The Road to Software Accessibility
Universal design tools for software development
About 1.3 billion people in the world, 16% of the world’s population, experience a disability. A report written by the United States Census Bureau in 2009 indicated that around 54% of adults with disabilities were using the Internet. That percentage has most likely gone even higher now in the year 2023.
Software applications have continuously developed and transformed since then, however there have been many that do not accommodate all their users, including those with disabilities.
Software accessibility is limited in the sea of web and mobile apps that exist today. While there are plenty of assistive technologies that help people with disabilities use to access content online, not all apps are fully accessible. It can take someone with a visual, cognitive, or mobile disability much longer to get to a certain location on an app than someone without.
While software development covering full accessibility is still in the making, there are plenty of tools and code practices developers can use to aid in making their applications more accessible for their users.
Coding Practices
Text
Using simple language is a great idea! Keeping headings in a hierarchical structure, having the biggest heading at the top and smaller as you go into subsections in a page. Sans-serif font is easy to read, and don’t go crazy on the CAPS or italics.
Consider the <html lang=”en”></html> attribute for different languages spoken. Also, more white space can help information not look so jumbled together on a page. I am still working on implementing this in my own blog posts.
Color
Ensure colors are contrasted enough. Those who are colorblind may view the color red differently than those without color blindness. Also, it helps to stay consistent with colors throughout your web applications.
Links
Don’t say “click here” and embed the link in. I am guilty of doing this in a previous Medium story! Also, underlining links can be very helpful to avoid confusion on what leads to a link and what does not.
Images
Text on images? No thanks. Alt text all the way! I put alt text on any images I include in my posts.
Other
You’ve probably heard somewhere that flashy lights can be harmful to certain individuals with a medical disorder, so it’s best to avoid the flashing lights. If videos are included in your web content, make sure there are captions. If an audio recording is included in your web content, make sure there is a transcription for it.
Another thing:
Radio buttons. I really like when you can click the text next to the little tiny circle that indicates you clicked the button. You would have to use a <label> tag to wrap the button in!
Developer Tools
While there are plenty of coding practices you can follow, there are also a bunch of tools on the Internet that can be used to aid in making software more accessible:
Web Content Accessibility Guide
I wanted to mention this tool first. This guide provides specific standards for web accessibility from the World Wide Web Consortium. There is a ton of content on accessibility in these guidelines, however not all of the content is conveyed to every need for a user with a disability.
ReadAloud
This is a chrome extension text to screen reader. This tool can help those with learning difficulties or just anyone who prefers to listen to content.
TPGi Color Contrast Checker
Having a tool that is free and is able to tell you the differences in color contrasts is extremely helpful, especially for those with vision difficulties. It also has functions that check if it adheres to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
ZoomText
It kind of sounds exactly what it is — makes text on your screen bigger. The extension also enhances everything on your screen, intended for those with low vision. It can also read text.
axe DevTools — Web Accessibility Testing
Another chrome extension that helps developers find accessibility issues within their web applications. Having this tool can provide a way for developers to improve their code but also avoid costly accessibility lawsuits.
The world is ever changing, and so is technology. There are various programming practices and tools developers can use to make their applications more accessible. While technology and software applications continue to improve for all users, having a disability or not, the goal is to create software for a more accessible world.
Sources
Accessibility Best Practices. (n.d.). Turing School. Retrieved May 23, 2023, from https://backend.turing.edu/module2/lessons/accessibility_best_practices
Berkeley Digital Accessibility. (n.d.). UC Berkeley. Retrieved May 23, 2023, from https://dap.berkeley.edu/top-10-tips-making-your-website-accessible
Deque. (n.d.). axe DevTools — Web Accessibility Testing. Retrieved May 24, 2023, from https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/axe-devtools-web-accessib/lhdoppojpmngadmnindnejefpokejbdd
LSD Software. (n.d.). Read Aloud: A Text to Speech Voice Reader. Retrieved May 24, 2023, from https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/read-aloud-a-text-to-spee/hdhinadidafjejdhmfkjgnolgimiaplp
World Health Organization. (2023, March 7). Disability. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health#:~:text=Key%20facts,earlier%20than%20those%20without%20disabilities
World Wide Web Consortium. (2018, June 5). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/
ZoomText. (n.d.). Freedom Scientific. Retrieved May 24, 2023, from https://www.freedomscientific.com/products/software/zoomtext/
