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Initial sketch of what this page should look like (#35)
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* Initial sketch of what this page should look like

Mostly it is from the Readme - https://github.com/GSA/openacr

* Update build-and-test.yml

Co-authored-by: Daniel Mundra <[email protected]>
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mgifford and dmundra authored Dec 24, 2021
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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion .github/workflows/build-and-test.yml
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Expand Up @@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ jobs:
node-version: '14'

- name: Install NPM dependencies.
run: npm install
run: npm ci

- name: Build and start up jekyll server.
run: npm run build && npm run start-detached
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58 changes: 57 additions & 1 deletion _pages/learning-about-openacrs.md
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# **{{page.title}}**

OpenACRs are ...
## Context

Many agencies face challenges in delivering accessible services to people with disabilities. Software vendors are often asked to submit accessibility conformance reports (ACR) for their offerings. Many federal contracts require ACRs, but they are also used globally in government, education and in business to business contracts. These ACRs document conformance of these products and services to Section 508 requirements. These claims are generally provided in a MS Word or PDF format both of which are hard to use when doing comparisons.

These ACRs represent a static snapshot of accessibility when written. A modern ACR would show continuous adherence to accessibility requirements and be validated to see it matches a baseline format.

Responsible agencies test vendor conformance claims. Agency findings should be easily shared with vendors. Finding and sharing up-to-date data should be easy.

## Vision

Improve the use and effectiveness of ACRs when evaluating accessibility of digital tools.

By making accessibility conformance reports machine-readable:

- buyers will be able to make simple comparisons of solutions
- managers may finally be able to determine what interfaces may limit their staff
- executives can better understand the risks of present digital interfaces

## Approach

The OpenACR team is creating an open standard.

We will start with the ITI VPAT® framework because VPATs® are widely recognized. We have begun with with VPAT 2.4Rev 508 (March 07, 2020) (Word) which allows us to build on WCAG 2.0 specifications for the initial framework.

A digital ACR should be highly structured and machine-readable. Once it is machine-readable, we are able to extend its functionality. We looked at a few formats, but settled on [YAML, or Yet Another Markup Language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YAML), because it allows the text to be human-readable. Earlier attempts at producing a machine-readable ACR used Extensible Markup Language (XML).

Although YAML is human-readable, most people will view an OpenACR as an accessible HTML document in a web browser, as they view a webpage. This will look much like a current VPAT® document.

# Example OpenACR .yaml & .html files

ACRs should be built with version control in a repository like GitHub or Gitlab. As with all modern software development, version control is key. To see that barriers are addressed, it is important to be able to track changes over time.

We have built the HTML output so that vendors can later edit it to add style elements through CSS. We expect that vendors will want to customize the look/feel and include their branding. The main goal will be to provide a means to easily compare documents so that presentation doesn't get in the way.

You can find several [example OpenACR YAML files](https://github.com/GSA/openacr/blob/main/openacr/) in the GitHub repository.

## OpenACR Editor

Editors can write their results in YAML, but you can also use the [OpenACR editor](https://gsa.github.io/openacr-editor/). What matters is that the resulting document validates against the [JSON Schema](https://github.com/GSA/openacr/tree/main/schema) that we have published in the central [GitHub repository](https://github.com/GSA/openacr/).

This OpenACR editor is a work-in-progress, and we [invite feedback](https://github.com/GSA/openacr/issues). It is built on the [WAI's ATAG Report Tool](https://wai-atag-report-tool.netlify.app/). This allowed us to align with initiatives from the [W3C WAI](https://www.w3.org/WAI/), but also ensure that the tool would be easy to extend in the future.

This accessible JavaScript editor allows an author to either build an OpenACR file from scratch, or import one that has already been written. From this you can save OpenACR in both a YAML & HTML format. You can experiment with editing files by downloading the [Drupal YAML file](https://github.com/GSA/openacr/blob/main/openacr/drupal-9.yaml) and then loading it into the editor.

This is a stand-alone JavaScript application. Any changes are stored exclusively in your browser. You will need to save the YAML file to your computer in order to access this information in the future. We recommend saving it into a git repository so that changes can be effectively tracked over time.

## Also see
- References
- How to guides to fill in an OpenACR
- Roadmap for future development
- Project vision

## More information is provided for the following roles
- Procurement Teams
- Agency Project Leads / Requiring Officials
- Vendors
- Accessibility Professionals and ACR Authors

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