Online accessibility action plan
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority recognises there is considerable interest in the health
and management of the Great Barrier Reef from people around Australia and the world, and our
website is a key source of information.
Our website receives almost 700,000 visits each year and our aim is to ensure that everyone —
regardless of ability, culture, location or online capability — can access our information.
As much as is reasonably possible, we plan to meet the WCAG 2.0 guidelines to Level AA by 31
December 2014.
Furthermore, we will endeavour to provide suitably accessible content to anyone who requests it in
reasonable time.
Background
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) requires agencies to ensure people with disabilities
have the same fundamental rights to access information and services as others in the community.
At the end of 2009, the Secretaries’ ICT Governance Board endorsed the Australian Government’s
National Transition Strategy (NTS) to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3) Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.0. This endorsement requires all Australian Government
websites and online systems implement WCAG 2.0 Level AA conformance.
Scope
This applies to GBRMPA’s external websites:
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www.gbrmpa.gov.au.au
www.reefhq.com.au
onbard.gbrmpa.gov.au
mobile.gbrmpa.gov.au
Our approach
We’re adopting the following principles:
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Any web technology that cannot claim WCAG 2.0 conformance must be supported by another
accessible format (i.e. PDF, plain text, text transcripts)
All html webpages on our external site (www.gbrmpa.gov.au) will be accessible, including text
styles, tags and alternative text for images and graphs/tables
All videos uploaded to our YouTube channel will include captions and/or scripts
All major reports and materials produced from 1 January 2014 onwards are available online
as accessible PDFs and plain text documents
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The complex nature of our zoning maps (maps elements, coordinates, designated zones)
cannot be appropriately or accurately captured in alternative text on the website PDFs — hard
copy maps are the alternative versions and are available through our public information unit
As a small agency, it is not financially viable or efficient for us to retrospectively make
accessible all materials and reports produced before 1 January 2014 — users requiring
alternative versions should contact us, to meet archival requirements we have historical
material on our website that cannot be made accessible
As a small agency, it is not financially viable or efficient for us to make our older databases
accessible — many of these are log-in only and designed for a select group of users, any
users having difficulty accessing the material should contact us to discuss alternative ways to
access this information
There are some special purpose-built websites which have been established to communicate
with select audiences — we consider these third party tools and are outside the scope of this
plan. Some our legacy websites have been have been flagged for decommissioning and
archiving.
Strategy
What we have done so far
Since adopting the National Transition Strategy, we have maintained a steady progress towards
accessible online content, including but limited to:
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Purchased a content management system with WCAG 2.0 capability
Completed an accessibility audit allowing for the correction of identified issues
Implemented an interim plan to improve accessibility during the initial stages of the NTS –
moving towards WCAG 2 AA compliance
Added accessibility compliance as part of the publishing workflow for all web pages
All ‘read all’ links have been replaced with appropriate labelled links
Added alternative text to all images uploaded to the new system
Audited webpages with web accessibility testing software
Upgraded web content publication software including [office 2010, Indesign 6, Adobe xi]
Provided web accessibility education and awareness training
Ongoing accessibility education and support
Engaged Alpha Computer Consultants to run training and workshop for staff in creating,
auditing and development of accessible publications
Trained staff to use Microsoft office products to assist with accessibility
Ensured the production of accessible PDFs and alternative versions are available online
Amended the publications, contract and procurement guidelines to incorporate accessibility
in the quote and production of all commissioned jobs to be displayed online
Developed an alternative text guide for images, with a focus on complex maps, charts and
graphs
Provided best practice information on writing alternative text and online information to
produce accessible PDFs
Incorporated web accessibility into business as usual online publishing
Ensured newly developed sites are WCAG 2 compliant
Fixed accessibility issues in a timely manner once they have been identified
Scheduled accessibility reviews and reporting
De-commissioned and archived of older non-complaint websites and materials where
appropriate
Included transcripts and auto transcript with all new audio and video files since uploaded to
YouTube.
What we will do by December 2014
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Commence shutting down old webservers and archiving non-compliant sites
Migrate older sites are not compliant over to the new system
Engage an external consultant to audit the site for accessibility issues
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Ensure staff and senior management are kept up-to-date with accessibility
Provided further author training as necessary
Carry out accessibility audits on sites that are still current but not accessible
Ensure all GBRMPA-managed websites are controlled using a content management system
with appropriate styles and templates.
Mitigation
Our accessibility policy requires all new websites, documents, services and online applications to be
WCAG 2.0 Level AA compliant.
Access to information
A page on our website allows users to request assistance with alternative versions of materials.
This page is linked it from the footer of every gbrmpa.gov.au web page under the title accessibility tab
or contact us.
Should a web user require an alternative means to access online information, we aim to ensure:
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Timely responses to all enquires
Targeted responses that address individual issues
An opportunity for feedback, and continuous improvement in the delivery of accessible
information.
The request will be referred to our Communications Manager or Communications Team Leader who
will:
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Acknowledge receipt of the enquiry by phone and email
Contact the person who requested the information to confirm their requirements and assist
them with their enquiry
Coordinate the supply of material from our public information unit or other sources within the
agency
Document the enquiries.
Ongoing approach to accessibility
Accessibility is everyone’s responsibility. The National Transition Strategy will be implemented
through our information technology section and communication work plans.
Our communication section will provide the information, tools and training for staff to understand and
comply with accessibility on our external website.
While we’ve invested strongly in an authoring model that guides and trains our authors to provide best
practice in accessibility, there may be occurrences where users have difficulty accessing information
from our website that is only provided in one format for security purposes.
David Leverton
Chief Information Officer
December 2014