I have been contracting with a Non-Profit for nearly two years now and the big word in this place for websites is Accessibility. This word is so over-used and for some reason, I feel that people gravitate to this word to simply call it out.
In my opinion, Accessibility should be a standard practice of living while creating public facing websites. There should be no reason that someone with a disability should ever struggle while navigating through a website. In-fact, you are helping non-disabled individuals when making a website Accessible. It’s just Good practice!
It’s frustrating. Almost like, just make the website the right way and everyone can use it. Why do we have issues with people making websites incorrectly or not following W3C standards? It’s public, expect all sorts of different people on your site, that’s your job. Why do we have to hide behind the word “Accessible”? Better question, why are there so many lazy developers out there? If you are developing a public website, make it accessible. Just follow standards.
And use WCAG 2.0, it’s common sense:
Perceivable – Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.
- Guideline 1.1: Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.
- Guideline 1.2: Time-based Media: Provide alternatives for time-based media.
- Guideline 1.3: Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure.
- Guideline 1.4: Make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background.
Operable – User interface components and navigation must be operable.
- Guideline 2.1: Make all functionality available from a keyboard.
- Guideline 2.2: Provide users enough time to read and use content.
- Guideline 2.3: Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures.
- Guideline 2.4: Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are.
Understandable – Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable.
- Guideline 3.1: Make text content readable and understandable.
- Guideline 3.2: Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable ways.
- Guideline 3.3: Help users avoid and correct mistakes.
Robust – Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.
- Guideline 4.1.: Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies.
That said, I just did a WCAG 2.0 check on my site and I am totally slacking on my alt tags, text tags, and title tags. That said, I could probably go in there and fix it up in less than an hour. I should. I need to follow my own advice. I will.
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