FlipFlop 3.0Is Your Web Site Accessible?
Accessibility, in its broadest sense, means providing the flexibility to accommodate individual service user’s needs and preferences. In an IT context, accessibility refers to adapting computer technology to make it usefully available to more people than would otherwise be the case.
Web accessibility is specifically aimed at opening up resources on the World Wide Web to allow for the participation of people with disabilities.
Web Accessibility
“The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.”
(Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web)
For those unfamiliar with web accessibility issues, consider the fact that many of your site visitors may be operating in contexts very different from those you might expect or assume:
- They may not be able to see, hear, move, or may not be able to process some types of information easily or at all.
- They may have difficulty reading or comprehending text.
- They may not have, or be able, to use a keyboard or mouse.
- They may have a text-only screen, a small screen, or a slow Internet connection.
- They may not speak or understand fluently the language in which the document is written.
- They may have an early version of a browser, a different browser entirely, a voice browser, or a different operating system.
- They may be unable to see colours at all. Many people (about 8% of men and 0.5% of women) are unable to distinguish certain colours, such as red and green.
However, many web sites exist that have completely ignored published web standards and sport complex screen layouts without considering the accessibility implications. These sites are aimed at impressing and engaging the mainstream, non-disabled, visitor but they may confuse and alienate people with visual or cognitive impairments. New developments may be inaccessible to a wide range of web users, either because their hardware and software cannot support the new features, or because the feature was not designed with universal accessibility in mind.
For example:
- Will a web page offer the same access to information if viewed in a text-only browser compared to a graphical browser?
- Does a text-based page use simple language that is understandable by those with cognitive difficulties?
- What does an informational page supply in the way of graphical assistance for people with reading difficulties?
- Are online forms accessible to users who cannot use a mouse or keyboard?
Nor is it safe to assume that web site visitors will be using “standard technologies”.
On the Web, there is no such thing as a “standard user” let alone a “standard technology”, yet, despite this, too many sites sport the disclaimer:
This site is best viewed using…
If you intend to use such a disclaimer, it should at least be honest and say:
This site is best viewed on my system and my monitor at my house.
For, if you haven’t incorporated a basic level of accessibility into your site design, that is about all you can claim with any conviction.
You might also be interested in
