Web Accessibility Definition
Commonly web accessibility is associated with the idea of developing web pages that can be used by people with disabilities, as we can read in the following definitions:
Web accessibility means that people with some disabilities will be able to use the Web. Web accessibility also benefits other people, including older people whose skills have diminished due to age. Specifically, when speaking of Web accessibility, reference is being made to a Web design that will allow these people to perceive, understand, navigate and interact with the Web while providing the content.
Web convenience earnings that websites, tools, and know-how are unhurried and industrialized so people with incapacities can use them. More specifically, people can:
- Observe, understand, navigate and interact with the Web
- Wage to the website
Web Accessibility includes all disabilities that touch access to the Web, including:
- Auditory
- Cognitive
- Neurological
- Physical
- Speech
- Visuals
Web accessibility also benefits people without disabilities, such as:
- People use mobile phones, smartwatches, smart TV, and other devices with small screens, different input modes, etc.
- Older people whose abilities change with age
- People with “temporary disabilities” such as a broken arm or loss of glasses
- It People with “location limitations,” such as in sunlight or in an environment where audio cannot be heard
- People with a slow internet connection or limited or expensive bandwidth.
Web Accessibility Tutorials
Go to Web Accessibility Planning and Management for project management and organizational considerations.
If you need to make quick fixes, go to Interim Repair Strategies.
Make your Website Accessible
Many aspects of accessibility are easy to understand and implement, while some other solutions are much more complex and require more knowledge.
It is more efficient and effective to incorporate accessibility from the beginning of projects. In this way, it will not be necessary to go back and redo the work later.
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More information on how to Make Your Website Nearby
- To current suitability provisions and international standards, go to Accessibility Principles.
- A understand some of the common barriers to accessibility from an assessment perspective, see Simple Tests – A First Look.
- To learn some of the basic design, editing, and development considerations for accessibility, see Getting Started Tips.
- When you’re ready to learn more about development and design, you’ll probably find resources like:
- How to Comply with WCAG (Quick Reference)
Tools to Check Web Accessibility
Some online applications can quickly and elementally verify the degree of accessibility of web pages. This way, it is likely to know what needs to be improved on the web to make it more accessible according to the WCAG guidelines. Next, we present the most recognized:
Web Accessibility Test (TAW): This tool for designers and developers allows the automatic analysis of a page about the WCAG 1.0 and WCAG 2.0 guidelines. In both cases, the TAW generates a report with the test results.
HERA: This tool is only available for the WCAG 1.0 standard. In this case, it performs an automatic and prior analysis of the website, informing us at the end of the errors found and the aspects that we must review.
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Web Accessibility Levels
The WAI also classifies web pages according to the accessibility of the content, establishing the following levels:
Level 1: is the least demanding and includes pages that meet specific compliance criteria determined by the WCAG, such as the availability of subtitles for recorded audio or text alternatives for audiovisual content, etc.
Level 2 is the intermediate and most required by the entities that issue web accessibility certifications. It brings together the websites that respect more advanced criteria such as the availability of subtitles for live audio, audio description, scalable text size, etc.
Level 3: it is the strictest and groups the websites that meet the most demanding criteria, such as interpretation by sign language, extended audio description, explanation of abbreviations, the absence of elements that flash more than three times per second, etc.
Why is Web Accessibility Important?
- The Web is a vital resource for different aspects of life: education, employment, government, commerce, health, entertainment, and many others.
- The Web must be available to provide equal access and opportunities to people with disabilities.
- An accessible website can help people with disabilities to participate more actively in society.
- The Web offers those with disabilities an opportunity to access information and interact.
- Another important consideration for companies is that Web accessibility is a requirement established by laws and policies in some cases.
Why do we need Web Accessibility?
Ethical Reasons:
Looking for accessibility is doing it right. Encouraging Internet accessibility helps improve us as people.
Social Reasons:
Accessibility on the Internet allows a broader audience to participate. Accessible pages encourage individual participation by expanding your potential audience to millions of people with disabilities, slow connections, or old computers.
It stimulates the group participation of social sectors, such as populations far from economic centres, native peoples, low-income neighbourhoods, etc.
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Web Accessibility of Initiative
There are the WAI specifications within the initiatives and specifications of the WWW Consortium ( W3C ).
These standards mainly say what should does, but in practice, compliance with standards must prioritise, and an accessibility review and implementation process plan based on the following points:
- The home and high-traffic pages should redesign to follow minimum accessibility rules immediately. The same applies to them as critical points in e-commerce processes or actual transactions.
- Next, all new pages should create in compliance with high and low priority specifications and regulations and pass a practical test before publishing.
- After this, the medium traffic pages should progressively retrofit to the high-priority specifications.
- As a long-term goal, high-traffic pages should repurpose to meet all accessibility standards, and the procedure extends to all website components.
How is Web Accessibility Measured?
To correctly manage Web Accessibility levels, the W3C established some checkpoints, classified by priority levels, which facilitate their use by Web page developers.
- Priority 1 is for the checkpoints that the web developer has to satisfy. Otherwise, the site will not be accessible to some groups of people.
- Priority 2 is for checkpoints that the developer needs to hit so that users don’t have too much trouble accessing the site.
- Priority 3 is the developer’s goal to achieve so that users do not find it difficult to access the site.
Conclusion
Web accessibility means that people with some disabilities will be able to use the Web.
Specifically, when talking about references made to a Web design that will allow these people to perceive, understand, navigate and interact with the Web while providing the content. Web accessibility also benefits other people, including older people whose skills have diminished due to age.
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