The document discusses accessibility in coding. It begins by defining accessibility as building digital content that can be used by people with disabilities. It then discusses why accessibility is important, noting that it provides equal access and opportunities for all users and is legally required in many places. The document outlines some key laws around accessibility. It concludes by explaining how to achieve better accessibility, including understanding accessibility standards, applying principles of inclusive design, semantic HTML, WAI-ARIA, considering screen readers, and using accessibility checking tools.

1. Approach Coding for
Accessibility
- Nitin Suri

2. What do I have today?
➔ Short discussion
An analogical short discussion leading
us to todays topic…
➔ The real thing… Accessibility
What is accessibility?
Why it is important? and
How do I achieve better
accessibility?

3. Benefits from Space
Exploration in daily life?

4. Benefits from Space
Exploration in daily life?
• Infrared Ear Thermometers - imagine using a traditional thermometer with a child
• Ventricular Assist Device - Saving lives using artificial heart
• Fire-Resistant Reinforcement - fire-retardant paints and foams for aircraft
• Enriched Baby Food - nutritional enrichment through microalgae

5. What has this to do with
Coding for Accessibility…?

6. What has this to do with
Coding for Accessibility…?
To understand how every small step
makes the world a more inclusive place,
and how accessibility features lead to a
more inclusive web/applications.

7. What do I have today?
➔ Short discussion
An analogical short discussion leading
us to todays topic…
➔ The real thing… Accessibility
What is accessibility?
Why it is important? and
How do I achieve better
accessibility?

8. What is accessibility?
Web accessibility refers to the
INCLUSIVE PRACTICE of building digital
content and applications that can be
used by a wide range of people,
including individuals with disabilities*
which might be permanent, temporary
or situational.
In terms of engineering it is a practice of
making sites accessible by design
(color-contrast, typography), user-
experience (ease of use), coding (native
mark-up), and finally the content
(specifically imagery).
* more than 10% of the total population.

9. What do I have today?
➔ Short discussion
An analogical short discussion leading
us to todays topic…
➔ The real thing… Accessibility
What is accessibility?
Why it is important? and
How do I achieve better
accessibility?

10. What people are saying
Your product can have the
best features on the market, if
using it is painful, nobody is
going to use it.
Anonymous
The power of the Web is in its
universality. Access by
everyone regardless of
disability is an essential
aspect.
Tim Berners-Lee
Quotes for illustration purposes only

11. Why accessibility is
important?
It is important for the Websites and
Applications to be accessible to
everyone to provide EQUAL ACCESS
and OPPORTUNITIES which help them
participate more actively in society.
It is equally important for, both, the
people, and the businesses by creating
newer market opportunities.
And for DEVELOPERS, if we focus on
accessibility then we write better code,
build a better product.
And legally as well.

12. Laws for Accessibility
Each country has different laws around
accessibility policies related to web,
some of better known laws are listed
below, mostly based on WCAG2.0:
Complete list: https://www.w3.org/WAI/policies/
Australia Disability Discrimination Act
1992 (DDA)
Canada Canadian Human Rights Act
Denmark Agreement on the use of
open standards for software
in the public sector
European Union European Accessibility Act
(proposed)
United Kingdom Equality Act 2010
United States Section 508

13. What do I have today?
➔ Short discussion
An analogical short discussion leading
us to todays topic …
➔ The real thing… Accessibility
What is accessibility?
Why it is important? and
How do I achieve better
accessibility?

14. How do I achieve better
accessibility?
➔ Understanding accessibility
standards
➔ Learn and implement core
principles

15. Understanding
accessibility standards
Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines (WCAG2.0)
standards are produced and
managed by the World Wide
Web Consortium (W3C) under
its Web Accessibility Initiative
(WAI).

16. Learn and implement
core principles
➔ Inclusive Design and User
experience
➔ Semantic HTML
➔ WAI-ARIA
➔ Screen readers
➔ Accessibility Tools

17. Learn and implement
core principles
➔ Inclusive design and User experience
Inclusive design is a methodology that enables
and draws on the full range of human diversity.
It is about having an inclusive approach
towards the design and the user experience. It
involves understanding the need of the end
user, given all possible limitations.

18. Learn and implement
core principles
➔ Semantic HTML
It is the use of correct HTML mark-up that
provides rich semantics implicitly
to reinforce the information in webpages and
web applications rather than merely to define its
layout.
➔ Define document Language
➔ Use correct landmark elements, this helps
with better keyboard navigation
➔ Use Alt attribute for images captions for
rich media
➔ Operable information like, focus state, form
labels & errors help provide feedback

19. ➔ WAI-ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet
Applications Suite)
ARIA Framework for adding attributes that can
be applied to dynamic content, and custom
components. These are divided into roles and
states and properties.
Some examples for WAI-ARIA are:
● Roles:
Widget (Menu, Button, Tab-Tab panel), and
Landmarks (banner, tables (data-grid))
● States and properties:
Widget attributes (aria-checked, aria-
expanded), and
Relationship attributes (aria-labelledby, aria-
describedby)
Learn and implement
core principles

20. ➔ Screen readers
On a webpage the screen reader targets the
ACCESSIBILITY TREE to interpret the content
and the functionalities.
We must hence provide the document
language, the landmark elements (for optimal
keyboard navigation), the content of the page,
and ALL user-interaction (menus, dropdowns)
● NVDA (Windows)
● Apple VoiceOver (OS X)
● ORCA (Linux)
● WebAnywhere (All OSs, Web browsers)
Learn and implement
core principles

21. ➔ Accessibility checker
An Accessibility checker verifies your file against
a set of rules that identify possible issues for
people who have disabilities. Depending on how
severe the issue is, the Accessibility Checker
classifies each issue as an error, warning, or tip.
Some widely used automated tools are:
● Achecker (Online)
● WAVE (Online, and browser plugin)
● Google Lighthouse (browser plugin)
Learn and implement
core principles

22. Thank you