What is Accessibility?
Accessibility ensures that all people—regardless of ability—can interact with the information or services you provide. In the digital environment, accessible software can enable a person with a vision, hearing, or other disability to participate in and contribute to the web.
The cost of inaccessibility
Although people with disabilities are very often marginalized, the stakes of inaccessibility are quite high. Someone with a disability specifically might lose out on a job opportunity, miss an essential shipment of supplies, or be put into an unsafe physical situation.
Accessibility is foundational.
Think of a building with accessible entrances or elevators squandered away in side corridors or down alleys; truly hard to find. If these access points existed and were easier to spot by people in wheelchairs–say, centralized in the building's design–they would ease access while serving everyone in the process.
Disability rights have a rich history of protest, as people faught hard for access. The Americans with Disabilities Act almost didn’t pass; it was thanks to people with disabilities (opens in a new tab) that we have such a landmark piece of legislation decades later.
With software, incorporating accessibility at any time is beneficial. We have the benefit of being able to change things after an initial build. But the earlier we can adopt accessibility in our planning and execution, the less debt we'll acquire throughout a project. And we shouldn’t have to rely on laws and the courts to make it happen.
Types of disabilities
An estimated 1.3 billion people – about 16% of the global population, or 26% of adults in the United States – currently experience some kind of disability. This number is increasing due in part to population ageing and an increase in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases.
Disability is a part of life.
A person’s environment has a huge effect on the experience and extent of disability. There are many types of disabilities (opens in a new tab), such as those that affect a person’s:
- Vision
- Movement
- Thinking
- Remembering
- Learning
- Communicating
- Hearing
- Mental health
- Social relationships
Disability can affect anyone. Some people might experience more than one category of disability. Two people with the same type of disability can also be affected in very different ways. Some disabilities may be hidden or not easy to see.
Accessibility wins
It's easy to find accessibility failures out there. While it's important to be real about the stakes of inaccessibility, our community can benefit from celebrating things that have gone well.
I originally created Accessibility Wins (opens in a new tab) to offset the mood around access and web development while trying to stay objective. I want to encourage you to celebrate your accessibility wins, large or small.
Test thoroughly to make sure your work functions properly in common workflows. Invite feedback from people with disabilities. If it's unfinished, find progress in stages and keep coming back to it. I promise you, wins can be had as long as you never give up.
Reasons to overcome access debt
- Civil rights. (This should be enough!)
- People with disabilities have fought for their civil rights for decades. We should honor this and do what we can to improve access in our areas of control.
- It's the right thing to do!
- Legal issues.
- Accessibility is a legal right in a lot of places. Sometimes the legal argument can be effective in persuading stakeholders.
- Pride in your craft.
- Accessible, well-designed software is quality software. That is something to be proud of.
- The web is mostly accessible by default: we shouldn't mess it up.
- Business cases.
- Larger customer reach and opportunities. There is a risk of losing business.
- Many of the accessibility law cases in the United States establish precedent in certain business verticals. Often these cases can be used as leverage ("our competitor was sued, we could be next!").