Web Accessibility Explained

Web Accessibility is one of the integral parts of digital product development process. Its scope and the implementation are dependent on the breadth of the product’s strategy. Driven by legal, regulatory and policy considerations, implementing organizational web accessibility initiatives may involve considerable efforts and resources.

The realm of web accessibility is a combination of three key foundational components, namely Content, Design and Development. This discussion takes a closer look at each of the three, and their roles within the larger digital accessibility process. The terms Web Accessibility and Digital Accessibility are often used interchangeably in the industry, as well as in this discussion.

Brief historical overview

To better understand digital accessibility and its current applications, a brief historical overview will be helpful to the reader.

The year 1973
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, signed into law by President Richard Nixon, sought to prohibit “discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by federal agencies, in programs receiving federal financial assistance, in federal employment and in the employment practices of federal contractors.” This became the first major step in advocating accessibility as part of the broader national dialogue.

The year 1990
Enacted by the 101st Congress of the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act became the law of the land in 1990. Signed by George H.W. Bush, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) “prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public.” Of special note here is the fact that the ADA is not just a law, but a civil rights law.

It is important to understand that the ADA legislation addresses both physical and mental medical conditions, categorized under the law as “disabilities.” Some of the physical conditions include deafness, blindness, partially or completely missing limbs as well as other physical conditions, such as muscular dystrophy, which require the use of a wheelchair.

Physical medical conditions such as cancer, diabetes, HIV, along with mental medical conditions such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are among the list of disabilities under the ADA. Other conditions may also qualify as disabilities, if the individual’s symptoms preclude them from completing their daily or employment activities and require additional measures such as medication, physical or psychological therapy or the use of assistive devices.

The year 1997
At the endorsement from the White House administration of William J. Clinton, the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C, launched what is known as the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The W3C is a global organization, comprised of member countries and organizations. A first of its kind, the W3C WAI became one of the major significant steps toward the goal of achieving digital equality.

The year 1998
The U.S. Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to “require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology (EIT) accessible to people with disabilities.” This amendment is better known as Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Most of today’s digital accessibility initiatives are based on the framework and the guidelines of Section 508.

The year 2018
The several working groups of W3C WAI address various aspects and concerns of web accessibility, by issuing opinions, technical specifications and guidelines on the subject. The latest issue, released in June of 2018, is known as World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, v 2.1, or W3C WCAG 2.1

The WCAG Checklist

The W3C WCAG 2.1 Checklist provides content strategists, developers and designers with a comprehensive framework of methods and techniques for creating web accessible content.

The Accessibility Guidelines define three levels of conformance, rated A, AA and AAA respectively. These are frequently referred to as Conformance Levels. Depending on the type of content, product requirements and other factors, organizations may meet one or more levels of conformance. Each of the Success Criteria defines its appropriate conformance level.

The success criteria checklist also provides the “Understanding Criteria” section, which illustrate specific examples and recommended solutions. This particular feature makes WCAG useful and usable.

The four principles of web accessibility

The four web accessibility principles, which encompass all of the methods and techniques of WCAG, are Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust. The fifth principle, Conformance is not part of this discussion.

It is helpful for the reader to understand the purpose of accessibility principles. Accessibility principles define the most effective, clear and accessible ways of presenting information to the human user. In other words, they seek to establish proper presentation of the information via methods, techniques, and technologies, including assistive technologies. Assistive technologies include hardware, software and peripherals that assist people with disabilities in accessing computers or other information technologies.

Principle One — Perceivable
Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.
This principle addresses the fundamentals of information and content presentation, such as compositional sequence, colors, contrasts, contextual relationships and display of text, among others.

Principle Two — Operable
User interface components and navigation must be operable.
This principle addresses such elements as navigation, headings and labels, keyboard-only navigation and ways of preventing unwanted physical reactions to the content, such as seizures.

Principle Three — Understandable
Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable.
This principle looks at the user’s ability to understand the content, namely the structure and style of the language. It also addresses a number of interactive considerations, such as on-focus and on-input, as well as navigation patterns.

Principle Four — Robust
Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.
This principle addresses a number of technical considerations of the content presented via assistive technologies.

The three pillars of web accessibility

Content

“The content is King” is a quote attributed to Bill Gates, part of his essay by the same title published at Microsoft in 1996. When it comes to digital accessibility it is difficult to underestimate the importance of content, which includes the copy, the narrative, and other contextual elements.

Content strategists, copywriters, and marketing specialists are frequently involved in the creation of content. Depending on the organization’s size and structure this model may vary.

The copy, one of the key content components, reflects stylistic, linguistic and other characteristics — all supporting the overall brand “language.” The copy follows specific content guidelines, carefully defined to convey clear and well-understood message.

The visual content is important in reflecting the organizational brand theme, style and other relevant considerations. Visual elements and components compliment the copy while supporting the overarching organizational message.

Content development teams may also include research specialists. As the research efforts are conducted the analysis and the interpretation of data often points out to specific content areas in need of improvement, editing or revisions.

In creating content, content developers follow WCAG content accessibility guidelines and success criteria. These include variety of considerations such as language, meaning, context, comprehension and others.

Design

Design defines the overall look and feel, as well as UI and navigational elements. User Experience teams often employ various design-related disciplines, including interaction designers, visual designers, and information designers.

In following specific methods and techniques of the four principles of digital accessibility, designers collaborate with content creators and developers in crafting well-understood visual and interactive narratives.

Clear and intuitive interactive patterns are established to enhance navigation and information flow. This process benefits the users, particularly those with accessibility considerations. This is especially critical in large web-based systems, such as medical diagnostics, financial technology and other platforms which require complex information processing.

Development

Development teams complete the web accessibility trifecta. By using appropriate coding methodologies and techniques, developers ensure the proper accessibility of content. ARIA, which stands for Accessible Rich Internet Applications, is a suite of digital tools which help define a way to make web content and applications accessible.

The comprehensive ARIA authoring practices, maintained by W3C, include definitions of navigation elements, such as landmarks, addition of attributes to identify different features of user interaction and others.

Depending on the size of the organization, development teams can include front- and back-end development specialists, database programmers and other areas of specialization. Technical team members involved in the accessibility development process are trained in ARIA methodology.

Digital accessibility certification

At the time of this writing, the W3C does not offer W3C-certified web accessibility certification courses. There are, however, a number of third-party vendors offering accessibility certification.

Companies and organizations can conduct their own internal accessibility certifications, based wholly or in part on WCAG checklist. They do so by hiring accessibility consultants with appropriate certification experience. Depending on the business of the firm, some WCAG conformance levels may not apply.

Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, the point of this discussion is to give the reader clear understanding of digital accessibility. Proper applications of digital accessibility techniques are an integral part of the product development cycle. By making our digital products more accessible we as a society can ultimately achieve digital equality, thus ensuring one of the fundamental digital civil rights.