A RACI chart is a project-management tool used to clarify responsibilities and roles when multiple team members are working on a complex project. Project participants are listed by role in Row 1. The tasks or stages comprised by a project are listed in Column 1. Within the chart, the nature of each participant/role’s responsibility for a given task is noted with an R, A, C, or I. RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed.
Responsible (R): directly in charge of executing a project or one of its parts.
Accountable (A): accountable for a project’s completion and its outcomes. This may not be the person directly executing the work, and often is filled by a project manager overseeing progress, or an administrator shaping or overseeing a project.
Consulted (C): reviews a project or a task undertaken as a part of a project.
Informed (I): informed of a project’s progress and completion, but not directly involved in the work.
Setting Policy for Smaller Institutions
Head of Institution
Head of Library
Service Librarian
Sets institution wide goals and priorities to include digital accessibility
R
C
C
Communicates importance of digital accessibility institution-wide
R
R
R
Creates staffing structures that accommodate accessibility work across the institution’s portfolio of work as well as the staff who carry out the work
A
R
R
Creates budget with the necessary funding to provide accessibility services (captioning etc), license accessibility tools, and contract or provide gift funding for test subjects
R
R
C/I
Creating institution-wide accessibility policies that provide guidance, standards, and governance
R/A
C/A
C/I
Puts accessibility policies into practice
I
I
R/C/I
Resources projects to accomplish accessibility work
I
C/I
R
New Website Project for Smaller Institutions
Senior Administrator (Project Sponsor)
Service Librarian
Developer
Creates project plans (may include budget, resourcing, and timeline)
A
R/A
C
Designs technical architecture
I
C
R/A
Designs user experience (including interactions, page layout structure, and information architecture)
C
R/A
C
Does visual design (color palette, font styling, page layout)
C
R/A (may outsource to a contractor as funding allows)
C
Design metadata for any digital objects that will move through the website
I
R/A (may outsource to a metadata or cataloging librarian if on staff)
C
Creates content for website
A
R
I
Develops front end
C
C
R/A
Develops back end
I
C
R/A
Tests and evaluates for usability
C
R/A
C
Tests front end code
I
C
R/A
Tests accessibility test UI
I
R/A
C
Fixes accessibility bugs
I
C
R/A
Maintenance Workflow for Smaller Institutions
Senior Administrator (Project Sponsor)
Service Librarian
Developer
Monitors long-term success of accessibility work undertaken during implementation. Schedules periodic accessibility evaluations, noting accessibility issues throughout the lifecycle of the website or service.
C/I
R/A
C
Assesses new feature, content, or infrastructure maintenance work. Manages planning and staff resourcing for work.
I
R/A
R/C
Receives requests for remediation
I
R/A
R/C
Decides course of action based on remediation request