IAAP CAP cheat sheet

The medical model locates disability in an individual's impairment and emphasizes treatment; the social model locates disability in societal and environmental barriers.

WHO estimates about 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the global population, experience significant disability.

The WHO ICF describes functioning across body functions and structures, activities, participation, environmental factors, and personal factors.

Seven Principles of Universal Design: equitable use; flexibility in use; simple and intuitive use; perceptible information; tolerance for error; low physical effort; size and space for approach and use.

Disability categories commonly include visual, hearing, motor, cognitive, speech, neurological, chronic health, and mental health conditions; many people have multiple or invisible disabilities.

Accessibility removes barriers to participation; usability concerns effectiveness and efficiency; inclusive design widens the design process to excluded groups.

CDC reports about 1 in 4 U.S. adults has a disability, and prevalence increases with age.

Reasonable accommodation is an individualized adjustment for a qualified person; universal design builds access into the environment for everyone, reducing the need for individual accommodation.

The disability-rights principle 'Nothing about us without us' holds that policies and designs should be created with, not merely for, people with disabilities.

WCAG 2.1 contains 78 success criteria: 30 Level A, 20 Level AA, and 28 Level AAA; Level AA conformance requires all Level A and Level AA criteria.

WCAG 2.2 adds nine criteria and removes 4.1.1 Parsing; new AA criteria include 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured, 2.5.7 Dragging Movements, 2.5.8 Target Size (24x24 CSS px), 3.2.6 Consistent Help, 3.3.7 Redundant Entry, and 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication.

U.S. Section 508 applies to federal agencies' information and communication technology procurement, development, and use; the 2018 refresh incorporates WCAG 2.0 Level AA by reference.

ADA Title I covers employment, Title II covers state and local government services, and Title III covers public accommodations and commercial facilities.

The DOJ 2024 Title II rule sets WCAG 2.1 Level AA for state and local web content and mobile apps: April 24, 2026 for entities with populations of 50,000 or more, and April 26, 2027 for smaller entities and special district governments.

The European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882) applies from 28 June 2025 to specified products and services including e-commerce, banking, e-books, and transport.

EN 301 549 is the European harmonised standard for ICT accessibility; its web clauses reference WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

UN CRPD Article 9 requires accessibility to information, communications, and physical environments; Article 21 addresses access to information and freedom of expression.

Ontario's AODA Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation requires WCAG 2.0 Level AA conformance for obligated public sector and large-organization web content.

POUR: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust are the four WCAG principles.

Conformance levels are A (minimum), AA (common legal and policy target), and AAA (enhanced, not typically required for entire sites).

1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text of at least 18pt, or 14pt bold.

1.4.11 Non-text Contrast requires UI components and graphical objects to have 3:1 contrast against adjacent colors.

1.4.10 Reflow requires content to reflow at 320 CSS pixels width without two-dimensional scrolling, except for data tables, maps, and complex content.

2.1.1 Keyboard requires all functionality to be operable through a keyboard interface without requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes.

2.4.7 Focus Visible and 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured require a visible focus indicator that is not entirely hidden by sticky headers or overlays.

4.1.2 Name, Role, Value requires custom components to expose accessible name, role, state, and value to assistive technology.

First rule of ARIA: native HTML elements with built-in semantics are preferred over ARIA, because ARIA changes accessibility tree exposure but adds no behavior.

PDF/UA (ISO 14289) defines accessible PDF requirements: tags, logical reading order, alternative text, language, and metadata.

Tagged PDF structure elements such as headings, paragraphs, lists, and tables expose semantics to screen readers; untagged PDFs are read as unstructured text.

Heading styles, not visual formatting, create document structure; heading levels should be sequential and not skipped.

Informative images need concise alt text; decorative images are marked as artifacts or given empty alt so assistive technology ignores them.

Data tables need header rows or columns and correct scope; layout tables should not be used for visual positioning.

Prerecorded video needs captions; audio description is needed when visual information is not conveyed in the audio track; audio-only content needs a transcript.

Built-in Office accessibility checkers detect missing alt text, tables without headers, and some contrast issues but not all failures.

EPUB 3 supports accessibility metadata and semantic markup; EPUB Accessibility 1.1 specifies WCAG 2.0 Level AA conformance for publications.

Content must not rely on color alone (1.4.1); links need discernible text, and reading order must match the logical sequence.

Common screen readers include JAWS and NVDA on Windows, VoiceOver on macOS and iOS, TalkBack on Android, and Narrator on Windows.

Screen readers use accessibility APIs: UI Automation and IAccessible2 on Windows, AX on macOS and iOS, and AT-SPI on Linux.

Screen magnification users may see only a fraction of the screen; reflow and responsive layouts reduce horizontal scrolling.

Switch access and scanning let users select items with one or more switches; interfaces need clear focus indication and predictable order.

Speech recognition tools such as Dragon require visible labels matching voice commands and support for dictation and correction.

ARIA live regions (polite or assertive) announce dynamic changes; incorrect use can cause repeated or missed announcements.

In single-page applications, focus must be moved and announced after route changes so the virtual cursor does not lose context.

Refreshable braille displays render text tactilely and depend on correct text alternatives and reading order.

Keyboard-only users rely on logical tab order, skip links, and operable custom widgets; mouse-only interactions exclude them.

The 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design govern new construction and alterations; scoping is in Chapters 2 and 3, with technical requirements in Chapters 4 through 9.

Accessible routes require at least 36 inches clear width; passing spaces of 60 inches are needed at intervals where the route is less than 60 inches wide.

Ramp runs have a maximum slope of 1:12, a maximum rise of 30 inches per run, landings at top and bottom, and handrails on both sides where required.

Door openings need 32 inches minimum clear width; maneuvering clearances depend on approach direction and door swing.

Wheelchair turning space is a 60-inch diameter circle or a T-shaped space within a 60-inch square.

Reach ranges are 15 to 48 inches above the floor for unobstructed side reach, and 20 to 44 inches over obstructions up to 20 inches deep.

Accessible parking: car spaces are 96 inches wide and van spaces 132 inches wide with a 60-inch access aisle; one in every six accessible spaces must be van accessible.

Tactile signs require raised characters and braille, mounted with the baseline of the lowest character 48 to 60 inches above the floor.

PROWAG provides accessibility guidelines for public rights-of-way such as sidewalks, crosswalks, and transit stops.

Accessibility governance defines policy, roles, decision rights, budget, and a roadmap with measurable milestones.

Procurement requirements should specify a conformance target such as WCAG 2.1 Level AA, require an ACR or VPAT, and include remediation and termination remedies.

VPATs are vendor self-disclosures; an ACR is the completed report, and neither guarantees conformance without verification.

Section 508 requires federal agencies to incorporate accessibility into ICT solicitations and contracts; EN 301 549 serves a similar role in EU procurement.

Accessibility maturity models typically progress from reactive or initiate stages through develop, formalize, manage, and optimize stages.

Remediation should be prioritized by user impact and severity, with critical blockers such as login, forms, payment, and navigation addressed first.

An accessibility statement should state the conformance target, known limitations, assessment date, and a feedback contact.

Program KPIs include defect closure rate, percentage of audited pages conforming, training completion, and time to remediate.

Accessibility risk spans legal exposure, reputational harm, lost revenue, and operational cost; risk registers make it visible to leadership.

WCAG-EM steps are: define the evaluation scope, explore the target, select a representative sample, evaluate the sample, and report findings.

Automated tools detect a subset of issues, commonly estimated around 30% of WCAG failures, and cannot judge meaning, usability, or context.

Manual checks include keyboard-only operation, visible focus, screen reader output, 200-400% zoom, reflow, and reduced motion.

Representative samples should include templates, high-traffic pages, interactive components, and error and confirmation states.

Usability testing with people with disabilities should recruit participants whose disabilities and assistive technologies match the tasks under test.

Participants should be compensated fairly, and sessions should accommodate communication, scheduling, and technology needs.

Severity ratings combine frequency, impact, and workaround availability to prioritize defects.

Regression testing after fixes confirms remediation and catches new failures introduced by changes.

Common assistive technology combinations for testing include NVDA with Firefox or Chrome, JAWS with Chrome, and VoiceOver with Safari.

Role-based training separates content for developers, designers, content authors, procurement staff, and executives.

Accessibility champions are embedded advocates who share expertise and reinforce practices within teams.

Executive sponsorship supplies authority, budget, and accountability that sustain accessibility programs.

Accessible communications provide alternative formats, plain language, captions, and multiple channels.

Onboarding should include accessibility expectations, tools, and resources so new staff acquire practices early.

Kotter's eight-step change model (urgency, coalition, vision, communication, empowerment, short-term wins, consolidation, anchoring) applies to accessibility culture change.

Measuring training completion, help-desk trends, audit results, and feedback volume shows whether change is taking hold.

A public feedback channel lets users report barriers and gives organizations data for remediation.

Psychological safety encourages staff to report accessibility defects without blame, improving early detection.