Web Accessbility
A brief overview of the importance of web accessibility.
Web Accessibility
Web Accessiblity is having websites, tools, and technologies designed and developed in ways that people with disabilities can use them with ease. This is so every person can perceive, understand, navigate, contribute to, and interact with the Web.
There are many disabilities that can affect accessing the Web:
- auditory
- cognitive
- neurological
- physical
- speech
- visual
- temporary disabilities
It doesn't just include those with disabilities - it also allows ease of access due to mobile phones, smart devices, tablets, etc.
Making sure your website has web accessibility ensures that the necessary legal requirements and your ethical responsibility as a web developer has been met.
Examples of Website Accessibility Barriers
- Poor color contrast.
- If there is not enough contrast between the text and the background color, people with limited vision or color blindness will have a difficult time reading the text.
- Lack of text alternatives on images.
- These help convey the purpose of an image. People who are blind will not be able to understand the content of an image if not provided.
- No captions on videos.
- Captions help those with hearing disabilities understand information being communicated in a video.
- Inaccessible online forms.
- If forms do not have the following, it may be difficult for some to fill out, understand, and accurately submit forms:
- Labels
- Clear Instructions
- Error Indicators
- If forms do not have the following, it may be difficult for some to fill out, understand, and accurately submit forms:
- Lack of keyboard navigation.
- People who cannot use a mouse or trackpad willneed to be able to access web content with a keyboard.
Best Practices for Web Accessibility
- Semantic HTML:
- This involes using HTML elements according to their intended purpose. Using header, footer, nav, and main tags are essential - these semantic HTML elements should be used instead of the generic tags (div and span).
- Keyboard Navigation:
- Ensure that elements (like form fields and buttons) can be navigated using the tab key. Interactive elements (like buttons) shoudl be actionable using the enter key.
- Accessible Forms:
- Using the label tag and labeling forms correctly will help ensure that users understand what information is being requested.
- Color Contrast:
- The contrast ration for normal texts should be about 4.5:1, while for larger texts, it should be 3:1. This can be verified using a color contract checker (Accessible Web: WCAG Color Contrast Checker).
- Responsive Design:
- Media queries can be used to adjust the website's display based on device width.
- Alternative Text for Images:
- Add descriptive alt altributes to img elements to provide alternative text for your images.
- Languages:
- Make sure the page is accessible to a global audience by adding a lang attribute dynamically if you are planning to support multiple languages.
The following links are to articles that assisted me in research of web accessibility:
- W3C WAI: https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/
- ADA: https://www.ada.gov/resources/web-guidance/
- freeCodeCamp: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/best-practices-for-accessibility-in-web-development/