Adrian Roselli discusses how accessibility benefits everyone now or in the future. Supporting accessibility now helps serve one's future self as people age and experience injuries or impairments. It also helps others who are currently injured or encumbered. Teaching younger developers about accessibility helps future generations if they pass on what they learn. Accessibility is an ongoing process, not just a checklist, and requires ongoing maintenance.
3. • I’ve written some stuff,
• Member of W3C,
• Building for the web
since 1993,
• Learn more at
AdrianRoselli.com,
• Avoid on Twitter
@aardrian.
Great bedtime reading!
About Adrian Roselli
5. What is a11y?
• A numeronym for “accessibility”:
• The first and last letter (accessibility),
• The number of characters omitted (a11y).
• Prominent on Twitter (character restrictions):
• #a11y
• Examples:
• l10n → localization
• i18n → internationalization
Ain’t language funsies?
6. Accessibility Gets No Respect
In fairness, Sherwin Williams needs to come up with a lot of color names...
“Cyberspace” (gray)
“Online” (blue)
“Lime Rickey” (green)
7. Accessibility Gets No Respect
…however I think the team could have done better than this.
9. Any Disability
• In the United States:
• 10.4% aged 21-64 years old,
• 25% aged 65-74 years old,
• 50% aged 75+.
• Includes:
• Visual
• Hearing
• Mobility
• Cognitive
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en/
http://www.disabilitystatistics.org/reports/2012/English/HTML/report2012.cfm?fips=2000000&html_year=2012
10. Vision Impairments
• 285 million worldwide:
• 39 million are blind,
• 246 million have low vision,
• 82% of people living with blindness are aged 50
and above.
• 1.8% of Americans aged 21-64.
• 4.0% of Americans aged 65-74.
• 9.8% of Americans aged 75+.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en/
http://www.disabilitystatistics.org/reports/2012/English/HTML/report2012.cfm?fips=2000000&html_year=2012
11. Hearing Impairments
• 360 million people worldwide have disabling
hearing loss.
• 17% (36 million) of American adults report
some degree of hearing loss:
• 18% aged 45-64 years old,
• 30% aged 65-74 years old,
• 47% aged 75+ years old.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs300/en/
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/Pages/quick.aspx
12. Mobility Impairments
• In the United States:
• 5.5% aged 21-64 years old.
• 15.6% aged 65-74 years old.
• 32.9% aged 75+.
http://www.disabilitystatistics.org/reports/2012/English/HTML/report2012.cfm?fips=2000000&html_year=2012
13. Cognitive Impairments
• Dyslexia,
• Dyscalculia,
• Memory issues,
• Distractions (ADD, ADHD),
• In the United States:
• 4.3% aged 21-64 years old.
• 5.4% aged 65-74 years old.
• 14.4% aged 75+.
http://www.disabilitystatistics.org/reports/2012/English/HTML/report2012.cfm?fips=2000000&html_year=2012&subButton=Get+HTML
25. But I’m Invincible!
• Multi-tasking,
• Sunlight,
• Eating at your desk,
• No headphones handy,
• Content is not in your native language.
The sun is trying to kill me.
38. The Message
• Supporting accessibility now helps to serve
future you.
• Supporting accessibility now helps injured
you, encumbered you.
There is no try.
39. The Message
• Supporting accessibility now helps to serve
future you.
• Supporting accessibility now helps injured
you, encumbered you.
• Getting younger developers to buy in helps
future you – if you teach them well.
Always pass on what you have learned.
40. Stairamp
Dean Bouchard on Flickrhttp://accessibility.net.nz/blog/the-problems-with-ramps-blended-into-stairs/
45. Resources
• Web Accessibility and Older People:
Meeting the Needs of Ageing Web Users
http://www.w3.org/WAI/older-users/Overview.php
• Easy Checks - A First Review of Web Accessibility
http://www.w3.org/WAI/eval/preliminary
• How People with Disabilities Use the Web:
Overview
http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/people-use-
web/Overview.html
46. Resources
• Designing For The Elderly: Ways Older People Use
Digital Technology Differently
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/02/05/design
ing-digital-technology-for-the-elderly/
• How to Write User Stories for Web Accessibility
http://www.interactiveaccessibility.com/blog/how-
write-user-stories-accessibility-requirements
• Book Excerpt: A Web for Everyone
http://uxmag.com/articles/book-excerpt-a-web-for-
everyone
47. Resources
• Inclusive Design Patterns by Heydon Pickering
https://shop.smashingmagazine.com/products/inclu
sive-design-patterns
• Accessibility for Everyone by Laura Kalbag
https://abookapart.com/products/accessibility-for-
everyone
• Inclusive Design 24 (#ID24)
https://www.inclusivedesign24.org/