Web accessibility (eAccessibility)
Web accessibility, also known as eAccessibility, is the practice of designing web content to ensure that it is usable by everyone, particularly individuals with disabilities. Historically, the Internet was developed without consideration for those with disabilities, which created significant barriers for people with vision impairments, hearing difficulties, or mobility issues. As online content became integral to daily life, the importance of making web resources accessible grew. To achieve this, modern web developers create content in multiple formats, such as providing subtitles for videos or descriptive text for images, enabling individuals with various disabilities to access information effectively.
The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has established guidelines that serve as a framework for creating accessible web content. These guidelines recommend that all multimedia elements be paired with text alternatives, ensuring individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing can engage with audio content and those with visual impairments can understand visual material. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of thoughtful design that allows users to navigate websites without relying solely on visual cues.
By prioritizing accessibility, developers not only promote inclusivity but also expand their potential user base, making their websites more equitable and user-friendly for everyone, including those facing challenges in accessing digital content. This movement fosters a more diverse online community where individuals with disabilities can contribute, share experiences, and build connections.
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Subject Terms
Web accessibility (eAccessibility)
Web accessibility, also called eAccessibility, refers to the practice of designing web content to make it accessible to as many people as possible. Early web content was primarily accessible only to people without disabilities. Those with disabilities struggled to access content on the Internet for socioeconomic reasons or because of vision and hearing impairments and poor keyboard accessibility, among other reasons. However, as the Internet began playing a more significant role in people’s lives, web accessibility became more important.
For online content to be web accessible, it most often must be provided in multiple forms. For example, audio podcasts and videos should be accompanied by textual descriptions, allowing people who struggle to hear to read the content. Online content should interact with programs designed to assist people with disabilities.
Background
Accessibility refers to whether a product or service can be used by everyone. Products and services are often designed to be used by those without disabilities. People with impaired vision, mobility, or speech may struggle to use these products or services. Because of this, accessibility laws ensure that important services are accessible to everyone.
Accessibility is a common concept in modern architectural design. Many older structures were primarily designed without consideration for people with mobility issues. Modern structures may be designed with ramps and widened doorways, ensuring that they can be accessed by people using scooters, wheelchairs, or other mobility-enhancing devices. They may feature labels with braille on important objects, such as elevators and stairwells, allowing people with visual impairments to navigate the building more easily.
Some resistance may occur regarding the incorporation of accessible designs into modern facilities because the additional effort required reduces profitability. However, advocates for the incorporation of accessible design note that the addition of such features often improves a structure’s overall design. For example, while the incorporation of ramps into a building is intended to make the building more accessible to individuals in wheelchairs, it may also prove useful among older adults, parents with young children, as well as other individuals. These benefits may increase the overall foot traffic that the building receives, resulting in an increase in profits for any businesses housed within.
Overview
Both electronic devices and the Internet continue to play an ever-increasing role in people’s lives. However, like many products and services, the Internet was originally designed without accessibility in mind. Most people interact with the Internet using screens and external input devices, such as a mouse and a keyboard. In other cases, users must use a stylus or body part to manipulate a touch screen.
Early web design was not concerned with the needs of those with disabilities. For example, people with colorblindness were unable to differentiate between the many color-coded elements on web pages. Individuals with limited vision or blindness were not able to see a webpage clearly or at all. Similarly, individuals with disabilities making it difficult or impossible to manipulate input devices were not able to interact with online content.
Modern web designers work to incorporate accessibility into their content. These web developers create content that can be used by as many people as possible. This ensures that their content and products are equitable and maximize the potential user base for their websites. Web accessibility allows people with disabilities to perceive and interact with the Internet in ways that may not have been possible years ago. This allows them to personally contribute to the web by adding content and posting blogs, increasing the awareness of the difficulties faced by people with disabilities and allowing them to create unique online communities.
Many web developers use a set of guidelines created by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) to ensure that their websites are compliant with modern accessibility standards. WAI standards state that all multimedia content, such as images, charts, buttons, and user-interface controls, should be paired with captions or descriptive text. This allows people who may have trouble perceiving colored images to read text instead. It also allows individuals with vision impairments or blindness to interact with websites by using specialized software that reads to them. While this software may be unable to describe images or complex visual content, it can read the captions paired with them.
In addition to providing text-based alternatives for images and other visual content, WAI standards state that transcripts or descriptive text should be available for all auditory content. This includes pre-recorded audio, such as podcasts and audio that accompanies videos. When applicable, developers should include real-time captions, allowing individuals with auditory-related disabilities to watch videos in real-time. They should also provide an equivalent to sign language for all pre-recorded audio content. To accommodate individuals with vision impairments, videos should be accompanied by extended audio descriptions. Additionally, live audio and video should be accompanied by transcripts whenever possible.
Web developers should carefully design websites so they can be understood without visual cues. Visually impaired individuals may interact with those websites using software that reads text to them. If a webpage relies on visual content to indicate the correct order of its text, such software may be unable to properly interpret the page. This may stop visually impaired individuals from accessing important content. For these reasons, any content on a webpage should be designed with a meaningful content sequence for its text. If a developer intends to present text in an unusual way, then they should use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to present the text.
Lastly, when designing the operating controls for online applications and computer programs, developers should be mindful of the continuous need for accessibility. Swipe controls may be convenient for much of the population but may be inaccessible for some people with disabilities. Similarly, the use of buttons or touch controls may render an application unusable to a percentage of its potential userbase. Accessible applications give multiple control options, allowing users to tailor their experience to meet their specific needs.
Bibliography
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“What Is Accessibility?” SeeWriteHear, www.seewritehear.com/learn/what-is-accessibility. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.