Web Content Accessibility Tools (WCAT) is an open-source project to improve online access to information, services, and products.
Since web accessibility is a public good guaranteed by most governments and made possible by altruistic open-source contributors, this project aims to sustain and advance free and open source systems (FOSS) that promote access to internet content.
The open-source community has a long history of creating tools to meet the needs of the public good.
One example of the successful implementation of an open-source technology project with the Government is the United States Web Design System (USWDS). The USWDS is a design system and set of guidelines and technology developed by the United States government to help government agencies create consistent, accessible, and user-friendly websites and digital services.
Since its introduction in 2015, the USWDS has significantly impacted how the US government approaches digital design and development. Here are some key ways in which the USWDS has made an impact:
- Consistency: The USWDS has helped to establish a more consistent and cohesive visual identity across government websites, which makes it easier for users to navigate and interact with those sites.
- Accessibility: The USWDS includes accessibility guidelines and tools to help ensure that government websites are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.
- Efficiency: By providing a pre-built design system and reusable code, the USWDS has helped government agencies to create websites and digital services more quickly and efficiently.
- Collaboration: The USWDS has encouraged collaboration and knowledge-sharing among government agencies, which has helped to improve the overall quality of government websites and digital services.
- Adoption: The USWDS has been adopted by many government agencies and has become the standard for digital design and development within the US government.
Overall, the USWDS has positively impacted the US government's approach to digital design and development, helping to create more consistent, accessible, and user-friendly websites and digital services for citizens.
The Web Content Accessibility Tools (WCAT) project will focus on providing modern and optimized accessibility technology that makes it easier for web developers and content creators to ensure that their content is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.
The WCAT project will include the following components:
- Accessibility Testing Tools: The project will develop fast and reliable accessibility testing tools that help developers test and remediate website accessibility issues. These tools will be able to handle "the volume of the internet," meaning the tools must process countless web pages that exist on the internet.
- Accessibility Libraries: The project will develop modern and optimized accessibility libraries that provide developers with code snippets, services, and components to ensure their web applications are accessible. These libraries will give easy-to-use building blocks for creating accessible web content.
- Clear Documentation and Training: The code WCAT publishes must be easy-to-understand. We intend to provide an extensive library of resources around the technology developers of WCAT implement, including in-person and remote training opportunities.
The WCAT project will be open-source and developed with the broader web development community. The project will be hosted on a public code repository, and contributions will be welcome from anyone interested in improving web content accessibility.
WCAT intends to increase the adoption of the latest published version of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), while pushing WCAG to develop rules that support greater internet access for everyone. With over 96% of the million most popular websites failing to meet WCAG1, this project to improve web content accessibility is more vital than ever. Greater accessibility testing and remediation technology, coupled with better defined accessibility guidelines, means expanded horizons for everyone.