designing for accessibility (soflux)

Designing for AccessibilityFeb 2016

Mike DonahueUX Architect, Citrix

@mdonahue37

“An accessible web is a better web for smartphones and other devices, showing how we all benefit from the inclusive mindset.”

Sir Tim Berners-Lee

What does it mean to be accessible?

© 2016 Mike Donahue

definition:

accessible

• (of an object, service, or facility) able to be easily obtained or used

• easily understood

• able to be reached or entered by people who have a disability

• (of a person) friendly and easy to talk to; approachable


“I (we) don’t build websites for blind people.”Disabilities are not absolute or permanent conditions.


• Visually impaired– Blind, poor vision, low contrast, color blind

• Hearing impaired– Deaf, poor hearing

• Physically impaired– Missing limbs, diminished dexterity, impaired motor-function

form diseases like Parkinson’s, fat fingers, prone to seizure from visual stimuli

• Cognitively impaired– Slow, difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making

decisions, technically challenged

• Non-permanent injuries

http://www.disabilitycompendium.org/docs/default-source/2014-compendium/annual-report.pdf

8.8%

16.0%

32.9%

?%Unable to locate statistic






• Visually impaired– Blind, poor vision, low contrast, color blind

• Hearing impaired– Deaf, poor hearing

• Physically impaired– Missing limbs, diminished dexterity, impaired motor-function

form diseases like Parkinson’s, fat fingers, prone to seizure from visual stimuli

• Cognitively impaired– Slow, difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making

decisions, technically challenged

• Non-permanent injuries

Types of disabilities

12-19%±of Americans have

some form of disability as of 2014







Not all disabilities are human limitations.


definition:

disability• (of anything) restricted capability to perform

particular activities

• (of person) a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities.


• Less capable browser or device

• Slow network connections, high latency

• Data plan limits and economics

• Small, monochrome, or low quality screens

• No mouse, imprecise pointing devices

• Virtual keyboards

Non-human disabilities (constraints or limitations)


Accessibility is about overcoming all limitations.

How do we assess accessibility?


WCAG 2.0 level AAMeets or exceeds 508 Compliance

Minimum Accessibility Requirements

© 2015 Citrix | Confidential

http://webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklisthttp://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/html/index.html#

Checklists


WCAG Principles – P.O.U.R.

• Perceivable– Can it be perceived by more than one sense?

• Operable– Can it be operated by more than one method?

• Understandable– Is it obvious in its intended use or meaning?

• Robust– How well does it fail?


There’s technical accessibility and thenthere’s functional accessibility.

Function always trumps technical

What does accessibility look like?


Most of your accessibility issues are content related


Write to express, not impressNo 508 or WCAG criteria to meet, be understandable.

For a general audience aim for a Flesch-Kincaid of Grade 8 and readability ease of 60 or higher.

https://readability-score.com/





Write to express, not impressNo 508 or WCAG criteria to meet, be understandable.

Hemingway App






Headings are for structure not styleComplies with: 508; 4.2, 15.4, 15.5 / WCAG; 1.3.1, 2.4.10

<h1>Only one h1 per page</h1><h2>Use headings to denote sections</h2>

<h3>Don’t skip heading levels going down</h3>

<h4>Don’t use heading tags for sub-heads </h4>

<h5>Don’t use headings just for their style</h5>

<h6>Headings provide landmarks for screen readers</h6>


Headings in Mac/iOS VoiceOver WebRotor


Semantic markup – inlineComplies with: 508; 4.2, 15.4, 15.5 / WCAG; 1.3.1, 2.4.10

Use <b> (bold) if you only want to give something visual prominence.

Use <strong> if you need to raise your voice like using ALL CAPS when texting.

Use <i> if only need to provide a visual difference.

Use <em> when you need to emphasize content or change voice.

Hint: Speak your content out loud.


Semantic markup – sectioningComplies with: 508; 4.2, 15.4, 15.5 / WCAG; 1.3.1, 2.4.10

Use <main> or role=“main” to identify the core content of a page.

Use <header> or role=“banner” to identify global page heading content.

Use <nav> or role=“navigation” to contain, usually, the main navigation.

Use <article> to identify a stand alone composition like a blog post.

Use <section> to group thematically similar content.

Use <aside> or role=“complementary” to identify secondary content like a sidebar.

Use <footer> or role=“contentinfo” to identify global footer content.


Alternative text images – alt tag

• Empty alt tag is correct for purely decorative images

• Don’t start alt text with; “Image of…”, “Picture of…”, or similar. It’s redundant to screen readers

• Don’t use the file name for alt text.

http://www.4syllables.com.au/2010/12/text-alternatives-decision-tree/

Complies with: 508; 3.5/ WCAG; 1.4.1

http://www.4syllables.com.au/2010/12/text-alternatives-decision-tree/


alt=“contracts and grants icon”

Better: alt=“”


alt="Read a blog post about taking care of your heart during American Heart Month.”

Better: alt="Mary K. Wakefield and Sylvia M. Burwell pose for a picture to promote the #ILoveMyHeart campaign.”


alt="HHS Acting Deputy Secretary Mary K. Wakefield and HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell pose for a picture to promote the #ILoveMyHeart campaign. #ILoveMyHeart by: finding time to hike back home in North Dakota (Mary K. Wakefield). #ILoveMyHeart by: eating heal”

Better: add a caption under the photo


Use longdesc=“” for complex images

Bonus: a long description provides SEO rich text for web crawlers to index.

<img src=“accessibility-infographic.jpg” longdesc=“#infographic-description”>

<section id=“infographic-description”> <h2>Why is accessibility important?</h2> <p>Types of impairments that affect how people use your digital product are; visual, auditory, cognitive, and mobility.</p>…</section>

http://www.webteacher.ws/2015/07/15/accessibility-important-infographic/

Complies with: 508; 1.4 / WCAG; 1.1.1





Contrast - links

WCAG level AA requires a contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text (14 point and bold or larger, or 18 point or larger).


There are 3 visited links in the text.


Contrast - links

WCAG level AA requires a contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text (14 point and bold or larger, or 18 point or larger).



Contrast – without imagesComplies with: 508; 3.3/ WCAG; na


ContrastSubtly helps no one.


Color blindnessComplies with: 508; 3.1, 3.5, 4.1 / WCAG; 1.4.1

Normal vision

Protanopia Deuteranopia

Progressive enhancement is the cousin of accessibility?


Accessible enhancements

with JavaScript without JavaScript


Accessible enhancements – fail well


Well this doesn’t seem

right.Our sight relies on JavaScript to

deliver the music you love. Please check that it’s enabled

in your browser and try reloading the page.

You will be judged by how well you fail.


“”Jared Smith, WebAIM

“If the content is critical, assume the enhancement will fail.

If it’s not, assume it will work.”


Accessible enhancements


Who’s responsible for accessibility?


• Development - YES

• Creative (visual design) - YES

• Content authors (text/audio/video) - YES

• UX - YES

• Production - YES

• Strategy - YES

• Executive leadership - YES

Everyone is responsible

The cost of accessibility


“”

Companies can expect to pay about 10% of their total website costs on retrofitting. But if they phase in

accessibility as they naturally upgrade their website, they usually spend much less — between 1% and 3%

Tim SpringerChief Executive of SSB BART Group


$6 Million*vs NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND (NFB)

2008

*almost $13 million including legal fee


US companies that have been sued

20102009

2012 2000, 2013 & 2015

2009

2013

2008

It’s not only in the US

2014

20072000

2009 2010


Settlement details*2 years to implement

Legal fees$755,000.00Implementation $40,000.00

$795,000.002013

* Under appeal in 2015, may be overturned due to being an internet only business.

Results

Completed compliance obligations in 2 months.

100% of original content is now compliant.

Accessibility leads to innovation


Retractable stairs


https://www.oxo.com/our-roots


Direction on Google maps are a result of building for accessibility.


• http://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/html/index.html

• http://webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklist

• http://wave.webaim.org/

• http://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/

• http://www.color-blindness.com/coblis-color-blindness-simulator/

• https://readability-score.com/

• Wave plugin for Chrome

Resources

http://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/html/index.html

http://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/html/index.html

http://webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklist



http://wave.webaim.org/



http://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/

http://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/

http://www.color-blindness.com/coblis-color-blindness-simulator/






Accessibility is about overcoming all limitations.Both human and technical

Thank you

Mike DonahueUX Architect, Citrix

@mdonahue37