• The World Needs Web Accessibility Now More Than Ever
  • Originally written by KBronJohn
  • The Nuggets translation Project
  • Permanent link to this article: github.com/xitu/gold-m…
  • Translator: tonylua
  • Proofreader: Chorer, Rachelcdev

The world needs Web accessibility more than ever

I noticed Mike Gifford saying in a talk last year, “The Web has been virtually inaccessible since 2011.”

Nowadays it is cheap and easy for anyone to create a website, and it is hard for anyone to think about accessibility. So why are you even thinking about this? If it’s not in your sights, it won’t be on your list of requirements. Unfortunately, most people don’t think about whether the end user is disabled when they create a website. This is especially true when they use a drag-and-drop website creation platform. I have nothing against those platforms, but they often don’t have accessibility built in, and it’s hard to do that even if you want to.

Another downside to accessibility is that when you say the word accessibility, not everyone has a clear idea of what it means. I recently asked a web designer if he worked on accessible sites and he said, “Yes… We added Alt attributes to all the images.” HMM… OK. Great. But can a screen reader read your site?

So, let’s clear up some of the fallacies and take a closer look at what it means to implement Web accessibility.

First and foremost, the United States actually has very clear legislation on accessibility. Websites are also covered in the bill, known as the Americans with Disabilities Act. American companies should be aware that they can face lawsuits and fines if their business websites fail to meet even the minimum level of accessibility. I’m a Canadian working for a company registered in Canada, so I don’t really have to worry about being sued for lack of an accessible website, but I do have an additional accessible website! Below, I’ll explain the benefits of having an accessible website, regardless of whether you work for an American company or not.

When people worry about the hassle or potential cost of creating an accessible website, they might as well remind themselves of this article: Accessibility benefits everyone. If we trace back to the source, 22 percent of Canadians have some kind of disability (compared to 18 percent in the U.S.), we don’t need to do any math to realize that’s a lot of people. Lots of people who want to shop online, buy your products, learn about your services, or take your online courses. Years before the pandemic, people with disabilities were able to access the Internet, break out of isolation, and work remotely. This is not new to us. So now that the current lockdown has given everyone a little insight into staying at home (lots of online shopping, online educational seminars, art and entertainment), perhaps we can all recognize how important it is to be able to easily access the Web.

As I said, accessibility makes everyone’s life easier, and if you’ve tried to make a business case for it, you’re not just building a website for 18-22% of the population; It should look at the entire population. Do you want to limit the number of potential customers you can attract? It’s like having a store and the owner is saying, “I really don’t want people to come in and shop here. They should go to my competitor.” The power is with you, the business is with you, and there are certainly many reasons for companies to filter some customers from the start. But what I’m stressing at this point is that you’ve inadvertently created a barrier to entry for those who would otherwise be your target customers.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what web accessibility really requires. All of this comes down to user experience. After all, you want every user to have the best and most positive experience for your brand.

To be accessible at a minimum, site visitors should be able to do the following key things:

  • Browse your site in the language they prefer
  • Change the font style or size
  • Change background Contrast
  • Use a screen reader to navigate the site
  • Navigate the site without using a mouse
  • Stop/turn off any music, video, or picture rotation
  • Know what a link contains before you click on it
  • Any video contained on the site has subtitles
  • Obtain accurate and relevant image descriptions on pictures or ICONS
  • On any chart or key picture there is a suitable color scheme for color blindness

It’s a start, but it should be a good one. After that, think about the end user first and recognize that they have different needs. Also, test your site with (and pay for) real people. Yes, you can take advantage of simulators and some sites that will rate you by typing in your site’S URL, but only real feedback from real users will give you valuable, if not priceless, insights. Gather opinions and study carefully from target people of different ages, disabilities and backgrounds. I guarantee you can create an outstanding experience and earn a good name for your brand.

Not to mention, search engines will rank your site higher if it has clear and easy-to-use navigation. What is user friendly is also search engine friendly. It’s a win-win!

View Web accessibility as a gateway to attracting new customers, building new relationships, satisfying customers, and increasing profitability. And it’s the right thing to do.

The writer is the founder of Completely Inclusive, a consulting firm dedicated to helping businesses create Inclusive and accessible workplaces and Spaces.

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