why web accessibility should matter to you

SURFING BLIND: WHY YOU NEED TO BE THINKING ABOUT WEB ACCESSIBILITY

NERDERY WEBINAR

#NERDERYWEBINAR @THE_NERDERY

YOUR HOSTS

Ryan CarlsonTechnology Evangelist

@ryancarlson

Bree ComptonQuality Assurance Engineer

@bcamolai

Aaron CannonSoftware Developer

@cannona


What is web accessibility and who does it effect?

OVERVIEW1

How this affects a business2

What an accessibility evaluation looks like3

Common accessibility myths4

How to plan projects with accessibility in mind5

LIVE DEMO


WHAT IS WEB ACCESSIBILITY?


WHO IS AFFECTED BY A LACK OF ACCESSIBILITY?


WEB ACCESSIBILITY CATEGORIES

VISUAL(BLINDNESS AND

POOR VISION)

MOTOR DISABILITIES HEARING


HOW CAN THIS AFFECT BUSINESSES?



THE IMPACT OF ACCESSIBILITY

LEGAL (DUE DILIGENCE)

FINANCIAL (IT’S NOT FOR ME,IT’S FOR MY SON)

PROMOTIONAL


LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS

Due DiligenceUnderstanding of

Compliance Requirements by Industry

Aaron, Bree and Ryan are not lawyers


LEGAL PRECEDENT

¼ Quick ramp up time for HTML devs

¼ Use existing content and skills

¼ Use native libraries with WinJS

¼ Best for simple apps

¼ National Association of the Deaf v. Netflix, Inc. , 2012 WL 2343666

¼ Sued that streams were not closed captions

¼ Court said ADA was meant to evolve with technology

¼ Case settled

TARGET.COM NETFLIX

¼ National Federation of the Blind v. Target Corporation 452 F. Supp. 2d 946 (N.D. Cal. 2006)

¼ Sued over inaccessible website ¼ Case settled

Aaron, Bree and Ryan are not lawyers


Making sites accessible after the

fact is expensive

Appealing to the 10% of disabled

consumers

Goodwill and recognition

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS


PROMOTIONAL IMPLICATIONS


WHAT DOES AN ACCESSIBILITY EVALUATION LOOK LIKE?



New project with accessibility

considerations

Retrofit an existing site to be more

accessible

TYPES OF ACCESSIBILITY ENGAGEMENTS


NEW DIGITAL PROJECT

Design evaluation/UX usability

Communicate concerns with front-end development

Identify problem areas and fix them in early designs

Embedded spot checking and final QA testing


UPDATING AN EXISTING WEBSITE

Complete site audit

Brainstorm changes to UI that won’t break the site

UX evaluation and design collaboration

Provide findings with detailed instructions and implement the changes


LIVE DEMO


WEB ACCESSIBILITY MYTHS



ACCESSIBLE WEBSITES ARE UGLY AND BORING

© ABC - All Rights Reserved “It’s going to break my design!”


WEB ACCESSIBILITY IS EXPENSIVE AND TIME CONSUMING

Image credit: NASA.gov


WEB ACCESSIBILITYONLY AFFECTS A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE


WEB ACCESSIBILITY IS OPTIONAL

© Phillip Pessar - flickr.com/southbeachcars


AUTOMATED EVALUATION TOOLS ARE ENOUGH


MAKING WEBSITES ACCESSIBLE HAS NO ADDITIONAL BENEFITS


ADDED BENEFITS OF ACCESSIBILITY

Search engine optimization

Boosts for e-commerce sites and better visibility

Increased usability for everybody (contrast, colors, scalable fonts, structured forms, logical sections within the website)


WORKING WITH ACCESSIBILITY EXPERTS



SEEING IS BELIEVING

A lot of companies assume that because they’ve read accessibility best practices, they add the bullet point to their offerings.

“–Aaron Cannon


REALITY CHECK

It’s more than just following coding standards

Expect to work with multiple departments; user experience, front-end development and quality assurance

Accessibility is both art and science


What are you going to test with?

QUESTIONS & CONSIDERATIONS1

Test with voiceover on the iPhone2

Test voice-over on Mac and Windows screen readers3

Screen reader use for daily users does not reflect a typical testing environment. This is a highly specialized skill set.4

Are you considering other disabilities?5


PLANNING FOR WEB ACCESSIBILITY



ACCESSIBILITY REQUIRES TOP-DOWN SUPPORT

Talk to your company leadership and legal department

Are your business goals in alignment with an accessibility strategy?

Is it important to leaders, your customers, or your industry to have an accessible website?


NEXT STEPS

If you think you have an actionable project, find out how accessible your current site is.

Weigh the costs of retrofitting and building from the ground up as you move to add accessibility.


FINAL THOUGHTS ON ACCESSIBILITY



What is web accessibility and who does it effect?

RECAP1

How this affects a business2

What an accessibility evaluation looks like3

Common accessibility myths4

How to plan projects with accessibility in mind5

why web accessibility should matter to you

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