The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are part of a series of guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the main international standards organization for the Internet.
Accessibility is the degree to which a product, device, program, service, resource, or environment is available to a given user. If a building on campus has a wheelchair ramp leading to its main entrance, that entrance is accessible to wheelchair users. If a lecture includes sign language interpreters, that lecture is accessible to attendees who are deaf or hard of hearing and who understand sign language.
There is growing pressure on content creators to provide content that is accessible. Depending on your industry, there may be legal reasons to comply with WCAG. Across all industries it is considered a best practice to ensure your content is accessible to all.
We’ve worked hard to make our Turnstyle Webreader adhere to the accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability, but it is not always possible to do so in all areas. We are continually seeking out solutions for any areas of deficit and remain committed to comply with all W3C standards. If you should experience any difficulty in accessing our digital platform, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Though we will make every effort to ensure the extracted text conforms with WCAG guidelines, there is onus on the publishers to provide content that is WCAG compliant. We have provided tools to assist in this process but ultimately is it the publisher’s responsibility to be sure the content meets WCAG criteria.
Publisher responsibilities
GTxcel has ensured that the Turnstyle Webreader user interface is WCAG AA compliant. However, ensuring your content is AA compliant will be up to you. In the article editor, we have added a compliance report with each new issue that will highlight any issues found with your content. This report will only be accessible to you through the publishing dashboard. The Turnstyle Webreader user interface has been updated to comply with web accessibility standards and we will make recommendations for changes if we detect any issues with your content, but the choice to comply with those suggestions will be yours.
WCAG use cases
- Most individuals who are visually impaired use either audible output (products called screen readers that read web content using synthesized speech), or tactile output (a refreshable Braille device).
- Individuals with learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, may also use audible output. This is often referred to as Text-to-Speech (TTS).
- Individuals with low vision may use screen magnification software that allows them to zoom into a portion of the visual screen.
- Many others with less-than-perfect eyesight may enlarge the font on websites using standard browser functions, such as Ctrl + in Windows or Command + in Mac OS X.
- Individuals with fine motor impairments may be unable to use a mouse, and instead rely exclusively on keyboard commands, or use assistive technologies such as speech recognition, head pointers, mouth sticks, or eye-gaze tracking systems.
- Individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing are unable to access audio content, so video needs to be captioned and audio needs be transcribed.
- Individuals may be using mobile devices including phones, tablets, or other devices, which means they’re using a variety of screen sizes and a variety of gestures or other user interfaces for interacting with their devices and accessing content.