The web needs to become more accessible.
Essential services now require the use of the internet, including banking, healthcare, and commerce. One in four Americans live with a disability. Equal access online is essential.
This master plan outlines our strategy to improve the accessibility of the World Wide Web.
The key to achieving this goal is education and protection.
Education
The rise of drag-and-drop website builders has made it possible for anyone to publish online.
This is a major advancement. It has also created a problem.
Many websites are built without basic accessibility considerations. As a result, 94.8% of website homepages contain detectable accessibility issues.
To address this, DAPEN.org will develop WBAG: the Website Builder Accessibility Guidelines.
WBAG will translate complex accessibility standards, such as WCAG, into practical implementation guides for modern website builders.
Instead of technical documentation written for developers, WBAG will provide simple, platform-specific instructions for tools such as Wix, Webflow, Shopify, and WordPress.
The goal is simple:
Make accessibility easier to understand and easier to implement.
Protection
Education alone is not enough.
Most businesses are not aware of digital accessibility. If we ask them to invest in accessibility improvements before they understand the problem, many simply tune out.
We believe this is one reason accessibility progress has been slow.
DAPEN.org will try a different approach.
We will create a membership model centered around Digital Accessibility Protection.
Businesses purchase a DAPEN Membership for a website domain (example.com).
Every DAPEN Membership includes:
- Digital Accessibility Protection
- Digital Accessibility Education
Digital Accessibility Protection is designed to help businesses when their website is targeted for accessibility-related issues.
If a member receives a complaint, demand letter, or lawsuit related to website accessibility, DAPEN will help coordinate technical remediation and provide access to outside legal counsel support, subject to membership limits.
The goal is not simply protection.
The goal is to create a relationship with businesses.
Once businesses join the network, we can help them better understand digital accessibility and encourage accessibility-first website development.
We believe the current accessibility models are not producing enough change.
Many organizations focus only on audits, overlays, remediation projects, or compliance services. While valuable, these approaches alone have not solved the problem.
DAPEN.org will test a different model.
Membership revenue will be used to improve educational resources, develop better accessibility tools, and expand support across the network.
As the network grows, the quality and reach of accessibility education improves.
The mission remains the same:
Make the web more accessible.
So, in short, the master plan is:
-
Build Digital Accessibility Protection
Create a membership businesses are willing to adopt. -
Use that relationship to educate businesses
Make accessibility easier to understand and implement. -
Use membership revenue to improve accessibility resources
Build better education, tools, and support for the network. -
Improve the accessibility of the web at scale
Make accessibility practical, understandable, and widely adopted.
— Jack Nagle
Head of Education, DAPEN.org