Salsa uses the Joomla Content Management System v1.5 to deliver the Joomla website projects. Joomla v1.5 (as opposed to the previous 1.0.x release) has been selected due to improved (but not full) standards compliance with WCAG guidelines. After research into Joomla v1.5's compliance with WCAG standards - the following information is provided for consideration:
The v1.5 code base, which is a substantial re-write of the Joomla system has improved templating and standards support for WCAG. The following is an extract of the Joomla Accessibility statement which can be viewed here: http://help.joomla.org/content/view/805/60/
"...We will provide a solution capable of delivering accessible websites that comply with WCAG 1.0 Priority 2 and Section 508 requirements by release 1.5 of Joomla!
The Core Development Team focuses on front-end accessibility for the 1.x series of releases of Joomla! Please note that while Joomla! will provide the ability to deliver WCAG compliant sites, many requirements depend on the template designers or content managers. As such, Joomla! sites may well not comply with WCAG, for reasons out of the control of the Core Development Team. In other words: "We'll give you the tools to comply, the rest is up to you!.....".
The following website has been put together by one of the members of the Joomla v1.5 accessibility and standards team and describes Joomla v1.5 templating and efforts in setting up compliant structures using this:
Provision will be included for developer & design team work towards ensuring the developed template and the public website structure conforms with these standards. Having completed over 400 Joomla projects, Salsa's staff are expert Joomla designers and have a strong experience based on which to draw in developing an accessible Joomla v1.5 template. More information on the process Salsa will use & recommend:
We design websites that consider accessibility issues relating to colour, images and layout of navigation and content. Our designs will be tested to ensure adequate colour contrast.
We create a table-less template, using valid XHTML, which implements external style sheets containing valid CSS - allowing layout and display to be maintained independently of content. Our templates are to be readable without style sheets and will render content in the correct logical sequence regardless of where it would appear when rendered with the style sheets.
We test templates across multiple browsers and operating systems throughout the construction process to ensure consistent rendering across all systems.
We ensure the website's structure is accessible to the widest possible audience by complying with the Victorian Government's minimum requirements for accessibility (http://www.egov.vic.gov.au/index.php?env=-innews/detail:m1496-1-1-8-s-0:n-319-1-0--).
Including:
We use a content management system that separates content from layout and enables web content authors to produce accessible content easily and consistently.
We provide web content authors with the necessary tools and training, enabling them to create and maintain content that conforms to accessibility standards, such as providing text equivalents for non-text elements (multi-media, images, etc.)
A website template that meets accessibility standards is only the first step in achieving an accessible website. How the content is structured and the concept behind that content can significantly affect a page's accessibility.
Therefore an accessible website is about maintaining accessibility standards when adding and maintaining content, along with ensuring standards are adhered to when extending or altering the structure of the website templates.
To this end Salsa's commitment is to building and maintaining an accessible website structure, ensuring extensions to the content management system comply with accessibility standards and ongoing advisory of web content authors to ensure they have the knowledge and expertise necessary to create and maintain accessible content.
