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Participants of the subcommittee

Throughout

David Fazio (Helix Opportunity, President)

Jake Abama (ING, Accessibility)

Jeff Kline (Accessibility Program Director / Consultant )

Lori Samuels (NBC Universal, Accessibility)

Sheri Byrne-Haber (VMware, Accessibility)

Started late but currently attending

Raph de Rooij (NL Government, Policy officer on web accessibility)

Wilco Fiers (Deque, Accessibility technology expert)

Dropped out

John Foliot

Sarah Horton

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What is a Maturity Model?

A Maturity model, in general, is

a tool;
That helps people assess the current effectiveness of a person or group;
And supports figuring out what capabilities they need to acquire next;
In order to improve their performance.

Q1: What are the characteristics of the WCAG ICT accessibility maturity model?

A1: The maturity model is a toolkit assisting organizations to perform self-assessment to manage and optimize their accessibility policy and processes. The main components are: Dimensions, proof points, and a scoring system.

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Background

Q1: What is the benefit of the maturity model?

A1: Organizations with mature processes can reach higher levels of accessibility compliance over time and provides insights where accessibility requirements and not yet fully met.

Q2: How does the maturity model relate to web accessibility standards?

A2: Maturity assessments facilitate web accessibility improvements across an organization over time. They are supplementary to, and not an alternative or substitute for, conformance testing or compliance.

Q3: What is the scope of the maturity model?

A3: All areas of an organization that play a role in ICT accessibility

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Web accessibility encompasses more than just the accessibility of a website

The added value of a maturity model:�it focuses on the performance of an organization in making its websites (more) accessible.

*: the goal =

an accessible website

[Text version of the infographic]

An infographic is shown that contains two graphs:

The first graph represents the traditional approach, which focuses on the goal but is incomplete.

The second graph represents a more sustainable approach, which focuses on performance towards the goal.

The first graph is titled "the traditional approach: focus on the goal, but incomplete"

In the first graph, the first object represents a policy that is based on conforming with WCAG.

The policy applies to the last object in the graph: an organization's online information and services. This object is called the material object.

Organizational barriers have an influence on the material object.

Conformance testing using WCAG provides input for evaluating the effectiveness of the policy.

Organizational barriers are out of scope when the effectiveness of the policy is evaluated. As a consquence, the data about compliance is not suitable for in control statements.

The second graph is titled "a more sustainable approach: focus on performance towards the goal"

In the second graph, the first object represents a policy that is based on ensuring web accessibility using WCAG.

The policy applies to the second object in the graph: decisions and actions that are related to web accessibility. This object is called the policy object. The added value of the Maturity Model is that it focuses on the performance of an organization in making its websites (more) accessible.

The policy object applies to the last object: an organization's online information and services. This object is called the material object.

Organizational barriers have an influence on the material object.

Conformance testing using WCAG provides input (to the policy object) for decisions and actions related to repairing the material object.

Organizational barriers provide input (to the policy object) for decisions and actions related to eliminating or controlling the barriers.

Auditing of the decisions and actions that are related to web accessibility (= the policy object) provides input for evaluating the effectiveness of the policy. The data about compliance is suitable for in control statements.

Examples of organizational barriers are:

procurement
path dependence
knowledge
skills
tools
prioritization
budget
cost of change
organizational complexity
third party dependence
contracts
etc.

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Maturity Model Subcommittee Scope of Work

The work of the Maturity Modeling subcommittee includes:

Propose approaches and choose an option;
Identify stakeholders;
Research existing accessibility maturity models
Determine appropriate publication structure;
Report on findings;
Research weighting / scoring mechanism
Create and refine maturity modeling prototype;
Develop material to publish as W3C note;
Write an initial editor’s draft of Maturity Modeling note in coordination with Silver and the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group.
Consider steps necessary to turn narrative into self-assessment tool

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The maturity model must be scalable and flexible

Organization Size: Must scale to work with most organization sizes including but not limited to public and private sector organizations that deliver ICT products, services, and information

May not be applicable to very small organizations

Not all Maturity Model Proof Points are applicable to all situations

Dependent on a multitude of factors including size, organizational, or other characteristics

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The Maturity Model is different than the Disability:IN Disability Equality Index

	Same	Different
Both are about disability	X
The maturity model will eventually have a tool with a save state		X
Silver MM is intended to be self-completed		X
Silver MM has weighting, and “two of six will not get you full credit”		X
Silver MM dimensions and proof points have an end-to-end focus on accessibility, it is not focused on inclusion		X
Silver MM is more refined – the Accessibility Statement will test for different content across different levels, for example		X

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General Process Maturity Curve

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Four ICT Accessibility Maturity Levels

Level 0	No awareness and recognition of need for the organization
Level 1	Recognized need organization-wide, where planning is initiated and activities present, but not well organized
Level 2	Roadmap in place with overall approach defined, acknowledged, and well organized for the group or organization
Level 3	Full insights based on assessments, consistently evaluated and implemented, across the organization

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Seven Dimensions

Communications	Information as it relates to an organization’s accessibility to demonstrate the organization’s approach toward disability inclusion. Ensure accessibility of all general communications
Knowledge and Skills	Provide ongoing education, and use external hiring to fill gaps for inclusiveness and accessibility.
Support	Support for internal employees and external customers with disabilities. Provide reasonable accommodations.
Procurement	Procurement is a strategic process that concentrates on finding and acquiring cost-effective products required for an organization. It deals with things like sourcing activities, negotiation, and selecting goods and services.

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Seven Dimensions (cont)

Personnel	DEI (Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion) goals, job descriptions, recruiting, disability-related (or intersectional) employee resource groups.
Culture	Company culture refers to the attitudes and behaviors of a company and its employees. It is evident in the way an organization's people interact with each other, the values they hold, and their decisions
SDLC	The entire development lifecycle as it pertains to accessibility from idea conception, to design, development, testing, ACR/VPAT production, user research, maintenance and obsolescence.

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Proof Points (Jake)

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Outcomes (Raph)

At full maturity, each dimension has a desired outcome.
Progress towards achieving this maturity is attained by levels of implementation of the methods described for each dimension
Outcomes form the basis of a flexible and expansive architecture for maturity modeling that closely relates to the needs of organizations
Example for the dimension Knowledge and Skills:

Fully implemented role based training in all identified areas of an organization

Example for the dimension Communications:

The state of accessibility is an agenda item on the organization's Supervisory Board meeting (minimum frequency: yearly)

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The Procurement Dimension

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Procurement Dimension Proof Points

Proof Points (May include but are not limited to:)

Policy Documentation

Published ICT Accessibility Policy
Accessibility requirements and other information communicated to vendors

Consistent use of Standardized Solicitation and Contract Language

ICT Accessibility Solicitation Language
ICT Accessibility Contract Language
Accessibility Specific solicitation forms / templates

Consistent Evaluation process & methods

Proof of accessibility evaluations
Documented evaluation methodology
Submission scoring methodologies

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Procurement Dimension Proof Points (con’t)

“Burden of proof“ accessibility Contract language requirements

Proof of Vendor testing (automated and manual)
Development life cycle accessibility criteria integration and development reviews (for dev services
Warranties and remedies section includes accessibility
Vendor corrective actions / remediation plans pre and post deployment
Executed contract examples with accessibility language.

Accessibility in Procurement program management

Accessibility audits
Contract Life cycle management
Dashboard of Procurement related accessibility metrics
Issue Management Process (for complaints)

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Procurement Dimension Ratings 0-1

Rating	Criteria
Rating 0	No accessibility effort at all around procurement
Rating 1	Main Characteristics: Recognized need for accessibility criteria and criteria in procurement process(s) Work in process to identify and integrate accessibility into procurement processes and language into all ICT related solicitations and contracts Outcomes: Training in process for procurement professionals for reviewing solicitation response documents and other roles

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Procurement Dimension Ratings 2 -3

Rating	Criteria
Rating 2	Main Characteristics: Process integration complete and implementation in process. Outcomes: Accessibility criteria and language integrated into applicable ICT solicitations and contracts. Solicitation responses analyzed by accessibility or trained procurement professionals. -Results included in contract award criteria. Scoring model developed and its use begun. Communications mechanism in place to inform vendors of accessibility requirements.
Rating 3	Main Characteristics: Full and consistent use of accessibility processes and criteria in all procurements with an ICT component in the contract decision making process. Processes are regularly reviewed and refined as needed. Outcomes: Repeatable, consistent, and measurable process(es) for procuring accessible IT products, tools and services.

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The Culture Dimension

Organizational culture consists of shared beliefs and values established by leaders that ultimately shape employee perceptions, behaviors and understanding.

To be truly effective and mature, organizations must weave an inclusive and accessible culture into the fabric of the organization

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Culture Dimension Proof Points