In today’s world, accessibility has become a crucial aspect of development. With the increasing number of users with disabilities, ensuring that products and services are accessible to everyone is no longer optional. Accessibility in development means making sure that people with disabilities can use your products and services with ease. This includes people with visual, auditory, physical, cognitive, and neurological impairments. In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of accessibility in development and how it can be achieved.
Why is Accessibility Important in Development?
Accessibility is essential in development for several reasons. First, it ensures that people with disabilities have equal access to products and services. It is a basic human right to be able to participate in society and use the tools that are available. When products and services are not accessible, people with disabilities are excluded, which can lead to isolation, frustration, and discrimination.
Second, accessibility improves the user experience for everyone. For example, captions and transcripts in videos not only benefit people who are deaf or hard of hearing, but they also make the content more searchable and easier to understand for everyone. Similarly, text alternatives for images not only benefit people with visual impairments but also improve the page load time and search engine optimization.
Finally, accessibility is a legal requirement in many countries. For example, in the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses to provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. Failure to comply with accessibility guidelines can result in legal action, which can be costly and damaging to a company’s reputation.
How to Achieve Accessibility in Development?
Achieving accessibility in development requires a holistic approach that considers all aspects of a product or service. Here are some tips for achieving accessibility in development:
- Involve people with disabilities in the design process: People with disabilities have unique perspectives and experiences that can help ensure that products and services are accessible. By involving them in the design process, you can identify and address potential accessibility issues early on.
- Identify the target audience
The first step in involving people with disabilities in the design process is to identify the target audience for the software. This includes people with different types of disabilities, such as visual, auditory, physical, cognitive, and neurological impairments. Understanding the needs and challenges of the target audience is essential in creating software that is accessible to everyone.
- Recruit participants
The next step is to recruit participants with disabilities to participate in the design process. There are several ways to recruit participants, such as through disability organizations, online communities, and social media. It is important to provide clear and concise information about the design process and the expectations for participation.
- Provide accommodations
It is essential to provide accommodations for participants with disabilities to ensure that they can participate fully in the design process. Accommodations may include providing accessible meeting locations, providing sign language interpreters, and providing assistive technology, such as screen readers, for participants with visual impairments.
- Conduct user research
User research is a critical step in involving people with disabilities in the design process. User research can include interviews, surveys, and usability testing. It is essential to ensure that the research methods are accessible to all participants, and that the research questions are designed to elicit feedback on accessibility issues.
- Iterate and improve
Once the user research is completed, it is important to iterate and improve the software based on the feedback received. This may include making changes to the user interface, adding new features, or improving the accessibility of existing features. It is essential to involve participants with disabilities in the evaluation of the changes to ensure that they are effective.
- Use accessible design patterns and guidelines: There are several design patterns and guidelines that can help ensure accessibility, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) specification. These guidelines provide a set of standards and best practices for accessibility that can be applied to various types of products and services.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
WCAG is a set of guidelines for making digital content, such as websites and mobile apps, more accessible to people with disabilities. WCAG is divided into three levels of conformance: A, AA, and AAA. Each level corresponds to a set of guidelines that must be followed to achieve that level of conformance.
The guidelines cover a wide range of accessibility topics, such as making content perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. WCAG provides specific success criteria for each guideline, which can be used to evaluate whether a digital product or service is accessible.
Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA)
ARIA is a specification that provides a set of attributes and roles that can be used to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. ARIA can be used to enhance the accessibility of interactive content, such as forms, menus, and widgets.
ARIA provides a set of roles, states, and properties that can be added to HTML elements to provide additional information about their function and behavior. For example, the role attribute can be used to indicate the function of an element, such as a button or a slider, while the aria-label attribute can be used to provide a label for an element that is not visible.
- Test for accessibility: Testing is an essential part of ensuring accessibility. There are several tools and techniques available for testing accessibility, such as automated testing tools, manual testing, and user testing. By testing for accessibility, you can identify and fix accessibility issues before they become problems for users.
One of the most popular Accessibility Evaluation Tools is the Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (WAVE). WAVE is a free tool that can be used to test web pages for accessibility issues. It provides feedback on the accessibility of web content and provides suggestions on how to fix any issues.
- User Testing
User Testing involves testing software with actual users with disabilities. This approach is highly effective because it provides direct feedback from users who are experiencing accessibility issues. User testing can be conducted in a lab or remotely and can be used to test a wide range of accessibility issues, such as navigation, readability, and usability.
- Using Accessibility Evaluation Tools
Accessibility Evaluation Tools are automated tools that scan web pages and provide feedback on their accessibility. These tools are available for both desktop and mobile platforms and can be used to test a wide range of accessibility issues, such as keyboard accessibility, colour contrast, and image descriptions.
One of the most popular User Testing frameworks is the UserZoom Accessibility Suite. This suite includes a range of tools for testing accessibility, including automated testing, manual testing, and user testing. It also provides feedback on the accessibility of web content and provides suggestions on how to fix any issues.
- Manual Testing
Manual Testing involves testing software manually for accessibility issues. This approach is highly effective because it allows testers to explore the software in detail and identify issues that may not be picked up by automated tools.
One of the most popular Manual Testing frameworks is the Accessibility Guidelines for Web Content (WCAG). WCAG is a set of guidelines for making digital content, such as websites and mobile apps, more accessible to people with disabilities. It provides specific success criteria for each guideline, which can be used to evaluate whether a digital product or service is accessible.
- Code Review
Code Review involves reviewing software code for accessibility issues. This approach is highly effective because it allows developers to identify and fix accessibility issues before they become problems for users.
One of the most popular Code Review frameworks is the Accessibility Object Model (AOM). The AOM is a set of APIs that can be used to interact with the accessibility tree of a web page. This allows developers to create code that is accessible to users with disabilities.
The Accessibility Object Model (AOM) is a new API that provides developers with a way to access and manipulate the accessibility information of a web page or application. AOM is built on top of the Document Object Model (DOM) and enables developers to interact with the accessibility tree, which represents the content and structure of a web page in a way that is accessible to assistive technology.
AOM allows developers to modify accessibility information programmatically, making it easier to ensure that web content is accessible to users with disabilities. AOM provides a consistent way to access accessibility information across browsers, which makes it easier for developers to build accessible web applications.
Why is AOM important for creating accessible web applications?
Accessibility is a critical aspect of web development. As more and more people rely on the internet to access information and services, it is essential to ensure that web content is accessible to everyone, regardless of their abilities. AOM makes it easier for developers to implement accessibility features into their web applications, which is essential for creating a more inclusive web.
AOM provides a way for developers to access and modify accessibility information programmatically, which can be challenging to achieve using traditional accessibility techniques. AOM enables developers to add accessibility features dynamically, making it easier to ensure that web content is accessible to users with disabilities.
AOM also provides a more consistent way to access accessibility information across browsers. In the past, developers had to use different accessibility techniques for different browsers, which made it more challenging to implement accessibility features. With AOM, developers can access accessibility information in a consistent way, regardless of the browser being used.
Finally, AOM provides a way for developers to test the accessibility of their web applications programmatically. AOM allows developers to access the accessibility information of a web page or application and check whether it meets accessibility standards. This can help developers identify accessibility issues early in the development process, making it easier to fix them before the web application is released.
- Provide alternative formats: Providing alternative formats, such as captions, transcripts, and text alternatives, can make your products and services more accessible to people with disabilities. These formats provide an alternative way to access information, which can be helpful for people with different types of disabilities.
Here are some ways to implement alternative formats in software and some tools that can be used to achieve them:
- Captions for Audio and Video Content: Captions provide a text-based alternative to audio and video content, making it accessible to users with hearing impairments. There are several tools available for adding captions to audio and video content, such as Amara and CaptionHub. YouTube also has a built-in captioning tool that can be used to add captions to videos.
- Transcripts for Audio and Video Content: Transcripts provide a written record of audio and video content, making it accessible to users with hearing impairments and those who prefer to read the content. Tools like Otter.ai and Descript can automatically transcribe audio and video content, making the process much faster and more efficient.
- Alt Text for Images: Alt text provides a text-based alternative to graphical content, making it accessible to users with visual impairments. Several content management systems, such as WordPress and Drupal, allow for easy insertion of alt text for images.
- Text Alternatives for Audio and Video Content: Text alternatives provide a text-based alternative to audio and video content, making it accessible to users with hearing impairments. Some tools, like Textify and AudioEye, provide automatic transcription and text alternatives for audio and video content.
Vahid Ghattavi 