Introduction
Introduction
Designing for accessibility isn’t just about compliance, it’s about creating experiences that work for everyone. By designing inclusively, we remove barriers and ensure equal access to information and services. Inclusive design means putting people first.
Digital accessibility ensures that all users, regardless of disability, have equal access to digital experiences. It also has numerous business benefits, including expanding audience reach, demonstrating social responsibility, and helping organizations comply with legal requirements.
Think about accessibility from the start
In the UK, 1 in 5 people have a disability - this could be visual, hearing, motor (affecting fine movement) or cognitive (affecting memory and thinking).
The concept of accessibility does not just apply to disabled people - all users will have different needs at different times and in different circumstances. Someone’s ability to use a service could be affected by their:
- location - they could be in a noisy cafe, sunny park or area with slow wifi
- health - they may be tired, recovering from a stroke or have a broken arm
- equipment - they could be on a mobile phone or using an older browser
Accessibility is about making sure your service can be used by as many people as possible. Thinking about this from the beginning will help you:
- make sure that nobody is excluded
- find out earlier if any parts of your service are not accessible - problems usually cost less to fix if you find them early
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A person with a permanent disability such as anxiety might turn off notifications permanently.
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A person with a temporary disability such as a family emergency might choose to adjust how notifications are received, filter messages by type, or set temporary notification-free periods.
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A person with a situational disability such as heightened stress might temporarily turn off notifications during an overwhelming work period.
Inclusive design... means including and learning from people with a range of perspectives. Designing inclusively doesn’t mean you’re making one thing for all people. You’re designing a diversity of ways for everyone to participate in an experience with a sense of belonging. Many people are unable to participate in aspects of society, both physical and digital. Understanding why and how people are excluded gives us actionable steps to take towards inclusive design.
What is accessible design?
Accessibility can mean lots of things to different people. When we refer to designing for accessibility, we aim to design a resource that where people are empowered, can be independent, and will not be frustrated by something that is poorly designed or implemented.
Our goal is to design resources as accessible as possible; to exclude no one. We do this by trying to make sure that there aren’t any barriers that make it impossible or difficult for anyone to use them. We want our resources to be easy to use by everyone. This isn’t always possible though. People can have conflicting requirements and there will be situations that are overlooked due to us being unaware of them.
Digital accessibility refers to the practice of creating and maintaining digital experiences—like websites, mobile apps, documents, and software products—that are barrier-free for people with disabilities. Accessible digital experiences are usable for people with a wide range of access needs, including those who rely on assistive technologies such as screen readers, keyboard navigation, voice navigation, and screen magnification.
What is WCAG?
WCAG is a set of technical standards that, when followed, improve the accessibility of web content, websites, and web applications for people with a wide range of disabilities. Many of the guidelines can also be used to improve mobile applications, self-service kiosk software, and other digital experiences. Importantly, following WCAG also helps organizations comply with various legal mandates, like:
Perceivable
Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. For example, it’s important to present information that can be perceived in different ways, where a user can adjust color contrast or font size, or view captions for videos.
Operable
User interface components and navigation must be functional for users in ways they can operate. For example, a user must be able to perform required interactions using a keyboard or voice commands, not just using a mouse.
Understandable
Information and user interface operation must be understandable. For example, information and instructions should be clear and navigation methods should be easy to understand and use.
Robust
Content must be robust enough that it can interpreted reliably by a wide variety of users and assistive technologies. As technologies evolve, code and content should remain accessible for users of common and current assistive devices and tools.
WCAG conformance levels
There are three levels of WCAG conformance: A, AA, and AAA. Each level builds on the previous level like a pyramid. So, in order to meet Level AA, you must meet all of Level A, and in order to meet Level AAA, you must meet all of Level AA.
Level AA
This level is the most common target conformance level, often adopted in regulations or negotiated in legal settlements. The criteria at this level establish a higher level of accessibility that works for more users, including those who use assistive technology.
Introduction