Accessibility online means having a website or online space that is accessible to folks of all ages and abilities, regardless of device or situational limitations. It’s important to understand all the ways we can adjust our online spaces to be inclusive for everyone. We have created a Website Accessibility Checklist to ensure that your website is comprehensive for all folks, and caters to a diverse range of devices, skills, situations, as well as hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive abilities.
Cater to Any Level of Digital Skills
Check yourself - you might have digital privilege. The things that may seem obvious to you are not always common knowledge to someone who has less experience. We want to create a user experience that doesn’t require high-tech skills to navigate, so that they can focus on your products or services, and not on how to find the information that they need. Have a clear call-to-action and easy to find information and get rid of cluttered sentences that don’t add value to your website. Your important details should not be buried like hidden treasure.
Format for a Variety of Devices
If you’ve ever landed on a mobile version of a website that was a chaotic mess or didn’t load properly then you know it's a pretty quick way to lose an interested customer. Check your website or online store on multiple devices for mobile use so that no matter what device your viewer is on they can still access the information they need. Gather feedback from users of different experience levels by asking your your friends and family review your website from their devices.
Situational Accessibility
Situational limitations are when the viewer is unable to attain the information from your website based on the external situation. If they are in a place that they cannot play audio and your website or content requires audio to be fully understood then they are left out and will quickly move on. Your viewers might be somewhere that has low bandwidth or slow internet connection, and if your website is packed with awesome videos that take a long time to load then it won’t be a very awesome experience for them when there is no information beyond the videos that won’t load.
Neurological and Cognitive Disabilities
Many conditions can affect a person’s cognitive abilities of perception, memory, language, attention, problem-solving, and comprehension. Your customers and viewers with developmental disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, dementia, dyslexia, and other conditions will benefit from an online space that is free of unnecessary distractions, has clearly laid out information and provides information in more than one way (such as text and video instructions.)
Physical Motor Skills/Physical Disabilities
Some users may have difficulty moving parts of their bodies, including making the precise movements needed to use a mouse. Keyboard navigation is used by many people and should be considered and tested to ensure all parts of your website are accessible using only your keyboard. Tasks that have a limited time to complete are also another potential barrier for someone who has a mobility disability.
Accessibility for Visual Impairments
Many people with visual impairments use a text reader to collect information online. If your website is full of unnecessary information or misleading links, the experience will be jarring and unproductive for someone trying to navigate based on the text on the screen. Users with a visual impairment also include the partial or total inability to perceive colour contrasts and choosing your fonts and colours for your text is an important part of being inclusive to all persons.
Accessibility for Hearing Impairment
Some users have a reduced ability to hear and important information should not be delivered exclusively through auditory channels without the use of subtitles. There are a variety of different types of hearing impairments that affect people of all ages. Having adjustable volume that can be increased may help someone with conductive hearing loss but using closed captions or transcribing your audio is a better way to guarantee that your material is accessible.
Photosensitivity
Conditions such as epilepsy can cause seizures that are often triggered by flashing lights. When creating your flashy new popup or sales promotion, don’t get carried away with flashing or quickly changing images. Our brains need at least two seconds to absorb an image properly so make sure your videos are intentionally edited.
Some accessibility barriers are apparent, but some are not. It is important to consider the various limitations a website could present to someone that has a different perspective than the one that we have experienced. Let's work together to make the world (digital and IRL) a more accessible and welcoming place. If you liked this blog post and want to get even more business tips and guides sent straight to your inbox, sign up for the Grow Gang Newsletter! Need help with your website design? Book a free consultation with Grow and Behold Digital and start working with a team that’s dedicated to your online success.
