If one of your goals in 2020 is to learn about web accessibility, or to expand your current knowledge, you’ll want to take a look at a new free online web accessibility course that launches in January 2020.
A partnership between the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE), the new Introduction to Web Accessibility course aims to provide a foundation for creating websites and web apps that are accessible to everyone.
The course is designed for people who are technical or non-technical, including:
- Designers
- Developers
- Content authors
- Project managers
- People with disabilities
- and others involved in digital technologies
What You’ll Learn
The course is based on five modules, each module has several sections. Modules include:
- What is Web Accessibility
- People and Digital Technology
- Business Case and Benefits
- Principles, Standards, and Checks
- Getting Started with Accessibility
Participants taking the course will learn:
- Scope of web accessibility and how it affects people and situations
- Business case for web accessibility: how it can expand market reach, drive innovation, and minimize legal risks
- International standards for web accessibility from the W3C, including Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and WAI-ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications)
- First steps for applying WCAG and WAI-ARIA to your websites and applications
- The four principles of accessibility: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust
- How to assess web pages for basic accessibility issues and improve accessibility
- Strategies for planning and managing accessibility in your projects and organization
- Where to look for additional helpful resources for designers and developers
Instructors
The course is taught by a team of instructors from the W3C and accessibility-focused organizations, including:
- Andrew Arch, Principal Consultant, Digital Accessibility at Intopia
- Vivienne Conway, Director at Web Key IT Pty Ltd.
- Carie Fisher, Senior Accessibility Consultant at Deque Systems
- Shawn Lawton Henry, Accessibility Evangelist at W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) / MIT
- Sarah Pulis, Director, Accessibility Services at Intopia
- Henny Swan, Director of User Experience at The Paciello Group
- Makoto Ueki, Web Accessibility Consultant at Infoaxia
- Anthony Vasquez, Communications Specialist at Knowbility
Course Details
The self-paced four-week course begins January 28, 2020. Based on the course description, you can expect to spend four to five hours a week on the course.
Registration is available now on edX.
Students enrolled in the course can obtain an optional verified certificate to demonstrate your course completion. Cost is $99, payable during registration.
Note: the certificate requires you submit your photo via a webcam as well as provide a government-issued photo identification.
I’m not comfortable with their requirements for the verified certificate and asked what other options are available for verification.
Summary
Our Refresh Detroit, Metro Detroit WordPress, and West Metro Detroit WordPress meetup members come from a wide range of backgrounds—designers, writers, bloggers, developers, content strategists. And they often ask me how to get started with web accessibility.
I’m pointing them to this intro course!
With the W3C and UNESCO behind this free online course, I think it’s a perfect way to get a foundation of web accessibility basics.
As well as for anyone who’s been working in web accessibility for a while. I’ve signed up, there’s always something new to learn!
Do you plan to enroll in the course? Let me know in the comments.
I’ll be signing up!
Hi Sue,
Glad to know you’ll be taking the course, Sue!