Is Your Website WCAG 2.0 Compliant?

A recent conversation with a colleague reiterated the importance of confirming whether your organization’s website has any requirements to comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 standards.

Adaptistration People 048If you aren’t already familiar with web accessibility standards, drop by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 site. Although not overwhelming, there is a good bit of material there, some of which you’ll need to speak with your developer about. At the same time, there are some critical elements that are very easy for anyone to check, such as color contrast is distinguishable for visually impaired site visitors.

Did you know that a routine boilerplate included in many grant agreements (especially those from government sources) stipulates the receiving organization agrees that their website complies to accessibility standards?

In early 2017, the Federal government updated Section 508, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. According to an article by Hiram Kuykendall  from the February 2017 issue of Mealey’s™ Litigation Report: Cyber Tech & E-Commerce, those changes include adopting most WCAG 2.0 standards.

Although enforcement and inspections are not as rigid as they certainly could be, you probably don’t want to wait around to find out what happens.

Fortunately, there are some super easy tools you can use that are free of charge and and I wrote an article for ArtsHacker.com almost one year ago to the day pointing out a number of valuable resources along with walking you through how to use them.

How Accessible Is Your Website? Here’s How You Can Find Out

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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