/userscience/accessibility/ Accessibility articles from ''A List Apart'']
-* [http://diveintomark.org/archives/2003/08/29/semantics Mark Pilgrim's ''Won’t somebody please think of the gerbils?'']
+* When deciding how Moodle should present its content for best Web accessibility, the [http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20 WCAG 2.0] guidelines is followed.
-* [http://joeclark.org/access/webaccess/ Joe Clark's writings on accessibility]
+* We hope to have document here soon discussing how well Moodle meets WCAG 2.0 requirements.
-* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_accessibility Wikipedia article on ''Web Accessibility'']
-* [http://juicystudio.com/article/validity-accessibility.php ''Validity and Accessibility'']
+=== [http://www.w3.org/TR/ATAG20 ATAG 2.0] ===
+* As Moodle is a place to construct content (as well as consume content), we also refer to the [http://www.w3.org/TR/ATAG20 ATAG 2.0] guidelines.
+* In Moodle 2.7 a new editor Atto was added that not only helps to improve how everyone can use the editor itself, but also helps to improve the accessibility of the content produced with it.
+=== [http://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria ARIA 1.0] ===
+* As many parts of the Moodle user interface are dynamic and interactive, we follow the [http://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria ARIA] recommendations to inform assistive technologies, such as screen-readers.
+=== Section 508 (US) ===
+* As Moodle is used by US Government agencies, the US Section 508 amendment can be relevant to Moodle.
+* Moodlerooms (a Moodle Partner) have a [http://www.moodlerooms.com/accessibility VPAT statement] on their web site.
+== Discussions ==
+One of the main places accessibility work is being carried out right now is on the Moodle Accessibility Collaboration Group mailing list, see http://collaborate.athenpro.org/group/moodle/
+There are also many discussion on issues in the [https://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL/component/10083/?selectedTab=com.atlassian.jira.jira-projects-plugin:component-issues-panel Moodle Tracker]
+== Known Bugs and issues ==
+This is [https://tracker.moodle.org/issues/?jql=component%20%3D%20Accessibility%20AND%20project%20%3D%20MDL%20AND%20resolution%20%3D%20Unresolved%20ORDER%20BY%20priority%20DESC the main list of accessibility issues], organised by priority.  This list is always changing.
+== Areas of ongoing development ==
+* [https://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-39663 Filepicker]
+* [https://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-41773 Forum]
 == See also ==
-* [[Semantic HTML]]
+[[dev:Accessibility|Accessibility for Moodle Developers]]
-* [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?f=820 Accessibility forum on Moodle.org]
-[[Category:Developer]]
+[[es:Accesibilidad]]
-[[Category:Accessibility]]

Documentation