Intro to Digital Accessibility Concepts

Defining disability

Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.
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The World Health Organization estimates that over 15% of adults globally are living with at least one disability.
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Defining accessibility

Accessibility is the practice of making information, activities, and/or environments sensible, meaningful, and usable for as many people as possible.

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Digital accessibility

Web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. More specifically, people can:

• perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web
• contribute to the Web

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What would digital accessibility look like for…

• a blind user who navigates applications with a screen reader?
• a user whose arthritis makes it too painful to use a mouse?
• a low-vision user who struggles to read small, low-contrast text?
• a user whose migraines are triggered by reading high-contrast text on screens?

Principles for digital accessibility

• Don't wait for users to complain.
  • The burden of ensuring accessibility should not fall on individuals excluded from the status quo.
  • For every user who reports an issue, how many quietly left when they realized the product was not usable?

Principles for digital accessibility

• Good accessibility practices are good for all users.
  • Keyboard navigation is necessary for some users, beloved by many more.
  • Following best practices to make documentation navigable for screen readers can also improve search engine ranking.

Principles for digital accessibility

• It is impossible to anticipate all possible accessibility needs for all users.
  • Start somewhere. Every accessibility improvement reduces a barrier for some users.
  • The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is a set of standards to make content more accessible to a wide range of users with disabilities.
  • Empower users to customize their experiences.

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