WAI-CooP

An EU Project

Project Results

List of Courses on Digital Accessibility

Included developing a user interface with filtering functionality, creating a taxonomy to describe courses and certification on digital accessibility with mapping to the Course submission form.

List of Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools

Included updating the user interface with filtering functionality, reviewing which tools’ features to capture, promoting and gathering list entries, and creating a Tool submission form.

List of Web Accessibility Laws and Policies

Made extensive updates to existing policies and added new information for 22 additional countries.

List of Accessibility Conformance Testing (ACT) Rules

Included promoting, tracking, and validating implementations of “Accessibility Conformance Testing (ACT) Rules” in automated testing tools and manual testing methodologies. Also included a completed redesign of the user interface to better integrate implementation reports submitted by different vendors.

Analysis of Support and Gaps in Technologies

Carried out an extensive literature review to identify relevant accessibility related gaps in digital technologies, which helped to identify topics to explore further as part of the Research Symposia.

Research Symposia on Digital Accessibility

Organised and ran three online research symposia based on topics identified in previous analyses:

Regular Open Meetings

Organised and ran six open meetings to exchange best practices and discuss specific topics around implementing and monitoring accessibility.

Web Accessibility Directive: Frequently Asked Questions

Provided responses to frequently asked questions (FAQ) on implementing the EU Web Accessibility Directive (WAD).

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) Report Tool

Updated functionality, improved user interface, improved translation options, and updated to include new WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 success criteria.

Easy Checks — A First Review of Web Accessibility

Updated the resource to simplify the presentation of each check, reduce the reliance on third-party tools, and improve the readability of the content. The aim was to make it easier to use as a learning resource for people new to accessibility, and to create a set of tools to perform some basic accessibility checks.

Participation

Most of the project work listed above was developed through or in coordination with the:

About the Project

WAI-CooP, Communities of Practice, was a Coordination and Support Action project, co-funded by the European Commission (EC) under the Horizon 2020 program (Grant Agreement 101004794). The project started on 1 January 2021 and was completed in December 2023. WAI-CooP supported implementation of the international standards for digital accessibility through:

establishing a vendor-neutral overview on available training, tools, and resources internationally
analyzing technological advancements and coordinating with relevant research and development
providing opportunities for key stakeholders to share resources and to exchange best practices

WAI-CooP achieved this by building on the existing wealth of authoritative guidance available from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) to provide a one-stop shop for the broad spectrum of key stakeholders involved in the implementation of digital accessibility. This included public bodies and private entities; organisations representing people with disabilities; product, service, and training providers; researchers; and policy makers.

For more information, contact Kevin White.

Project Partners

WAI-CooP project partners included:

Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) — as part of W3C, France
European Disability Forum (EDF) , Belgium
HAN University of Applied Sciences , Netherlands
University of Lisbon, Faculty of Sciences Association for Research and Development , Portugal
Deque Systems Europe , Netherlands