Let’s say you’re not concerned about website lawsuits (*gasp*). Why should web accessibility matter to you? Consider the following situations:
- I’m a passenger in a bouncy vehicle.
- I want to use my laptop outside on a sunny day.
- It’s freezing and I’m wearing one of those touchscreen gloves so I can use my device.
- I have the worst migraine.
- I want to watch a video without headphones but need to be quiet.
- I’m tired but need to find key information.
- I want Alexa to help me while I’m cooking.
In all these cases, web accessibility could make my life a lot easier. Let’s take a closer look at why.
A Website Should Be Perceivable
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are built on four main principles. The first is perceivability. Web content needs to be available to users through sight, sound, or touch. This means a website needs to be functional and understandable if the text is zoomed in, if the lighting is low, or if the user isn’t using a mouse, to name a few examples.
Visual
My mom doesn’t like wearing glasses, so when I help her with website stuff (like figuring out where to pay her taxes online) her browser text is usually blown up fairly large. When a site is able to accommodate (the text flows nicely and images reposition themselves in a sensible way instead of breaking the layout) we’re both still able to use the site and safely make that payment.
However accessibility is not just for seniors and users with disabilities. We’ve all been in situations where web accessibility would have been nice. Consider all the different ways tiny font size can be annoying:
- When you’ve got a headache and need to read stuff
- When you’re reading in a moving vehicle and it’s just not smooth going
- When someone wants you to take a look at something over their shoulder
- When you’ve misplaced your glasses (on top of your head perhaps?)
Audio
I think I appreciate captions and transcripts more than the average person, for various reasons:
- I sometimes miss what a person just said, which is made worse by accents or mumbling.
- I browse Facebook with my sound turned off because of the endless annoying ads that automatically play while I scroll.
- I watch videos with the sound very low so as not to bother others.
- I want to get specific information from a podcast but don’t want to sit through the whole thing. If there’s no transcript, I will exit and find some other source.
A Website Should Be Operable
This means it should be functional regardless of input methods. Here are some everyday cases:
- My mouse once stopped working and I had to reboot my computer, but I didn’t want to lose my progress (it was a long form). I was able to use the keyboard to finish filling out the form and submit it.
- Trying to close a popup on my phone with touchscreen gloves on can be quite the challenge.
- Trying to close that same popup with my bare fingers in a bouncy vehicle is also challenging.
- Power users and those trying to reduce mouse usage due to sore muscles appreciate keyboard shortcuts.
- Non-power users appreciate being able to turn off certain keyboard shortcuts if they keep hitting them by accident.
A Website Should Be Understandable
This basic principle is not just a web accessibility staple, it’s also an important user interface principle. It affects everyone, not just those with cognitive disabilities. Some examples:
- I’ve encountered websites and software that relied on icons to convey information, but hovering over the icon did not tell me what they meant. Icons are not universally understood.
- Long-winded sentences are generally more difficult to comprehend, even for those with no impairments. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to reread a sentence because it was just so convoluted.
- Tired users don’t want to mentally wrestle with a sentence to get at its meaning.
- Users reading (or listening) in a second language may struggle with complex sentences.
A Website Should Be Robust
This means a site should work with a variety of assistive technologies. Screen readers aren’t just for blind users. More and more people are using digital assistants like Alexa or Siri to read website content to them, which is handy when you’re puttering around a kitchen, working under a car, or walking a dog.
Web Accessibility is for Everyone
Now do you get it? Even if you couldn’t care less about making the web usable for those with disabilities (*another gasp*), you should make it usable for the average person trying to use it in various conditions. Anything you can do to make life easier for someone means that person is going to favor your site over another site offering the same content. And that’s one straightforward way to give yourself an edge.