Web Accessibility

THE JARGON FREE GUIDE TO WEB ACCESSIBILITY

INTRODUCTION

¹ Standard on Web Accessibilty: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=23601#cha2

² https://www.ada.gov/2010_regs.htm³ http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/pdfs/

ukpga_20100015_en.pdf

The last few decades have seen an increase in legislation to provide equal accessibility for people with disabilities (PWD).

This includes access to commerce, education and employment.

While most major developed nations—Canada1, the United States2 and the United Kingdom3—have standards, regulations, and guidelines that support web accessibility for people with disabilities, many websites still have barriers that prevent this group of people from effectively accessing and navigating the web.

The intent of this paper is to inform marketers who might be grappling with web accessibility and are asking themselves the following questions:

• Why should a website be accessible?

• Why should an organization comply with the requisite standards, regulations and guidelines for digital accessibility?

• What are the benefits of positioning a brand, products and services to appeal to people with disabilities?

This paper can be used by digital markets, web accessibility specialists, IT, and legal teams to facilitate a discussion on how to best approach the integration of web accessibility within organizations.

Web accessibility means giving people with disabilities a seamless experience in the digital world, allowing them to navigate, understand, use and contribute to the web.

The truth of the matter is that digital accessibility is slowly becoming the norm, as organizations are being held accountable to meet regulatory requirements.

However, complying with standards, regulations and guidelines would be for naught if marketers didn’t understand how people with disabilities would actually benefit from using an accessible website.

1

WHAT IS WEB ACCESSIBILITY?

2

Websites are a critical piece in a consumer’s purchase decision, and marketers have a tremendous opportunity to delight customers with disabilities by offering a combination of technology and web accessibility to meet a diverse range of needs.

HOW PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES USE THE WEB

4 “The Evidence”, Business Disability Forum5 “The Evidence”, Business Disability Forum

2

More than eight in 10 people with disabilities have chosen not to give their business to a service provider because of barriers5; poor web accessibility is one reason cited. When customers have a frustrating experience with a brand’s website, this is one of the factors compelling them to walk away.

Customers today use websites for a range of buying activities from researching products and services to making a purchase. A homepage often fosters a first and lasting impression of a brand4.

However, people with disabilities encounter barriers to web access, not just due to a lack of compliance with web accessibility standards and guidelines, but due to poorly designed websites.

Here are some of the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from having a seamless experience in the digital world.

Types of barriers

» AUDITORY » VISUAL

» COGNITIVE » SPEECH

» PHYSICAL

In the digital world, brand websites lack basic accessibility requirements like proper ALT tagging, heading level structure or other technical requirements—let alone assistive technology that customers who have trouble typing, moving a mouse, or reading might need to engage online.

DISREGARD A BUSINESS PROVIDER BECAUSE OF BARRIERS ENCOUNTERED

MORE THAN

8 IN10PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

WEB BARRIERS

Auditory disabilities come in a range from hard of hearing to uncorrectable impairments. People with auditory disabilities may be able to hear sound but cannot differentiate speech. As such, they would need videos and other web elements with sound to be captioned or transcribed.

1. Auditory

Cognitive and neurological disabilities involve disorders of any part of the nervous system, including the brain and the peripheral nervous system6. It’s a broad term but people with cognitive disabilities can have difficulty with one or more mental tasks. Cognitive disabilities can affect how people understand and process information on websites. Depending on the severity of the disability, they would need assistive technology to help read through, click, or scroll through a website.

2. Cognitive

Physical disabilities are conditions like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, or stroke, but also include joint problems or missing limbs. These customers would need assistive technology like voice activated navigation or motion technology to replace barriers like a traditional keyboard and mouse.

3. Physical

6 https://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/people-use-web/diversity

3

WEB BARRIERS

Visual disabilities range from mild or moderate vision impairments in one or both eyes to complete loss of sight. Other visual impairments can include photo or light sensitivity, colour blindness or the inability to read certain colours of text against screen backgrounds. Screen readers are especially helpful for people with visual impairments as it pertains to loss of sight. However, screen readers require websites to include functionality like ALT tags for images, so people with visual impairments can properly navigate the site and understand what’s on the screen.

For other visual impairments like colour blindness or sensitivity to light, web designers and developers need to make sure that the website has adequate colour contrast limits.

4. Visual

Speech disabilities include difficulty producing speech that is understandable by others or by voice recognition software. Fortunately, advances in computer technology have led to the creation of specialized devices—called augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices—that help make it possible for individuals with no speech, or individuals with poor speech, to overcome their communication problems.

5. Speech

4

Augmentative devices are designed to support or enhance the speaking capability of a person. Alternative devices, on the other hand, replace speech as a means of communication.

There are a variety of electronic AAC devices on the market, ranging from very low tech to very high tech.

5

THE COMPONENTS OF WEB ACCESSIBILITY

13 “The Evidence”, Business Disability Forum

5

Marketers looking to enhance their digital customer experience and create a welcoming presence should comply with guidelines such as WCAG 2.0 and provide assistive technology.

Ensuring that websites and mobile apps are accessible to customers with disabilities allows marketers to delight customers.

In turn, these customers are more likely to open up their wallet and spend money.

With websites being a vital component of the buyer’s journey, marketers must make greater efforts to enhance their digital customer experience and create an inclusive web presence by reducing the barriers faced by people with disabilities.

An inclusive website does more than follow guidelines such as WCAG 2.0 Level A, AA and AAA, and standards such as the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), Section 508, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), Air Carriers Access Act (ACAA) and Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA); it gives customers the technology they need in order to do what they arrived at your website to do, despite any auditory, physical or visual barriers.

<ALT>

CONTENT

DEVELOPERS USERS

browser, media playersassistive technologies

evaluation toolsauthoring tools

The essential components of web accessibility are:

» Content—Is the content presented in clear manner that can be easily read by people with disabilities or by reading tools?

» Web browsers, media players, and other user agents

» Assistive Technology, in some cases—screen readers, alternative keyboards, switches, scanning software, etc.

» Automated testing solutions—technology that ensures websites meet the requisite standards and guidelines

» Developers—designers, coders, authors, etc., including developers with disabilities and users who contribute content

» Authoring tools—software that creates web sites

» Evaluation tools—web accessibility evaluation tools, HTML validators, CSS validators, etc.

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The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 is a technical standard, which explains how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. Web "content" generally refers to the information in a web page or web application, including text, images, sounds, code or markup that defines structure and presentation.

The guidelines were developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) with a goal of providing a globally recognized accessibility standard for websites that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments.

While the WCAG 2.0 guidelines have been incorporated into an ISO standard by the International Organization for Standardization, the ISO standard is not law.

However, most of the accessibility laws being implemented across different countries all point to WCAG 2.0, thus creating global harmonization to these guidelines. The benefits of adhering to these guidelines will ensure that a brand’s website is accessible around the world, thus reducing the amount of resources needed to meet geographic specific standards.

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UNDERSTANDING WEB CONTENT ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES 2.0

When a website is built to meet WCAG 2.0 guidelines, the reality is that it allows people with disabilities, who use assistive technology like screen readers, to seamlessly navigate the website. When these customers aren’t frustrated by their digital experience, it’s easier for them to do business with you.

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WHY ACCESSIBILITY SHOULD BE IMPORTANT TO MARKETERS

7 http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/demographics-identity/

8 http://returnondisability.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/The%20Global%20Economics%20of%20Disability%20-%202013%20Annual%20Report.pdf

The web is an important resource for banking, commerce, healthcare, employment and recreation.

When 1 in 5 people self-identify as having a disability7 and 1 in 4 families have a member who identifies as having a disability, the web takes on an increasingly important role in providing equal opportunity to people with disabilities.

53% OF GLOBAL CONSUMER MARKETPLACE IS TOUCHED BY THE DISABILITY MARKET BUYING DECISIONS

WORLDWIDEBUYING POWER

SELF-IDENTIFY AS HAVING ADISABILITY

HAVE AT LEAST 1 MEMBER WITH A DISABILITY

MORE THAN

1 IN5PEOPLE 1 IN4FAMILIES

Web accessibility also benefits the aging population including people who experience physical changes due to aging and health.

Brands benefit from web accessibility. The global market of people with disabilities is estimated to be 1.3 billion or to put it into perspective, the population of China. By the time you add in friends and families who know people with disabilities, that number rises another 2.2 billion8. Together this makes up 53% of the consumer market whose purchase decisions are influenced by disability.

The disability market is looking for a seamless online solution, and thanks to Baby Boomers, still one of the biggest spending demographics, they are willing to spend their money with brands who provide a consistent online experience.

The growing market and spending power of people with disabilities should encourage marketers to ensure their brands are disability-friendly. With legislation to make organizations accountable and the increasing role of the internet in people’s lives, ensuring a brand is disability-friendly is just good business.

Sign up for a FREE, no-obligation analysis of your website’s inclusive features.

To learn more about how you can make your website and mobile apps accessible, visit www.essentialaccessibility.com

Phone: (416) 364-2501

Toll Free: 1 (866) 333-3909

Fax: (416) 466-4452