Jon Rumsey

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Web Accessibility, Access, Design, and Test

Speaker

Mo Hieronimous-Dimercurio

Graphic Design and web designer.

In Tech since 1998.

Currently focused on user-centric design, user research, and accessibility.

Overview Notes

Accessibility is a very deep topic, this will be an overview.

Why does it matter?

Where does it fit in?

Inclusive design.

Principles of accessibility.

Compliance is not the same as Accessibility.

Why It Matters

WebApps and Web Sites, documents, multimedia, event support, etc.

Digital Content and accessibility are closely tied.

Accessibility must be considered in each phase of the software development lifecycle.

Buy-in by product owner is important to making software accessibility.

Libraries will help implement accessibility into the project. Systems and patterns will help too.

In best-case scenario, an Accessibility Specialist will be available on a team and will be engaged in all phases of software development.

Compliance

• WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).
• W3C (World Wide Web Consortium): Wrote the WCAG Guidelines.
• Federal Laws.
• State Laws.
• International/sovereign laws.

"Create digital content that anyone can use." [Mo H-D, presenter]

Testing is used to determine compliance:

• Manual Testing.
• User Testing.
• Automated testing.

Certification of Accessibility are available through IAAP (International Association of Accessibility Professionals) - WAS (Web Accessibility Specialist) Certification

What Is Accessibility?

Provides the ability for everyone to access products and services.

Inclusive Design

Accessible to, usable by, as many users as possible.

Include groups that are often or traditionally excluded.

Recall: There are permanent and non-permanent situations that can impact their abilities to interact with a product or service.

Four Principles of Accessibility

Perceivable:

• Text alts for non-text content.
• Captions for audio and video.
• Make media adaptable.
• Visual contrasts.

Operable:

• Keyboard navigation is necessary.
• Provide time for users to respond/select. Inform users ahead of time if timeframe is required.
• Avoid color combinations and flashing that could cause seizures.
• Help users navigate, find content.

Understandable:

• Readable, understandable text.
• Content should appear in predictable ways.
• Help users avoid, fix mistakes, such as Form input feedback ahead of time as well as after.

Robust:

• Provide full compatibility with current and future technologies.

Key Takeaways

• Over 1 Bil people worldwide experience some form of disability [World Health Organization Statistic]
• Many different types of disabilities (hearing, speach, neurological, motor-skills, cognitive, and many more).
• Everyone is different. Prepare for the way all users interact with an application, products, and service.
• Contrast.
• Font Size.
• Correct Font Kerning.
• Provide equivalent ways to get a message across.
• Navigation types are different: Linear, keyboard only, external hardware, software interpreting devices.
• Language difference.
• Processing times are different for all users.
• Develop User Personas for different types of users with different navigation needs, devices, or other limitations to align features and usability to accessibility goals.

Note: 100% Accessibility is not necessarily attainable:

• Keep progressing toward holistic accessibility.
• There are plenty of corner-cases where accessibility might be difficult to attain, or not at all!
• Continue to focus on progress toward accessibility and inclusive design.

Resources

A11yBytes

WebAIM.org

Deque University (Dequeue Systems Inc)

Gartner Reports provides information on Accessible-compliant or capable Services.

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