Web accessibility

DiploFoundation Accessibility Statement

01 December 2020

According to the World Bank, one billion people, or 15% of the world population, live with some kind of disability. Many of these disabilities affect access to information technologies and/or can benefit from the use of information technologies, including the Web.

Web accessibility is critically important to people with disabilities around the world, including people with auditory, cognitive, physical, neurological, and visual disabilities. It is likewise essential to those with accessibility needs due to aging.

Providing accessible web content can also benefit people who do not have disabilities but who are experiencing situational barriers. For instance, when accessing the Web from devices with small screens or in low bandwidth situations, or when experiencing barriers due to language or literacy levels, accessibility solutions can also support improved access.

DiploFoundation is committed to ensuring equal access for people with disabilities. A part of our global audience, they are important contributors to all aspects of Diplo’s ecosystem and should not be excluded, rather should be actively supported. We are continually improving the user experience for everyone and applying the relevant accessibility standards.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. DiploFoundation is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 level AA. Partially conformant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard.

DiploFoundation is committed to facilitating the accessibility and usability of its websites for persons with sensory disabilities. To accomplish this, Diplo will be implementing over time portions of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Levels A and AA as its web accessibility standard, which will allow the websites to be more accessible to persons with sensory disabilities.

Until such time as our electronic media upgrades are complete, if you have difficulty accessing our website, apps, or intranet to attain information or for any other purpose, please contact us at accessibility@diplomacy.edu and one of our team members will be happy to assist you.

We also work continuously to ensure that our events, meetings, and classes are as accessible and inclusive as possible.

Web accessibility

Web accessibility is affected principally by three forms of impairment.

• 1.3 billion people are affected by some form of blindness and visual impairment. This represents 17% of the world’s population.
• 466 million people have disabling deafness and hearing loss. This represents 6% of the world’s population.
• About 200 million people have an intellectual disability (IQ below 75). This represents 2.6% of the world’s population.

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) offers more information.

The WAI Web Accessibility Fundamentals Overview gives tools a list of resources, including its Accessibility Principles.

Online event accessibility guide (Zoom)

Resources provided on this page serve as a guide for basic functions in the platforms that are being used in a typical Zoom online event.

Platform

• This online meeting will be held on the Zoom platform.
• You can access the webinar either through the Zoom application (available for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS platforms) as well via the browser on your computer.
• Official download link: https://zoom.us/download
• Each meeting has a unique 9, 10, or 11-digit number called a meeting ID that will be required to join a Zoom meeting. This number is on the reminder email that will be sent an hour before the event.
• If you are joining via telephone, you will need the teleconferencing number provided in the event reminder email.

Listening to the event (audio only)

• The audio for the event is broadcast through your computer or another device in the Zoom app. Please make sure that your speakers are turned on or your headphones are plugged in.
• If you do not have sound capabilities on your computer or prefer to listen by phone, without using the Zoom app, you will need the teleconferencing number provided in the invitation.
• Mobile devices supported for Zoom teleconferencing include iPhone, iPad, Android, and Blackberry phones with the following operating systems:
  • iOS 8.0 or later
  • MacOS 13 or later
  • Android 5.0x or later
• Commands for managing sound can be found on the lower-left part of the screen under the microphone icon   on the call screen.

Captioning

• Real-time machine captioning is provided in Zoom for this type of event.
• The captioning function can be activated using the Closed caption button  on the lower part of the Zoom screen.
• For information about captioning on streaming, please see ‘Streaming’ section below.

Chat and submitting questions

• Any time during the event you can type your question in the Chat panel in the Zoom application, YouTube, and Vimeo streaming live video.
• If the chat panel is not automatically visible from the start, you can activate it by clicking on the Chat icon in the lower part of the Zoom screen   , or on the right side of the YouTube and Vimeo page.

Streaming

This event will be streamed on YouTube and Vimeo. You can find direct links to the live streams on the homepage.

YouTube

• To access captioning on YouTube click on the CC icon at the bottom of a YouTube video. A red line will appear under the icon when closed captions have been enabled.
• Live chat is turned on by default and shows up to the right of your live stream’s video player.

Vimeo

• To turn on captions or subtitles when viewing a video, click the CC button in the player’s bottom toolbar.
• On the Vimeo site, the chat will appear to the right of the live player.

Technical assistance

• Before and during the meeting you can send questions to webinars@diplomacy.edu.
• During the event, you can send a private chat message to the DiploHost user in the Zoom chat and ask for assistance.
• On the website, a chat support system is available in the lower right part of the screen.

If you have any accessibility challenges, please let us know as soon as possible, so we can try to accommodate you during the session if possible. Your feedback, including suggestions, is welcome at accessibility@diplomacy.edu, as we work continuously to improve our systems.