I am by no means a web accessibility expert, but consider myself an advocate. By reading, learning and understanding the best practices of web accessibility, it will help with the user experience for anyone who would like to experience a website.
But what is it?
Wait, let’s take a step back. What exactly is web accessibility as I’m referring? Just to be clear, I don’t mean people being able to connect to the internet and browse webpages. The ability to have an internet connection is not the accessibility I’m talking about. The web accessibility I am referring to is the ability for people to access the web and the information on the web that interact with the browser differently. Someone who may need a screen reader because they can’t see as well, or someone that needs to use the keyboard to navigate because it is easier than using a mouse. Also, if someone is colorblind, making the site distinguishable for them as well.
Why?
Why should you make your site accessible? The ADA and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act all have provisions that require some kind of assistance or access for those covered by the law. A quick reference that pulls out those pieces for you: accessibility laws.
You would also want to make your site accessible so that everyone can have the information you so generously made available to the world wide web. Why go through all the hassle to create a website if everyone can’t “see” it. But what if you’re selling something that a blind person wouldn’t use, cars for example… Just because someone may not directly use your product or personally need your service, doesn’t mean they aren’t looking for someone they know. I had a conversation with my husband the other day as to why a car dealership needs a website that is accessible. For example, if someone needs to use a screen reader, odds are, they aren’t driving, right? Well, that person has to get around somehow or they may have a teenager that is getting ready to drive. They also may have been a car enthusiast prior to their eyesight diminishing and likes to keep up with what is current in the car industry. There are a lot of reasons to make your site accessible, even if your target audience may not need those assistive technologies.
Okay, so now what?
So, where do you start? Actually filling in the alt of your images is a good place! I know we all have seen alt=” “, fill those in! That is how the screen “reads” an image to someone that can’t see it. If you’re always putting the alt description, then good for you, move on to another access point.
Next, keyboard navigation. There are several reasons why people would need to navigate using just their keyboard. One could be efficiency. There is no other reason except to prevent the hand movement between keyboard and mouse. Others could be because of low-vision, no vision or motor skill issues that make using a mouse difficult. To ensure your page is keyboard friendly, first is to make sure if you hit your tab key, you can get to any link on your page, if not, you have a bit of adjusting to do.
Keyboard navigation primarily depends on the tab, shift, enter, space bar and arrow keys for people to progress through the page. To further enhance your keyboard navigation, allow the selections to have an on-screen focus or hi-light. A lot of CSS reset boilerplates take that functionality out of the web browser, so putting that back in will help people using the keyboard to navigate to understand where they are on the page a bit easier. A reference: [Keyboard Navigation](http://www.practicalecommerce.com/Using-Keyboard-only-Navigation-for-Web-Accessibility.
These two items just scratch the surface of what it means to make your site accessible. There are a whole lot of other considerations, but I think this one is a good start for most people looking to increase accessibility. Baby steps.
For your additional reading pleasure:
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