Chapter 1. Why be Accessible?
To get started, we will first look at what accessibility is. We will look at the benefits of accessibility, as well as some of the drivers behind the scenes, such as legislations around the world.
You may already have an appreciation (and I hope that you do) that making your websites and interfaces accessible is the right thing to do. No one wants to be discriminatory, block users out of their sites, or frustrate them with bad design and poor code. Most websites that are guilty of this are probably not even aware of it. However, even though many of the websites around the world are still inaccessible—this is slowly changing. I hope that this introduction, and the following chapters, will help you become a little more informed of what it is that we are trying to do here and why.
Defining Accessibility
There are several definitions of accessibility. The International Standards Organization (ISO) defines accessibility as:
"The usability of a product, service, environment or facility by people with the widest range of capabilities (ISO TC 16071)."
If we apply this definition to the Web it refers to the design interfaces and applications that can be used by the widest possible audience; ensuring that there are no users who are left out when trying to use them. That's great, however, note that it doesn't specifically mention blind users or other people with disabilities at all, yet it talks about usability.
The W3C in its "Introduction to Web Accessibility", defines it as:
"Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web. More specifically, Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web. Web accessibility also benefits others, including older people with changing abilities due to aging."
You can read further at: http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/accessibility.php
So some definitions specifically talk about people with disabilities and others don't. While I believe that access for everyone is a great ideal, I also think that the details are important, and I support the definition that specifically mentions people with disabilities. According to me the first definition, talks about universality, which is great, but I think that web accessibility is a specific part of that universal umbrella that mostly relates to people with disabilities. As you read further you will realize that people with disabilities have specific needs; and in order to meet these needs, you as an author or developer, need some solid techniques and understanding, so that they can use your website easily. This is where I hope this book will be useful.
Understanding Your Users
Whatever definition you prefer, the upshot is that it is important to understand your audience and their different needs. How can you do that? I have been very fortunate as I got some experience as a graphic designer/developer and IT trainer in the private sector before I got to work directly with people with disabilities and assistive technology (AT). So I experienced some really positive effects that simple technologies and good designs can have on people with disabilities.
I am currently working with blind and visually impaired people, but what informs my definition and experience of accessibility, as well as my understanding of the diversity of user requirements, does not stop there. Many people think that web accessibility is mostly about serving the needs of visually impaired users. However, this is not true. The truth is that by serving the needs of the blind and visually impaired users, you will actually improve the accessibility and usability of your website or software for everyone. Again, this can be seen as a happy by-product of good practice and development habits on your part.
Dealing with Change
In many ways accessibility encompasses our ability to deal with change and to cope with diversity. There are changes, such as failing sight and other physical and mental changes that we go through as we get older. Therefore our abilities to perform certain tasks and the equipment we need to do the every day tasks may also change. I may need glasses to read or at least play my music much louder (though that may be why I am going deaf!). Whatever it is we will invariably find that our own abilities change with time.
Understanding accessibility involves stretching our abilities to deal with these changes and user diversity. The success of your efforts, to quite a large degree, depends on how well you can accommodate diverse user requirements in your web projects.
Think Different
Apart from being a well known advertising slogan for some computer manufacturer, the above heading is also a good piece of advice and is helpful in understanding accessibility. Often, there are barriers for users in places that you may never dream of. You will also find that many solutions result from doing things the right way and not cutting corners in your work. The following are some examples, and while they are not all Web related, I hope they will get you thinking about how you could get around some accessibility issues from both the Web and the built environment.
These examples are from the NCBI CFIT website (www.cfit.ie):
1. A bank cash machine presents information and choices using a video screen only, so the blind customers cannot use it.
2. A home alarm system indicates if it is set correctly using sounds only, but an elderly person who finds it difficult to hear cannot tell the sounds apart.
3. A website specifies a small fixed size for text, so a user with low vision cannot use the built-in browser controls to increase it to a size they can read.
4. The input slot on a ticket machine is out of reach for a person sitting in a wheelchair, so they cannot use it.
5. The buttons on a remote control are too close together and fiddly to operate for an older person with arthritis.
6. A web page has too much content and is confusingly laid out, so it takes too long for many people to find the information they want on it.
In short you often have to think outside the box, look at problems from different angles, and analyze the situation, to come up with a workable solution.
