Technology
June 28, 2023
What is Accessibility?
When beginning the process of understanding accessibility you will notice the term ‘ADA Section 508 Compliant’ mentioned often. This refers to the law and specific code that these processes are regulated by. The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) is a civil rights law that protects disabled individuals from discrimination whether it be at work, at school, or anywhere that is available to the public (via the ADA National Network). Section 508 of this law narrows down the focus, specifying that federal government agencies and services provide equal access to technological information being communicated.
Who can Benefit from ADA Guidelines?
The truth of the matter is that everyone can benefit from the tools that make a website accessible. As far as users are concerned, accessibility tools can improve user experience with poor internet connection as well as also assisting those with vision impairments to better understand an image that may not appear clearly to them.
When attempting to boost your website traffic, accessibility can be a key component. According to Usability.gov “Case studies show that accessible websites have better search results, reduced maintenance costs, and increased audience reach.”
In addition, federal agencies can also better assist their users in viewing, navigating, and hearing the modalities of said sites.
The Principles of WCAG Compliance
Perceivable
Operable
Understandable
Robust
Real life Examples of ADA Accessibility
Alternative text for images
A text description can be written to provide site impaired website users with an adequate description of the image they may be looking at.
Keyboard input
This functionality gives users the option to navigate through a website using the keyboard in the case that they are not able to use a mouse.
Transcripts for audio
Just as you would put subtitles on while watching Netflix, the same can be done for any web audio to assist those with hearing limitations.
