Every Project Needs Accessibility

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day. If you don’t have the time or inclination to read my post, read this instead: W3C-WAI - Easy Checks – A First Review of Web Accessibility. If you can, read both!

When you build your shiny new website or web app remember:

• If somebody with a motor disability can tab through it, so can you when your hands are busy.
• If somebody with a visual impairment can use your website with a screen reader, it’ll be easy for you to use it with your voice assistant.
• If somebody who’s hard of hearing can watch your video content with captions, so can you, if you’re in a noisy environment.
• If you have text-only transcripts of all your content, a deafblind person can read them in Braille and you can find what you’re looking for, using a search engine.
• If somebody with a cognitive disability won’t get tripped up by your interface, neither will you, when you’re tired or distracted.
• If a person with low vision benefits from enough contrast to read, so do you, when out in the sun.

When you design for inclusivity, you’re not designing for people with disabilities: you’re designing for everyone.

If you find yourself in one of these groups, know that I’m not talking about you, I’m also talking to you. Understand that I am not trying to convince you, but remember that the web is and must be made for you and you can build it too. Nothing about us, without us, right?

If you’re not sure whether or not you’re in these groups, that’s OK. You will always get something out of better accessibility. Regardless of your identity, better tools, a better web and better software should and can make your life better.

Thank you for reading and thank you for making the world just a bit better by thinking about accessibility.