Imagine navigating a website without being able to see it. For millions, this is a daily challenge, affecting their ability to access essential services and information. This can lead to significant barriers in education, employment, healthcare, and social engagement, often leaving individuals feeling isolated and frustrated. Without accessible web design, those with visual impairments or other disabilities are frequently excluded from the digital world, making it imperative for us to create inclusive online environments.
July is Disability Pride Month, commemorating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush on July 26, 1990. This landmark legislation was achieved thanks to many decades of persistent activism and movements. While there are still many battles to fight for disability rights, Disability Pride Month is a time to celebrate differences. Various Disability Pride Parades are organized throughout July, and there is even an official Disability Pride Flag.
Each color of the flag signifies a different group of disabilities:
During this month, the focus on accessibility is amplified. It's a great opportunity to learn about disabilities and how we can make a positive impact. But how can we ensure that the attention and energy to include everybody continues beyond Disability Pride Month?
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is an international standard adopted in most countries. It’s a great starting point to ensure your digital products meet the minimum accessibility threshold.
The first WCAG 1.0 version was published in 1999. Today, we are at WCAG 2.2, and WCAG 3.0 is actively in progress. Currently, many national and international laws require digital products to meet the WCAG 2.1 Level AA threshold, which includes 50 success criteria (SC). While this may sound like a lot, it's crucial to understand how WCAG is categorized.
WCAG guidelines are organized around four principles, known as POUR: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust.
This group of guidelines ensures users can see, hear, or feel (e.g., phone vibration) the digital product. It emphasizes the importance of presenting information in ways that can be perceived by all users, regardless of their disabilities.
What to look out for:
Recognize that some users need support beyond what is visible to sighted users: add invisible supported text via HTML and WAI-ARIA (e.g., alt text, aria-label).
Flexibility is essential to accommodate the diverse ways users interact with technology, catering to different physical and cognitive abilities. Ensure your digital product can be operated by various methods, such as:
The size of the device should not be a limitation. People use their devices in various ways that support their lifestyle. Therefore, your digital product should not impose any restrictions (e.g., allowing only swiping or shaking without providing other ways to interact). Ensure your interactive elements are big enough so it does not matter if the user swipes with their knuckles or tries to interact with your product in shaky transportation.
Users should be able to understand how to use your digital product. This means the interface and content must be clear and intuitive, minimizing confusion and the potential for errors. Check the following to :
Do not overwhelm users with too much information or too many widgets at once. Help them achieve results with ease and the least amount of distractions. If you must include important complex data or diagrams, always provide additional simplified and alternative versions.
Ensure that your developers properly use HTML and designers favor native HTML widgets. This ensures the digital product can be understood and correctly interpreted by machines. This is crucial because just as there are many different users, there are many different digital assistive technology devices, such as:
It's important to establish a process that ensures accessibility becomes a lasting habit in your company. Here are some tips on how to establish an accessibility process:
Remember, accessibility is an ongoing process with no finish line. Always keep up with the latest guidelines and regularly test your digital products to ensure they remain accessible to all users.
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