Launching ‘How to Meet the WCAG 2.0’

As you’ve probably guessed, today is the launch of Wuhcag.com. I thought I’d kick off this new site and blog with the story of how I got Wuhcag up and running and what I want it to do next.

Allow me to introduce myself; I’m Luke, the author of How to Meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. I made this site mainly to sell my book and make money from you, the reader. Let’s get that clear from the outset, this is a website for making me money. I’m not here to give you some platitudes about how my passion for web accessibility beats out my need to make a living. I hope that from engaging with this site you will see that I have a passion for web accessibility and the WCAG 2.0. I desperately want to make the internet a more inclusive place – I wouldn’t couldn’t write a book about something I don’t care about.

Wuhcag will be the home of all my web accessibility content from now on. As well as my book, I’m going to bring out a (free) email course that will show you exactly how to comply with the first level of WCAG 2.0. I’ll also be giving away advice on certain guidelines and issues on this blog. That’s all free for you too. Eventually, there will be more advanced email courses and I hope this site will become a huge resource for WCAG 2.0 compliance.

I wrote How to Meet the WCAG 2.0 in late 2011 to early 2012, producing content as I learned about it. Since then I have developed a passion for web accessibility and you might have spoken to me in various forums or in the comments of blogs (hello again if we’ve met before). I wrote the book for my use to begin with, then decided to turn it into something commercial. I spent a few months editing the book, making sure I was choosing the best material and giving the clearest advice. Next I made use of some sweet networking to bag a free (but high quality) proofreader.

The last few months have been spent working with my brilliant book designer to produce a professional standard ebook, that looks the part and does the content justice. This isn’t just another ebook, it’s the product of months of hard work from a team dedicated to making an excellent product. And that’s exactly what I believe we’ve done.

So what’s next?

I want How to Meet the WCAG 2.0 to be a living document to an extent. Standards and technologies change and the book will show that. I’ll let you know when I’m working on a change an I’ll make sure I’m fair to people who bought the old version. If you have suggestions for changes, you can contact me or leave comments on future blogs about the guidelines.

I’ll be using this very site as a testing ground too. Right now it’s using an out-of-the-box theme I bought from ThemeForest called MayaShop. It’s a great theme to begin with, clean and responsive with plenty of options. As I publish blog posts, I’ll be updating the site and improving my web accessibility so that you can see first hand how easy the techniques are if they are explained to you correctly.

In a few months I’m going to offer my own services for sale on the site too. There’ll be a fixed price web accessibility or WCAG 2.0 audit as well as an hourly consulting rate. This is the beginning of a long journey, one that has begun with hard work and will take plenty more to sustain.

Whatever I do with Wuhcag, I’ll be honest about it. When I’m trying to sell you something, I’ll tell you. I won’t cloak it in marketing or pretend I’m being purely informative just to be a nice guy. I am a nice guy, but I’ve got to eat.

What do I want from you?

I want you to buy the book.

I also want you to engage with Wuhcag. Tell me what you like about the site, the blog and the products, and tell me what you don’t like. Tell me what you don’t understand and I’ll try to help you out. Tell me what extra help you need and I’ll try to create something for you. Tell me about your life with web accessibility and the WCAG 2.0.

Lastly, I want you to subscribe to my newsletter up there in the right-hand sidebar. It’s free and I wont use it for anything other than to send you updates about Wuhcag. It’s not a rehash of the blog or a sales pitch, just a friendly notice that something has happened. At most, you’ll get one email a month. After all, I’ve got better things do to than talk to you all day.