An inclusive web

My boss once said to a stakeholder, “The developer [me] is a web accessibility expert and that’s one of the reasons why I hired her.”

Before I write any further, I would stop short of calling myself an accessibility expert. Yes, accessibility is always the first thing I think of when I build a website or web app, before I even think about gathering business requirements or collaborating with the designer/art director to design the aesthetics. But I’m not part of the disability community. My experience in every day life is not the same as theirs. I only know what I know because of research, experience and actually doing user focus group testing with that particular audience, interacting with them and getting to know them. It’s comprehensive and it ensures that I ensure all bases are covered and we build the best app/website/software possible, but it isn’t the same.

But know this, and it’s important that you do: you don’t have to be part of the disability community to keep inclusivity and accessibility at the forefront of your mind when building websites and software.

What are the requirements for accessibility?

If you’re a programmer for public service, like myself, then according to Australian legislation, all government websites or anything that’s put on a public web space needs to comply with WCAG 2.0 Level AA accessibility guidelines.

That means a person with a physical and/or cognitive disabilities should be able to visit the website without feeling disadvantaged. Here are some of the guidelines a website has to adhere to in order to be WCAG 2.0 Level AA compliant:

• The text should be big enough so that it is readable.
• A visually impaired visitor should be able to use and interact with the site using a screen reader. JAWS (Job Access With Speech) Screen Reader from Freedom Scientific is the most popular one in the market at the moment.
• Images on a web page that convey meaning in conjunction with the text should have the ability to be read by a screen reader and the image should be described accurately.
• A person who has a motor deficiency of any kind should be able to navigate the website through the use of key strokes rather than a mouse.
• Any motion on the screen should have in built features so that the user can have control over the activity. For example, the user should have the ability to pause slideshows.
• Avoid flashing lights and rapid motion just in case they trigger an epileptic event.
• There should be adequate space on the page to allow the content to ‘breathe’. Don't be afraid of white space.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If you’re building websites for an organisation that is meant to provide services to the entire community, then it is imperative that you make your website accessible, otherwise (in Australia at the very least) you run the risk of violating the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992.

Maguire vs. SOCOG

Perhaps the most famous case of an inaccessibility causing major trouble is the landmark Maguire vs SOCOG case.

Bruce Maguire, blind from birth, made a complaint to the Human Rights Commission, complaining that the Sydney Organising Committee for the 2000 Olympic Games (SOCOG) failed to provide a website that was accessible. They also failed to provide ticketing order books in Braille, the reason being the cost of producing Braille copies was ‘too high’ and not worthy of an investment considering that only a minority of the population was Braille-literate.

In the end, the judge ruled that SOCOG had acted unlawfully and in a discriminatory manner. They were ordered to make their websites more accessible to screen readers and had decided in the end to provide a copy of the souvenir program written in Braille to Maguire. Since then, the Australian government decided that all government websites should be at least compatible to WCAG 2.0 Level AA guidelines for accessibility.

A screencap of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games website, dated 25th September 2000. Sourced from Pandora Archive

From Maguire vs SOCOG to now

These days, all websites are striving towards accessibility in innovative ways. In early 2015, Facebook put together a team to ensure that the social media website is accessible. As an Internet community and as a society we are becoming more and more inclusive. Technology is vital these days and it is important that we all have adequate access, regardless of our abilities.

Striving to be inclusive

You don’t have to be a seasoned programmer or even know ‘a bit of HTML’ in order to make your website/blog more accessible. There are simple changes and tweaks you can make. Whether you are writing a knitting blog or building the next Facebook, it’s always a good idea to have accessibility in mind — not only to make the website accessible to those with a disability, but because it’s generally good design practice and it will give rise to a more pleasant user experience for all.

• Make the text big enough. The current recommendation is at least 12pt for paragraph text, or 16px/1em.
• Make sure that there is sufficient contrast between the colour of the text and the background colour. There is an online tool called The Colour Contrast Check by Jonathan Snook, which uses a slider functionality to determine whether two hex colour values satisfy the contrast ratio requirements for accessibility.
• If you do know a bit of HTML, make sure that the ‘alt’ attribute in your image tag specifies a description. This is the bit that gets picked up by the screen reader.
• Avoid too many gifs or slideshows. Or at least choose a slideshow plugin that has a start and stop functionality. If your content is gif-heavy it’s always a good idea to provide a warning beforehand.
• Bells and whistles (such as a custom cursor and infinite scroll) are nice but keep them to a minimum. And absolutely no autoplaying music or videos.
• NO MYSTERY MEAT NAVIGATION UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

It is important to note that these are only recommendations to get you started in thinking in the web/software accessibility headspace. You should always refer to the World Wide Web Consortium for a comprehensive list of guidelines.

Finally …

Technology is really exciting. Technology is always evolving and it moves really fast. We need to ensure that everyone can keep up. Being inclusive in our tech is only one part of us humankind evolving as a society.

Imagine the possibilities.

This post first appeared on Medium, titled An inclusive web.