Web accessibility refers to the inclusive practice of removing barriers that prevent interaction with, or access to, websites by people with disabilities. When your website is inaccessible, research shows you could be excluding up to 20 percent of your visitors and customers. When your website is accessible, everyone can consume your information and interact with you and your services. Visually-impaired users can visit your website using a screen reader. Those who can’t use a mouse can navigate your site using a keyboard or other input device. Designing with accessibility in mind will also improve your SEO. Join my workshop to learn more about accessibility, the importance of universal design, and how to create a high-quality user experience that is inclusive and beneficial to all.

1. Rachel Cherry / @bamadesigner
bamadesigner.com
wpcampus.org
HOW TO CREATE
ACCESSIBLE
WEBSITES

2. Director, WPCampus
wpcampus.org
@wpcampusorg
Software engineer and
accessibility/higher ed consultant
bamadesigner.com
@bamadesigner
Visit the
WPCampus
Get Involved page
to join our Slack
account!
Who am I?

3. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
• Intro to accessibility and why it’s important
• WCAG accessibility standards and legal concerns
• How to add accessibility testing to your workflow
• Common accessibility issues and how to address them
• Easy accessibility fixes that make a big impact
This session will cover:

4. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
Web accessibility refers to
the inclusive practice of
removing barriers that prevent
interaction with, or access to,
websites by people with disabilities.

5. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
Data shows 1 in 5 people have a disability.
You could be excluding 20% of
your visitors from accessing your
information, products, and services.
Why is accessibility important?

6. How do we ensure the
digital world is accessible?
VISUAL HEARING
MOTOR COGNITIVE
Deafness and hard-of-hearingBlindness, low vision, color-blindness
Inability to use a mouse,
slow response time,
limited fine motor control
Learning disabilities, inability to
remember or focus on large
amounts of information

7. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
The four principles of accessibility:
• Perceivable
• Operable
• Understandable
• Robust

8. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
Perceivable:
Information (and user interface components)
must be presentable to users in ways they can
perceive.
Must be available to the senses either through
the browser or through assistive technologies
(e.g. screen readers, screen enlargers, etc.)

9. Perceivable:
• Provide text alternatives for non-text content,
like images, video, and audio
• Offer captions, transcripts, and audio
descriptions for audio and video
• Design content to be easy to read and
listened to, e.g. good contrast, volume
control

10. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
Operable:
User interface components and navigation
cannot require interaction that a user cannot
perform.
Users can interact with all functionality using
either the mouse, keyboard, or an assistive
device.

11. Operable:
• All functionality should be available using a
keyboard
• There should be enough time to read content
and perform functionality
• Avoid designing content that might cause
seizures
• Help users navigate and find content

12. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
Understandable:
Users must be able to understand the
information as well as the operation of the user
interface.
Content is clear and limits confusion and
ambiguity.

13. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
• Write easy-to-read text with assistive
technologies in mind
• Design content and the interface to behave in
predictable ways
• Help users to avoid and correct mistakes
when entering input
Understandable:

14. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
Robust:
Content must be robust enough that it can be
interpreted reliably by as many web browsers
and agents as possible, including assistive
technologies.
Users must be able to access the content as
technologies advance.

15. How do we create
ACCESSIBLE
websites?
#WPNYC #a11y

16. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
The foundation of good accessibility is
good design, markup, and UX
which creates a high quality experience
for EVERYONE.

17. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
To provide accessible technology,
we have to consider diverse
needs during every step of a
project.

18. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
Working together during every step:
PLANNING CONTENT
DESIGN (UI/UX) ENGINEERING
MAINTENANCE

22. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
Much easier and cheaper
to design for (and maintain)
accessibility during your project
than to handle after the fact.

23. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are
published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
• WCAG has 3 levels: A, AA, and AAA
• WCAG version 2.0 AA is the industry standard
• Current version was published in December 2008
• WCAG 2.1 was released June 2018.
Web accessibility standards:

24. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
WCAG 2.0 Quick Reference
https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/
Walks you through techniques and failures!

26. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
WCAG 2.0 Checklists:
• http://webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklist
• https://a11yproject.com/checklist
• https://www.wuhcag.com/wcag-checklist/
• Create your own!

27. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
Pages without proper heading structure/order
• Are your headers in order? h1, h2, h3, etc.
• Allows content to be readable without a stylesheet, for
those who do not navigate visually.
Common website barriers:

28. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
Non-text content without a text equivalent
• Provide alt attributes or captions for images
• Provide captions and audio descriptions for videos
• Provide transcripts for audio recordings
Common website barriers:

29. Without alternative text, life-saving information in this
graphic is not available to visually impaired users.

30. .screen-reader-text {
clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);
clip-path: polygon(0 0, 0 0, 0 0, 0 0);
position: absolute !important;
white-space: nowrap;
height: 1px;
width: 1px;
overflow: hidden;
}
How to hide content visually:

31. The point of providing a text
equivalent is to convey the same
information and context as people
who can see the image.
DO NOT: Simply write “red car”.
DO: Ask yourself “why is this picture
of a red car on the page?
PRO TIP for writing image alt text:

32. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
Being unable to access functionality by keyboard
• Can you access all actions, functionality and content?
• Can you open “popups”, interact with them, close them?
• Does any functionality have keyboard trap?
Common website barriers:

33. Unable to visually determine if an element has focus
• If someone is navigating your site by keyboard, could they
determine where they are on the page?
• Could they determine which form field has focus?
• Could they determine if a button can be pressed?
Common website barriers:

34. NEVER: Remove :focus CSS styles
EASY FIX:
Search your CSS for usage of :hover.
Test those elements on your site and
make sure there are equivalent :focus
styles.
PRO TIP to ensure element focus:

35. PRO TIP to ensure element focus:
button {
background-color: #d8d8d8;
color: #222;
&:focus,
&:hover {
background: #222;
color: #fff;
}
}

36. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
Unable to skip large blocks of repeatable content
• The most common barriers for guests are having to tab
through the header and menu on every page.
• Do you use ARIA to help label sections of your page?
Common website barriers:

37. <a id=“skip” href="#content">Skip to Main Content</a>
#skip {
position: absolute;
left: -10000px;
top: auto;
width: 1px;
height: 1px;
overflow: hidden;
}
#skip:focus {
position: static;
width: auto;
height: auto;
}
How to provide “Skip to content”:

38. Actions without defined purpose or context
• Do your actions (links and buttons) provide clear context
about what’s going to happen? Never use “click here”.
• Is the HTML markup for your actions valid?
• Are you using a link when you should be using a button?
Common website barriers:

39. Using color to convey information / insufficient contrast
• Is there clear contrast between the color of your text
and its background color? Minimum: 4.5:1
• If a guest is color blind, would they have the same
experience as any other guest?
Common website barriers:

40. Web accessibility means that
people with disabilities can
perceive, understand, navigate,
interact with, and contribute to
the Web.
If color is the only method for conveying a link:

41. The link is invisible to those who can’t see blue:
Web accessibility means that
people with disabilities can
perceive, understand, navigate,
interact with, and contribute to
the Web.

42. Web accessibility means that
people with disabilities can
perceive, understand, navigate,
interact with, and contribute to
the Web.
If a different color AND an underline is used:

43. Then the link would become visible:
Web accessibility means that
people with disabilities can
perceive, understand, navigate,
interact with, and contribute to
the Web.

44. Responsive web design is
important to ensure your site can be
viewed on assistive devices of
various sizes.
Other considerations:

45. Download speeds/order is
important to ensure access to those
who don’t have access to high
speed Internet.
Other considerations:

46. Be mindful of your language.
• Avoid statements like:
“See our home page”.
• Instead, use non-sensory
language: “Visit our home page”.

47. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
Spec created to improve accessibility
of applications by providing extra
information to screen readers via
HTML attributes.
ARIA (Assistive Rich Internet Applications)

48. <div role="contentinfo">
<p>WordCamp NYC is an annual conference
celebrating WordPress, the open source software that
powers over 28% of the internet.</p>
</div>
<div role="alert">
<p>Have you said “Hi Roy” today? Go to hiroy.club to
greet Roy and make Rachel happy.</p>
</div>
ARIA example:

49. GOOD MARKUP
The foundation for good accessibility is
#WPNYC #a11y
Which also improves your SEO!

50. an accessibility evaluation tool from WebAIM
http://wave.webaim.org
• Free in-browser testing
• Free Chrome extension
• Premium API
TESTS FOR: WCAG 2.0 A/AA

51. an accessibility visualization toolkit
http://khan.github.io/tota11y
• Alt text and confusing link text
• Color contrast
• Heading structure
• Form labels
• ARIA landmarks
TESTS FOR:
• Javascript file that
places button on site
• Free Chrome
extension

52. client-side script that checks HTML source code
and detects violations of a defined coding standard
http://squizlabs.github.io/HTML_CodeSniffer
• Copy/paste code for quick testing
• Free bookmarklet for in-browser testing
TESTS FOR: WCAG 2.0 A/AA/AAA

53. an automated accessibility testing library
http://pa11y.org
• WCAG 2.0 A/AA/AAA
TESTS FOR:
• Web dashboard
• JSON web service
• Command line
PROVIDES:

54. Javascript library that executes automated accessibility
testing inside your testing framework or browser of choice
http://www.deque.com/products/axe
• Free Javascript library
• Free Chrome extension

55. Material Design:
Color Tool
https://material.io/color/
Allows you to measure
the accessibility level of
any color combination.

56. wA11y - The Web Accessibility Toolbox
https://wordpress.org/plugins/wa11y/
WORDPRESS PLUGINS

57. WORDPRESS PLUGINS

58. BROWSER TOOLS

59. BROWSER TOOLS

60. BROWSER TOOLS

61. Take advantage of
in-browser testing tools to
evaluate product demos
before you purchase.
ACCESSIBILITY PRO TIP:
#WPNYC #a11y

62. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
• Web accessibility is more prominent in higher education
because the only laws that exist are for
organizations that receive federal funding.
Legal implications

63. The only laws that exist are for
organizations that receive federal funding.

64. General businesses and organizations are not required by law,
but still receive civil suits. To name a few:
What about general businesses?

65. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
• Web Accessibility Laws & Policies
• https://www.w3.org/WAI/policies/
• Introduction to Laws Throughout the World
• https://webaim.org/articles/laws/world/
What about other countries?

66. 1. Focus on high quality UX and valid HTML markup
• Follow web standards to provide robust experience
2. Learn web accessibility standards and understand common
barriers
• Adopt checklists into every step of your workflow
3. Use tools to test for violations, priority on user testing
• Software really helps, but human experience is king
How to create accessible websites:

67. #WPNYC #a11y @bamadesigner
When you plan for accessibility,
YOU WON’T WORK HARDER.
YOU’LL WORK SMARTER.

69. Rachel Cherry
@bamadesigner
bamadesigner.com
wpcampus.org
ANY
QUESTIONS?
#WPNYC #a11y
bamadesigner.com/wpnyc