Why Web Accessibility is Important
Accessibility is ensuring that our websites are able to be viewed, interacted with and digested by EVERYONE regardless of their cognitive, physical, emotional or socio-economic abilities. Web developers should always have everyone, especially those with disabilities, in mind when designing and maintaining their websites.
Accessibility matters because everyone deserves inclusion and equal access to information. They should not have to do extra work to access the same information as everyone else. People interact differently with websites whether it is through screen readers, mouth sticks, keyboard navigation, high contrast settings, or even if they have slow broadband internet. They should still be able to access the information and understand the intent and purpose behind the webpage.
There are a lot of accessibility features that can be implemented without completely changing the design of a website. One that I have used throughout this class is alternative text for images. Alt text gives someone using a screen reader information about an image even though they may not be able to see it. It is important that the alt text actually describes the purpose of the image instead of just being added to check a box.
Other accessibility features include keyboard navigation, proper heading structures, readable font sizes, sufficient color contrast and clearly labeled links and forms. Videos should have captions or transcripts so that the information is not only available through audio. Websites should also work with screen readers and allow users to resize text when they need to.
In this lesson, I installed UserWay and was able to see some of these accessibility options from the visitor’s side instead of only thinking about them while building the website. The accessibility menu allows a visitor to make changes based on what they personally need. I think that is important because accessibility is not one size fits all. Something that makes a website easier for one person to use may not be what another person needs.
Accessibility should also be considered from the beginning instead of being something that is added after a website is already built. Things like headings, alt text, link descriptions, color contrast and readable text are easier to do correctly while you are creating content than trying to go back and fix an entire website later. More importantly, an accessible website means more people can actually use the information you put online, which should be the entire point of having a website.