Keeping Your Encompass Consumer Connect Website Accessible According to WCAG Requirements
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been interpreted to extend to website accessibility. Website accessibility is about making sure that technology, including websites, mobile applications, and more can be used by everyone, including individuals with disabilities.
The World Wide Web Consortium, known as W3C, established and continues to develop Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) that provide specific technical requirements that explain how to make web content more accessible to people with various kinds of disabilities. Requirements include a range of considerations, such as making sure your website can be navigated without the use of a mouse, or that the proper heading level structure is put in place for a screen reader to easily navigate the site. [Source: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines; December 21, 2016]
There are different levels of WCAG. The first set of guidelines (WCAG 1.0) was released in 1999, followed by WCAG 2.0 in 2008. The most current level, WCAG 2.1 was released in 2017. The guidelines are divided into three levels of conformance: A, AA, and AAA. WCAG AAA is the highest level, meaning it complies with the success criteria of all three levels.
Websites built using Encompass Consumer Connect 19.1 have been tested and evaluated for accessibility support levels based on WCAG 2.0 by an independent third-party auditor. Their final report delivered in January 2019 determined that Encompass Consumer Connect 19.1 supports most WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA requirements, including important technical and functional accessibility needs of disability and assistive technology types. For more information about these levels of conformance, click here.
What this Means for Your Website
With the release of Encompass Consumer Connect 19.1 on February 2, 2019, we provided users with templates and tools to create, configure and deploy online application workflows, borrower portal and web sites designed to help provide web accessibility. Given the highly configurable capabilities of these tools it has been, and remains, our customers' responsibility to ensure their websites, online application workflows and borrower portal meet the latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
New Websites
If you are creating a brand new site using Encompass Consumer Connect 19.1, you can create and publish sites using the default settings provided out of the box, and your site, borrower portal, and loan application(s) will meet most WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA guidelines. But keep in mind that changes made to these default settings before or after you publish your new site might not meet WCAG guidelines. It is up to you to keep your site accessible. Check all changes you make carefully against the WCAG guidelines and fix any violations to keep your site accessible. This process is called audit and remediation. There are many third-party online tools and web accessibility auditing and remediation services that can help with this process. Refer to the Audit and Remediation Options section later in this document.
Existing Websites
If you created your site prior to the Encompass Consumer Connect 19.1 release (i.e., before February 2, 2019), there's a good chance that your site, borrower portal, and loan application are NOT accessible according to WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA guidelines. It is strongly recommended that you perform an audit and remediation of your site. There are different options available to help you with this process.
Before You Make Any Changes
Before making changes to your site or the default templates in Encompass Consumer Connect 19.1, read the It Is Up to You to Keep Your Site Accessible on page 1 section for important information about accessibility and the Encompass Consumer Connect templates.
Audit and Remediation Options
Whether you created a new site using Encompass Consumer Connect 19.1 or are managing existing sites created in earlier versions, it is strongly recommended that your site undergo an audit and remediation review to check your site against WCAG guidelines.
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Perform your own audit and remediation. Check your site against the WCAG guidelines and fix any violations. If you or the person who manages your site are not familiar with accessibility guidelines, you might want to consider the next option. If you are up for the task, be sure to read the It Is Up to You to Keep Your Site Accessible on page 1 section for information about accessibility and the Encompass Consumer Connect templates.
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Hire a professional web accessibility auditing and remediation service. There are many third-party online tools and web accessibility auditing and remediation services that can help. They can also help you create an audit plan for keeping your site accessible moving forward.
It Is Up to You to Keep Your Site Accessible
Whether you created your Encompass Consumer Connect site using the new templates in 19.1 or not, it is up to you to keep it accessible. When making any changes to your site, borrower portal, and loan application, make sure your changes meet the guidelines outlined in your company's accessibility policy and the WCAG provided on the W3C website. Here are two examples of areas to check:
Example 1: When changing a background color, choose a color that meets or exceeds the color contrast guidelines for accessibility.
Example 2: When adding an image, you might need to provide a description of the image (Alt text) so that any assistive technology like screen readers or other text-to-speech software that reads the page out loud, can read the Alt text instead of the image.
These are just two simple examples of how to keep your site accessible. There are many other elements to consider for web accessibility. That's why we recommend following the standards outlined in your company's accessibility policy and the WCAG.
Design Areas That Can Impact Accessibility
There are four Design Areas in the Website Builder: Company Site, Loan Application, Loan App with Navigation, and Borrower Loan Portal. In each Design Area you can make changes that may or may not have any impact on accessibility.
The table below lists Design Areas and identifies the potential risk to accessibility if changes are made.
| Design Area in Website Builder | Risk | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Company Site | ||
| Pages tab | Yes | Any changes made to pages on your site should be audited carefully before publish. |
| Design tab | Yes | Any changes made to the design of your site, such as colors, fonts, logo, and so on should be audited carefully before publish. |
| Widgets tab | Possible | Content added to a page through a widget can make your site less accessible if not audited carefully. |
| Messaging | None | Changes to the Messaging settings do not impact accessibility. |
| Social Media | None | Changes to Social Media settings do not impact accessibility. |
| SEO | None | Changes to SEO settings do not impact accessibility. |
| Loan Application, Loan App with Navigation and Borrower Portal | ||
| Logo | Yes | Your company logo is added to your site from the Company Site Design Area and populated to the Loan Applications and Borrower Portal. Keep in mind that your Loan Application and Borrower Portal might have a different color pallet. Make sure your logo is accessible across all Encompass Consumer Connect components. |
| Colors | Yes | Any color changes made to your Loan Application or Borrower Portal should be audited carefully before publish. |
| Fonts | Yes | Any changes to font size made to your Loan Application or Borrower Portal should be audited carefully before publish. |
| Icons | Yes | New icons added to your Loan Application or Borrower Portal should be audited carefully before publish. |
| Messaging | Yes | Any color changes made to the Messaging on your Loan Application or Borrower Portal should be audited carefully before publish. |
The other settings in Encompass Consumer Connect administration (Home, Incomplete Apps, Borrower Lookup, Loan App Workflows, Loan Template Rules, Services Management, Borrower Loan Portal, and Email Notifications) do not impact accessibility and are not subject to WCAG requirements.
When in Doubt, Reset to Default
If you created your site using the Encompass Consumer Connect 19.1 templates and find that your changes do not meet the WCAG requirements, you can use the Reset to Default option to return to the original-accessible template that was first installed.
Company Site
To reset your Company Site to the default settings, click the Reset to Default button at the end of the Design menu. The Reset to Default button returns changes made through the Design menu back to the original template settings.
Changes made through the Rich Text Editor might not reset by clicking the Reset to Default button. You might have to manually reset these changes using the Rich Text Editor.
Loan Application, Loan Application with Nav, and Borrower Portal
You can reset your Loan Application, Loan Application with Nav, or Borrower Portal to the default settings, by clicking the Reset to Default link at the end of the design area you want to reset—Colors, Fonts, Footer Image, or Messaging. Clicking the Reset to Default link returns changes made through that design area back to the original template settings.
The Reset to Default link appears at the end of the design area only if a change has been made to the area.
