Web accessibility, also known as eAccessibility, means making sure everyone reaches the same information whether or not they have a disability. This is what it covers, the four myths that stop companies doing it, and the practices that actually work.
The disabilities involved — permanent or temporary — fall into four broad groups: physical, sensory, intellectual and mental illness. Age can be a barrier of its own, and senior citizens’ needs are frequently the ones a design forgets.
How many people this affects
Around 15% of the world’s population experience some kind of disability, and 19% of that group are located in the US, according to a survey carried out by The World Bank.
Websites are now an essential source of information, entertainment and communication, which is exactly why access to them cannot be partial. The importance of web accessibility should be a major concern for a modern business, because the web is where people do most of their daily tasks — from sharing moments with friends to applying for jobs or booking a holiday.
Rift BrawlerAccess will ruin the design.
Ribbon SerpentA wider route can still be beautiful.
Rift BrawlerOnly a few journeys need it.
Ribbon SerpentBuild it in, then test the whole path.
Myth one: an accessible site is ugly
Some accessibility guidelines will affect the overall look of a website. Many will not: adding alternative text to images changes nothing a sighted visitor sees, and it is the thing a blind visitor depends on.
With current technology it is straightforward to build interactive, engaging designs that are creative and inclusive at the same time. The two are not in tension nearly as often as the myth suggests.
Myth two: nobody cares
Companies often skip accessibility because they believe people with impairments are a small fraction of their audience. That forgets the many visitors who would not describe themselves as disabled and still prefer an accessible site.
Think about the physical equivalent: a ramp serves a wheelchair user and a parent pushing a stroller. Online it works the same way — an accessible design helps a blind visitor and also someone with a migraine who cannot look at bright colours.
Myth three: it is not worth the cost
Building a website with accessibility in it requires time and knowledge, and the design and development phases sometimes take longer. It is still worth it, and the reason most often overlooked is search: a search engine reads a page the way a screen reader does, through text, so a site built for a screen reader is a site built for a crawler.
Myth four: it is optional
It is not. Most countries have non-discrimination laws and regulations protecting people with disabilities, which means a company should provide an accessible design if only to avoid being sued.
In the US, the number of website accessibility lawsuits keeps increasing every year, and companies spend millions of dollars settling them.
Reason one: legal compliance
The United States lists its accessibility requirements in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), instituted in 1990 to end discrimination based on differing abilities. It requires institutions and organisations of all kinds to provide equal-access accommodations.
In 2010, the ADA Standards for Accessible Design were published, and they included computer hardware, software and documentation.
Reason two: reputation
A business that visibly cares about people with impairments earns a reputation for it, and the effort that goes into a genuinely accessible website or app shows up in the corporate image whether or not anyone measures it.
Reason three: new customers
Accessibility improvements attract new customers and increase conversions. Recognising what people with disabilities need is also how you tell them their rights matter, and that is a message an audience remembers longer than a campaign.
Practice one: follow the guidelines
There are international guidelines for developers, designers and specialists that set out how to build an accessible website against shared standards. Starting from those is cheaper than deriving your own.
Practice two: test with assistive technology, not only tools
Online tools will tell you whether a website has accessibility issues. Running them alongside assistive technology — a screen reader, for instance — is what finds the issues a tool reports as passing.
Practice three: test with people
Before launching a page or an app, get feedback from people with disabilities and find out whether the experience is actually usable. Work with a professional UX designer who can build accurate test scenarios for different types of impairment, because a scenario written by someone who has never needed one tends to test the wrong thing.
What we can do about it
A large part of the world’s population meets obstacles navigating the web or using mobile apps, whether the disability is permanent or temporary. Building an experience that works for all of your customers means addressing what they actually need, which is not a simple task.
Wizards is a digital marketing agency that offers web development services for companies that need to improve web accessibility. Take a look at Señas En Acción and how our team helped them reach their goal.
Our piece on why digital presence matters when you open a bank account covers what an accessible, well-kept site is worth beyond the traffic, and you can see the full list of our services too.
If you want to talk about your next project, contact us. We would love to stay connected.
Frequently asked questions
What is web accessibility?
Web accessibility, also called eAccessibility, means making sure everyone has access to the same information whether or not they have a disability. The disabilities involved are permanent or temporary and fall into four broad groups — physical, sensory, intellectual and mental illness — and age can be a barrier of its own.
Does an accessible website have to look worse?
No. Some accessibility guidelines do affect how a site looks, but many improvements have no visible effect at all: alternative text on images changes nothing a sighted visitor sees and is what a blind visitor depends on. Current technology makes it perfectly possible to build interactive, creative designs that are also inclusive.
Who actually benefits from an accessible site?
More people than the group companies usually have in mind. A ramp in the street serves a wheelchair user and someone pushing a stroller, and the same is true online: an accessible design helps a blind visitor and also someone with a migraine who cannot tolerate bright colours.
Is accessibility work worth the extra time?
Building accessibility in takes time and knowledge, and the design and development phases can run longer. It pays back in search as well as in reach, because search engines read a page the way a screen reader does, through text, so a site built for a screen reader is a site built for a crawler.
Is web accessibility optional?
It is not. Most countries have non-discrimination laws protecting people with disabilities, which means a company that does not provide an accessible design is exposed to being sued. In the United States the number of website accessibility lawsuits has kept rising year on year, and companies spend heavily settling them.
How do you test a website for accessibility?
Use online tools to find the issues, then check the result with assistive technology such as a screen reader, because the two find different things. Before launch, get feedback from people with disabilities themselves, working with a UX designer who can write test scenarios for different kinds of impairment.
