What’s New in WCAG 2.1 course

Every success criterion you need to know for WCAG 2.1 (including the EU’s WAD / EN  301 549)

Event Description

WCAG 2.1 was officially released in June 2018, and already organizations around the world are choosing to embrace it: some voluntarily… others must: the EU’s WAD, as of September 2018, stipulates that obligated organizations must make their webpages and apps conform to WCAG 2.1 rather than WCAG 2.0 with deadlines as early as September 2019.

Whether you are new to accessibility, or already familiar with WCAG or Section 508, you’ll learn immediately-applicable tips and techniques in this powerful course.

“A wonderful, delightfully informative, and engaging session: our objective of learning WCAG 2.1 was definitely met … we look forward to more events with your team in the future.”

-Stacey Bleeks, Statistics Canada

Our course includes a thorough review of every WCAG 2.1 Level A, Level AA success criterion, as well as an optional look at the pertinent Level AAA success criteria. For each, we review the rule as well as the best techniques for complying with each … for you choice of HTML, apps, applications, Word, PDF, or whatever other containers you are using!

Not only will you leave with ideas you can use right away, you may also gain a whole new attitude towards how technology can improve lives. By the end of the course, you will not only be aware of why accessibility and standards affect everyone: you’ll be equipped with a thorough understanding of the best strategies to approach what needs to be done and how.

What’s Wrong

WCAG 2.1 is suddenly approved… and the best techniques have not been settled upon for each success criterion. And yet legislation is already demanding that WCAG 2.1 requires compliance.

What Makes This Course Unique

Our course author, David Berman, is a government consultant, as well as an invited expert to the W3C on how to comply with WCAG. He has developed training on this topic and related topics for the Canadian federal government, Agriculture Canada, American Psychological Association (APA), Canada School of Public Service, Carleton University, IPL, Internet Institute, LCBO, University of Tampa, and Yardstick. He has completed online accessibility projects for many large organizations including Statistics Canada, the National Research Council, and IBM. He has been the project manager of numerous accessible online products, has developed strategy and design for CFIA, CRA, CMHC, Health Canada, Canadian Heritage, Industry Canada, and the International Space Station … as well as many private sector and non-profit organizations.

What You Will Learn

You will learn how to make your current and future produce more accessible by complying with current standards and guidelines. Specifically, you will learn:

• What’s new in WCAG 2.1
• What’s different between WCAG 2.0 and WCAG 2.1
• How you can add WCAG 2.1 selectively if you are only obligated to comply with WCAG 2.0
• W3C WCAG 2.1 principles, guidelines, success criteria, and techniques (and how they apply to each success criterion)

• Specific techniques for HTML and other platforms
• How to achieve each with tradeoffs for typical users
• How to achieve each while improving usability for all users

“David really knows his topics. Very well done: got the point across in a way that can be apply to everyone.”

– Sean Strasbourg, CFIA

Goals/Objectives

At the end of this event, you will have the tools to:

• Know techniques you can apply right away
• Have a comprehensive understanding of W3C WCAG 2.1 and related government accessibility guidelines
• Be able to make informed decisions as to what degree to comply with accessibility standards
• Understand better the experience of those with disabilities using online learning, presentation, and authoring tools

“Very eye-opening and thought-provoking.”

– Anonymous

What You Get*

• Complimentary, comprehensive learning guide, detailing every major accessibility guideline (also available separately for $97 with optional 1-on-1 distance coaching)
• A money-back guarantee: if, after coaching and refresher, you don’t think you’ve got your money’s worth, we’ll refund your entire fee

Register or call 1-613-728-6777… or bring this event to your site: for a keynote, half-day, or full-day event, customized for your group.

Prerequisites: WCAG 2.0 familiarity (no programming experience required)

“This will make us better communicators.”

– Luc Bergeron, SSHRC

“Perfect.”

– Jean Leclair, Environment Canada

About the course developer

David Berman is the principal of David Berman Communications. He has over 25 years of experience in graphic design and strategic communications.

David was appointed a high-level advisor to the United Nations on how universal design and accessible IT can help fulfill the Millennium Development Goals more rapidly.

In 2013, The World Wide Web Foundation had David personally audit the accessibility of benchmark Web sites from over 40 countries for their global report on the state of the Web.

He is an Invited Expert to W3C (the authors of WCAG) and a member of the ISO standards committee on accessible PDF documents.

His book (Do Good Design, Pearson/Peachpit) about how design can be used to create a more just world speaks about universal design and accessibility, and is now available in 6 languages, as well as braille.

He has worked extensively in adapting the printed word for electronic distribution, including software interface development.

He has much experience as a senior consultant in applying accessibility and standards to government Web sites, as well as to private sector clients such as IBM and the Bank of Montreal, both as a strategist and compliance testing/coaching leader. He regularly teaches accessibility principles as part of his professional development workshops, and developed custom workshops for the National Research Council and Ontario’s largest school board. His plain writing, design, and accessibility work include award-winning projects for the City of Ottawa, the Ontario government, and Canada’s federal government. Clients include Justice Canada, Canada Revenue Agency, Health Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Region of Ottawa-Carleton and the Ontario Literacy Coalition.

David’s opinions have been featured in the Financial Post, the Globe And Mail, the Ottawa Citizen, the Montreal Gazette, Marketing, Applied Arts, HOW, and Communication Arts magazines, as well as ABC and CBS.

David ranks #1 on speakerwiki.org on this topic for a reason. His arc as an internationally-celebrated expert speaker has brought him to over 30 countries. He is a National Professional Member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS) and the Global Speakers Federation (GSF).

David is currently Ethics Chair of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, was named a Fellow (the highest professional honour for graphic designers in Canada) in 1999, and has served as a director and sustainability chair of Icograda, the world body for graphic and communications design.

Who Should Attend

This course is targeted to all managers, scrum masters, writers, editors, instructional designers, graphic designers, and developers involved in accessible publishing:

• Developers
• Instructional designers
• Writers, content owners and editors of course material
• Graphic designers who work on eLearning products
• Software developers who construct distance learning applications
• Quality control team members
• Managers who need to get their products compliant current and future government accessibility standards (e.g. W3C WCAG 2.1, EU’s WAD, future AODA, future ADA, future Accessible Canada Act)

Language:

English or French available on-site on as a distance course.

Duration:

One-day course, half-day course, or keynote presentation (we provide this course tailored/customized on-site for your organization).

“Wonderful handout! The way extra information, like links and explanations, is included works beautifully.”

– Elizabeth Strand, Making Waves, Oslo (Norway)

“Makes you feel you are part of the course.”

– Arup Ghosh, BMO Financial Group

“Excellent, eye-opening, and not preachy!”

– Carrie Walker-Boyd, Canadian Food Inspection Agency

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Reviewed December 3, 2018