Accessibility and WCAG compliance

Web accessibility is the practice of designing websites and digital content that can be used by people with various disabilities. Ensuring that your Power Pages portals are accessible to all users is not only essential for inclusivity but also a legal and ethical responsibility. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide a comprehensive set of guidelines aimed at making web content more accessible to people with disabilities.

This guide will walk you through the importance of accessibility in Power Pages, the relevant WCAG standards, and how to implement accessibility best practices for compliance.

1. What is WCAG Compliance?

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is a set of guidelines developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that provides recommendations for making web content accessible. WCAG compliance ensures that your web portal is accessible to individuals with disabilities, such as those with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments.

WCAG defines three levels of compliance:

Level A (Minimum Accessibility): Essential requirements that must be met to ensure accessibility.
Level AA (Mid-range Accessibility): A higher level of accessibility that addresses common barriers.
Level AAA (Full Accessibility): The highest level of accessibility, often ideal but not always practical to achieve for all sites.

Most organizations strive for Level AA compliance, as it covers most of the needs of individuals with disabilities.

2. Accessibility in Power Pages

Power Pages is built on top of Microsoft’s Dataverse, providing a powerful and customizable platform for creating web portals. While Power Pages offers several features that make it easier to design accessible websites, it’s important to take proactive steps to ensure compliance with WCAG guidelines.

3. Key WCAG Principles

WCAG is based on four principles that all content must follow:

Perceivable: Content must be presented in ways that users can perceive, including those with sensory disabilities.
Operable: Users must be able to interact with the content, regardless of the device or method of input.
Understandable: Content should be presented in a way that is easy to understand and navigate.
Robust: Content should be compatible with current and future user tools, such as screen readers and assistive devices.

4. WCAG Guidelines and How They Apply to Power Pages

Let’s dive into the WCAG 2.1 guidelines, which are the most widely recognized accessibility standards, and how to implement them in Power Pages.

4.1 Perceivable

Text Alternatives: Ensure that all non-text content (e.g., images, icons, videos) has a text alternative, such as alt text. Power Pages allows you to add alt text to images, icons, and other visual content, which is essential for screen readers. How to Apply:
- For every image, provide descriptive alt text in the image properties.
- Use descriptive alt text that conveys the purpose of the image or icon.
Audio and Video: Provide captions and transcripts for video and audio content. If your portal contains multimedia, ensure it is accessible to people with hearing impairments. How to Apply:
- Use tools like Microsoft Stream or YouTube (which offer built-in transcription) for video content.
- If embedding videos, ensure captions are enabled.
Text Resize: Ensure users can resize text without breaking the layout. This is essential for users with low vision. How to Apply:
- Avoid fixed text sizes; instead, use relative units like em or rem in your CSS.
- Power Pages provides the flexibility to adjust text size in themes or custom CSS.

4.2 Operable

Keyboard Accessibility: Ensure that all interactive elements, including forms, buttons, and links, are navigable via keyboard alone. This is important for users with motor disabilities who may not use a mouse. How to Apply:
- Ensure that all links and form elements are focusable and usable via keyboard shortcuts (e.g., Tab, Enter).
- Use semantic HTML elements (like <button>, <a>, <input>) for interactive content, as they are automatically keyboard-navigable.
Accessible Forms: Forms should be easy to navigate and understand, with clear labels for each input field. Proper field labeling is crucial for users with screen readers. How to Apply:
- Label each form element with a descriptive label.
- Provide clear error messages that are accessible to screen readers.
- Use ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) landmarks to group related form elements and improve screen reader navigation.
Time Limits: For any time-limited actions or content, ensure that users can either extend the time limit or pause the activity. How to Apply:
- If your portal has countdowns or time-limited forms, provide an option for users to extend or pause the countdown.

4.3 Understandable

Consistent Navigation: Ensure that navigation is consistent throughout the portal. Users should be able to predict where they are and how to navigate. How to Apply:
- Use a consistent header, footer, and navigation menu across all pages.
- Ensure that links, buttons, and other interactive elements are clearly identifiable and lead to predictable outcomes.
Readable Text: Text should be legible, with a high contrast ratio between text and background, and in a readable font style. How to Apply:
- Ensure a color contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 between text and background for body text (WCAG Level AA).
- Use sans-serif fonts for better readability.
Instructions and Help: Ensure that any instructions, especially in forms or complex tasks, are easy to understand. Provide error messages in plain language. How to Apply:
- Offer clear, concise error messages and guidance to help users complete forms.
- For more complex tasks, provide step-by-step instructions.

4.4 Robust

Browser Compatibility: Ensure your portal works across all major browsers and assistive technologies. How to Apply:
- Regularly test your portal in different browsers and devices to ensure compatibility.
- Use tools like BrowserStack to test your site’s accessibility across multiple platforms.
Valid HTML and ARIA Implementation: Make sure that your portal uses valid HTML and ARIA roles to improve compatibility with assistive technologies like screen readers. How to Apply:
- Validate your HTML code using W3C’s HTML Validator.
- Implement ARIA attributes like aria-label, aria-labelledby, and aria-describedby to improve accessibility for dynamic content.

5. Testing for Accessibility Compliance

To ensure WCAG compliance, it’s essential to test your Power Pages portal regularly. Here are tools you can use:

Microsoft Accessibility Insights: A tool from Microsoft that helps identify accessibility issues in web applications.
WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool: An online tool that highlights accessibility issues directly on your site.
Axe Accessibility Checker: A browser extension that helps identify common accessibility issues.