Design should be inclusive, accessible, informative, and flexible for every user. However, often we forget that people who have disabilities are also the recipients of our design. According to the WHO, a billion people worldwide have some form of disability, which is about 15% of the world population.

Accessibility Design

What is accessibility design, you might ask? In the context of design, accessibility responds to the users’ needs to use and interact with a design. For accessibility to include everyone, it means being accessible to all, irrespective of one’s personal, cultural, physical, and socioeconomic status.

In the web context, it means people with disabilities, can understand, perceive, control, and interact with web elements like everyone else. Accessibility is not creating a separate page or website, it is about providing a website that is usable by everyone and on every device, be it computer, table, smart phone, TV, screen reader, or braille display.
So what are the areas of disability we should consider?

Visual
This is the most common forms of disability that hinders accessibility arise due to problems in visual communication. Different kinds of visual impairment, such as reduced or limited eyesight, colour blindness, and blindness, must be considered while designing.
Mobility
The use of arms and legs can come as an issue for the physically impaired. They might have problems accessing the web and even some keyboard and mouse features.
Auditory
An auditory impairment can vary from mild to a profound loss in hearing ability.

Cognitive
Some people suffer from neuro-cognitive disabilities, including seizures, dyslexia, and sensitivity to light. Problems associated with visualising the design at hand and short-term memory issues position the disability in this category.

Codes and Guidelines

There are codes and guidelines of accessibility when it comes to designing for people with disabilities, such as Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

In a nutshell, ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits the discrimination of people with disabilities in all areas of life, including when using electronic and information technology. The WCAG is an ISO standard set of guidelines from W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) for creating an accessible website for people with disabilities.
What happens if my website is not compliant to these guidelines in the legal point of view? For an example, if we are designing for the users in the United States, breaking the Americans with Disabilities Act carries fines $55,000 to $75,000 for first-time violations and $150,000 for every repeat violation. WCAG serves as a reference for ADA website compliance; organisations looking to make their websites compliant with ADA should reference and follow WCAG.
 

Building accessible websites

To include users with visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive disabilities, it is not just about using good alternative texts for images on the website. So where should we start? Let’s look at some guides to make this possible.

Use the right Semantics
Writing good HTML with the right semantics is important — there is a reason all those tags exist. It is highly recommended to use the extended set of HTML5 elements and attributes from user experience perspective as well.

Use the right colours
Colour contrast is crucial for seamless and understandable designs. However, it is important to not rely on colour alone to convey meaning.

Review the DOM tree
The browser takes the DOM tree and modifies it into a form that is useful to assistive technology such as the screen reader.

Enable no mouse navigation
Keyboard navigation is one of the most used navigation after the mouse on the Web, especially for the people with motor disabilities.

Enable screen reader announcements
For instance, if there are errors in a form that has been submitted alert the user in an accessible way and make it easy to re-enter the incorrect information and resubmit the form.
 
The above are just some basic tips, and make sure you will not forget to refer to WCAG guidelines for compliance.

Conclusion

Understanding and planning for web accessibility should be included from the beginning and throughout the design and development process. As we become more aware of the needs of people who have disabilities, responding to their needs has become a priority. In return, it tends to improve usability and inclusiveness of products and services altogether.