It wasn’t too long ago that the Secretaries’ ICT Governance Board endorsed the Australian Government’s transition to WCAG 2.0. This mandate requires all Australian Government websites. Importantly, all juristictions from federal to state and local, and including education and cultural, must implement WCAG 2.0 according to the following timetable:
Old websites
- December 2010 — Agencies must complete a website stocktake and WCAG 2.0 comformance check including risk, capability and infrastructure assessment.
- December 2011 — Procurement review, infrastructure and capability upgrades including training of staff.
- December 2012 — All websites to be upgraded to full compliance with Single-A.
- December 2014 — All websites to be upgraded to full compliance with Double-A.
New websites
- Websites created after July 2010 — Must meet WCAG 2.0 Single-A level by Dec 2012.
Reporting requirements
The transition to WCAG 2.o is accompanied by reporting requirements to AGIMO similar to those required for the implementation of Internet Protocol version 6.
Decisions to make
AGIMO’s decision pathway for upgrading to WCAG 2.0 is fairly straight forward, requiring agencies to either upgrade or essentially decommission their websites over the 4-year period.
What to do next
Zen Ex Machina‘s Partners have been working with government agencies for nearly two decades to provide assistance and guidance with usability, compliance and risk issues. If you’re having trouble meeting the mandate, then we’d love to help. Just contact us.
