Wikipedia:WikiProject Accessibility/Policy proposal

This page is a draft. Suggestions for its improvements are welcome.

On the editorial level it seems difficult to create a policy. First, the accessibility guidelines of the community are not complete and accurate enough. Second, MediaWiki doesn't always enable the creation of accessible content. A simple example: as of now, we can't provide caption nor alt text to videos nor sounds. A lot of issues prevent us editors from creating accessible content. Third, we'd rather encourage users to create accessible content than force them to do so. Otherwise they may perceive accessibility as a hindrance and/or try to get round the guidelines. For those reasons, we believe it's best to encourage and help users into producing accessible content.

On the WikiMedia Foundation level however, there is a strong need for an accessibility policy. MediaWiki itself should be accessible. But is should also conform to the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) in order to enable users to create accessible content. The WMF should make it a priority and set up a plan to meet those goals. The WMF should also encourage editors to create accessible content. Contact with foundations supporting accessibility and gathering feedback from the handicapped is also recommended.

Requirements

 * no loss of functionality for the non-disabled
 * WP:ACCESS in its present form is a formatting guideline, not that policy -- it should be supplemented by an accessibility policy that outlines general principles and practices.
 * not a burden to everyday editors
 * no excessive burden to MediaWiki developers
 * target: disabilities considered (blind, color blind, deaf, motor dysfunctions…) / special browsers? addressed (Mobile browsers, text browsers…)

Rationale

 * In Accessibility policy
 * Enforced
 * beneficial not only for people with disabilities, but also for all wikipedians browsing through non-conventional browsers, like through a PDA or an iPhone

Contents

 * not accepting a new non-accessible Wikipedia extension if it can be made accessible
 * spelling fixes and abuse of CSS as in hidden structure.
 * floating the TOC

Manual of Style

 * In Manual of Style (accessibility), or distributed in different sections of the [Wikipedia:Manual of Style]]?
 * Guidelines

Accessibility Help pages

 * In Accessibility, Using JAWS
 * About the accessibility of the Wikipedia

Future

 * Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0 working draft
 * Roadmap for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA)
 * Roles for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA), Role Taxonomy for Accessible Adaptable Applications and XHTML Role Attribute Module
 * Device independence principles
 * HTML5
 * Mozilla video accessibility project