Accessibility Project Overview

Convert the highly technical Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) into a series of executive summaries with a reduced technical requirement for understanding — for non-technical stakeholders — without sacrificing any necessary legal or technical details for the implementation team (e.g., Designers, Developers, etc.).

My Role

• Lead Technical Writer

Our Goals

• Simplify the most important WCAG 2.1 guidelines related to e-commerce into a series of thematically grouped and easily implemented directives so that e-commerce sites can comply with existing digital accessibility guidelines.

• Ensure a balanced presentation of technical information so that non-technical stakeholders won’t be alienated — while still providing technical team members with necessary implementation instructions for proper compliance

Outcome

• 10+ executive summaries of “highly actionable accessibility [recommendations] specifically for the page types and UI elements found on most e-commerce sites (WCAG 2.1 - AA compliance).”

• A liability-limiting preface was added to each summary to protect against potential litigation for improperly implemented 3rd party designs. Note: the Accessibility project was completed before Baymard offered Accessibility Auditing services.

• Detailed HTML/CSS code examples using markdown language and hidden behind progressive disclosure triggers to limit the amount of technical information visible to non-technical users by default.

• Bespoke graphics and visual examples showcasing both non-compliant and compliant site elements and accessibility principles

• Top 50 e-commerce site audit for compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards

• A series of free accessibility articles based on the aforementioned executive summaries made available to the public for marketing purposes.