The Wall Street Journal published an article addressing website accessibility and what it means for small businesses. The article itself discusses the uptick in web accessibility lawsuits across the country and what it means.
Most probably think of modifications such as wheelchair ramps, elevators, compliant entryways, etc. when considering the ADA. Many businesses fail to realize that the ADA also protects and governs the worldwide web to break down barriers that prevent all from accessing its content. An accessible website is no longer a “nice to have”. It is a must-have.
Why Accessibility is Important
According to a 2021 Pew Research survey, 25% of American adults who use the web are disabled. That is almost 1 in 4 American adults. Those with disabilities are far less likely to use the web than those without disabilities due to the barriers they face in accessing content in a way that suits their unique needs. As a business owner, imagine how many sales your website could lose if it is not accessible!
While it can be easy to assume that accessibility means only for the disabled, this is a major misconception. Accessibility features for the web expand beyond assisting those strictly with disabilities and can improve the experience for a wide range of users with unique needs — not just those who are disabled.
Everybody uses the Web Differently, Creating different use Cases for Accessibility
When you think of someone who is disabled and using the web, most probably think of those who are blind or sight impaired. That is only partially true. While blindness and vision impairments are examples of disabilities that would require certain modifications to use the web, their accessibility needs would be different than someone who is paralyzed.
Likewise, not all people with visual impairments are low vision or blind. Some people are color blind or have other conditions that impact their eyesight, meaning they may need text displayed differently to read it—some need larger text, some need smaller, some need shorter line lengths, etc. Some conditions can change how a person needs to access content for only a short time, making their needs dependent upon that period.
Beyond physical disabilities, there are also those with intellectual and learning disabilities. People with dyslexia rely on text-to-speech readers to help them understand the content on a page. People with ADHD may need options to pause distracting videos, sounds, or animations to focus.
Accessibility is also important for users who are not disabled. Consider someone recovering from wrist surgery— they may be unable to use a mouse while recovering. Someone on a bus may find subtitles helpful for video content as it could be too noisy or they may not feel comfortable playing audio in public if headphones are not available.
All of these use cases are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how users access your content online. Accessibility standards apply to everyone from all walks of life—ensuring that they can access information on the web in a way that best suits their needs.
What are the Accessibility Guidelines or Standards?
There are different levels of accessibility, as outlined by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which were developed by the Web Accessibility Initiaitve (WAI). While there is a plethora of in-depth information on these sites that outline accessibility standards, the important thing to understand is that there are different levels of accessibility that embody different requirements to ensure compliance. They are defined as A, AA, and AAA. Level A is the minimum all websites strive to meet to ensure compliance.
Key considerations for level A compliance include:
- Being navigable by keyboard and free from keyboard traps
- Ability to resize text up to 200% without losing access to content
- Alternatives for non-text content for screen readers, such as including alt text with images
- Captions and audio descriptions for video content
- The meaning of information presented is not conveyed solely by shape, size or color
AA compliance includes color contrast, text resizing, form accessibility, and more. AAA, the most comprehensive level of web accessibility compliance, includes things such as having a sign language alternative for video content, even greater color contrast, context-sensitive help being available, and more.
How do I make my Website Accessible?
The short answer is it all depends. There may be elements of your website that already meet compliance standards and others that do not. Depending on the size of your website, it could be an undertaking, but one that is well worth it if it means preventing a lawsuit.
The most logical first step to take would be to either familiarize yourself with the WCAG or enlist the help of someone familiar with the guidelines.
Conduct an Audit of your Website
Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the WCAG (if not working with a third party), you should conduct an audit of your website against the guidelines. Make a list of all of the things on your website you’ve found that are not compliant or that should be implemented. Once you’ve compiled your list, give them each a priority level based on how time-intensive each one is to complete. It would make the most sense to address the quick wins first while putting an action plan in place for how you will need to address any that are more development-intensive and/or will require more time to implement.
Remember, level A is the most basic level of compliance, so in your audit, you will want to make sure that you are prioritizing items that will achieve level A compliance first.
Plugins
Some CMS platforms, like Wordpress in particular, have plugins that can be installed to activate certain accessibility features to make your content more accessible and break down barriers to accessibility. These plugins are effective as they give users the ability to increase settings such as text size, contrast, font, etc. to their liking while needing minimal support from a developer to implement. They are a great way to achieve basic accessibility quickly.
They are not, however, a complete replacement for true accessibility by design. While dynamic features such as modifying font size and color give users of all backgrounds more control of the content they are trying to access, plugins will not always address other areas of accessibility barriers on your website. For example, a plugin may not add form labels if they are missing, nor will they all address missing alt text on your images.
When using a plugin (such as AllAccessible), it’s important to still remember to conduct a thorough audit of your website and work to address issues that the plugin alone cannot fix. While a great tool and a step in the right direction, they should not be a replacement for solid accessibility practices and considerations made in design and development.
There’s still Work to be Done
Making a website accessible can be a daunting task, but it is one that is very worth it for your business and your brand’s reputation. It’s also an interesting subject matter to study when you learn more in-depth about how different users need to access content online and how needs and considerations for anyone can change quickly.
Up until recently, the importance of web accessibility was overlooked. This article only scratches the surface as to what it is and why it is so important. Accessibility is not a one-size-fits-all approach, nor is it all-encompassing of those with disabilities.
An accessible website maximizes your opportunity to reach users of all needs in all situations — each as unique as they are. Remember, accessibility is not just a suggestion: it is the law.
