The document provides an overview of web accessibility, emphasizing its importance in ensuring that websites are usable by everyone, including those with disabilities and the elderly. It dispels common myths about accessibility, highlights legal obligations, and outlines key considerations for designing accessible websites. Additionally, it offers practical checks to assess website accessibility and encourages proactive design rather than retrofitting accessibility features.

1. Web Accessibility:
What it is, Why it's important
Graham Armfield
Web Accessibility Consultant
WordPress Developer
graham.armfield@coolfields.co.uk
@coolfields
Coolfields Consulting
www.coolfields.co.uk
@coolfields

2. What I‟m going to cover
•
•
•
•
•
•
What is web accessibility?
Why it‟s important
Who is affected by poor accessibility?
Who can influence accessibility?
When to think about accessibility
So is my website accessible?
2

3. What is Web Accessibility?
“Enabling the web so that everyone
can access its content when they
want to and how they need to”
Coolfields Consulting
www.coolfields.co.uk
@coolfields

4. Accessibility is not black and white
In most websites there are usually few accessibility
showstoppers. But…
• They do occur
• Websites can be fine for some people but totally
inaccessible for others
Web accessibility issues make life a harder for some people.
So, web accessibility is about making websites easy to use
for as many people as possible.
Remember, if people find your website hard to use they will
probably leave.
4

5. Why is Accessibility Important?
What is all the fuss about?
Coolfields Consulting
www.coolfields.co.uk
@coolfields

6. Why is accessibility important?
The web is increasingly the world‟s preferred channel for:
• Knowledge
• Social interaction
• Commerce
But it‟s not always easy for:
• Those with disabilities
• Those who are getting older
Accessibility can increase the profitability or reach of a
website
Accessibility is a legal requirement
6

7. Who is Affected by Poor
Accessibility?
More people than you may think.
Coolfields Consulting
www.coolfields.co.uk
@coolfields

8. Accessibility Myths - 1
It‟s just for a minority of people…
• 12 million people in UK have a recognised disability
• In the UK 15 million are over 55 – 12 million over 65
• Allowing for overlap between those with disability and those
over 65 there could be as many as 16.5 million people in UK
who could benefit from good accessibility in websites
8

9. Accessibility Myths - 2
Accessibility is all about blind people…
• 1.8 million people have a vision impairment, of which
180,000 are registered blind
• 1 in 12 men have colour-blindness
• 2.6 million have difficulties using their hands which could
impact their use of keyboard and/or mouse
• About 2 million people have a hearing impairment, of which
50,000 use British Sign Language to communicate
• About 2 million people are dyslexic
• 2.2 million people have difficulty with
memory, concentration or learning, of which about 1 million
have a learning difficulty
9

10. Accessibility Myths - 3
Yes, but my site is not meant for the blind/deaf/motor
impaired* (Delete as appropriate)
• People don‟t always browse and/or buy just for themselves
• You can‟t make assumptions about people
• Studies in US show that friends and family of people with
disabilities will also avoid inaccessible sites
10

11. Accessibility Myths - 4
It‟s too expensive – not enough return on investment
• People with disabilities represent a market worth £80bn per
year in the UK – approx £320bn across EU
• Friends and family can add significantly to that
• 83% of disabled people will not return to a business that
does not meet their access needs.
• If a company‟s website is hard to use, people will visit a
competitor‟s site which is easier to use.
• Tesco – In 2001 an accessible version of their shopping site
was launched at a cost £35k and yielded £13m turnover a
year
11

12. Accessibility Myths - 5
If I ignore it, it‟ll go away
• We are all getting older
• One in four will be over 65 by 2061
• How accessible do you want the web to be in 20/30/40
years time?
12

13. Accessibility and the law
• Equality Act 2010 (Disability Discrimination Act in Northern
Ireland)
• Laws specifically refer to websites
13

14. Accessibility Myths - 6
Yes but no-one ever gets sued anyway
• A number of actions started against companies but many
settled „out of court‟ with confidentiality clauses attached.
• In 2012 RNIB started an action publicly against BMI Baby. It
was impossible to book flights and reserve seats on their
website without using a mouse.
» The case was settled as BMI Baby agreed to make
changes.
» RNIB have indicated that they may be looking at more
actions in the near future.
14

15. Types of disability/impairment
Visual impairments
•
•
•
•
blindness
colour blindness
low vision
etc
Motor impairments
• restricted use of hands
• Parkinsons
• etc
Epilepsy
Hearing impairments
• deafness – partial or full
• background noise
• etc
Cognitive impairments
•
•
•
•
•
dyslexia
autism
ADHD
linguistic impairments
etc
15

16. Techniques to mitigate impairment
Accessibility options in browsers
•
Mainly Internet Explorer + Firefox
•
Specify colours, font styles
•
Adjust text size or zooming – there is a difference
•
Attach your own custom stylesheet (IE only)
16

17. Assistive technology
17

18. But complexity comes at a price
How much for a screen reader?
Open source to the rescue?
• NVDA screen reader
• free to download
• PC only at this time
• Improving all the time - http://www.nvaccess.org/
18

19. Screen reader examples
1.BBC News with NVDA –
medium speed
2.BBC News with NVDA –
faster speed
Refreshable Braille Display
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6XAPkiQMtw
at approx 2:06 in
19

20. iPhones, iPads and blindness
•
Many accessibility features built in
•
•
Eg Voiceover – screen reader
Speech recognition
•
The result is that many blind users swear by their iOS
devices
•
Android devices have Talkback, getting better but not as
good as Voiceover.
20

21. Who can influence accessibility?
Coolfields Consulting
www.coolfields.co.uk
@coolfields

22. Who can influence accessibility?
Web accessibility is all about the user interface.
•
Designers – who specify the layout and functionality
•
Developers – who build the websites to the design
specified
•
Content authors – those who write the pages, articles
and posts
22

23. Content authors - Images
Ensure correct use of alternate
text (alt attribute)
• Describe what image shows or
what it represents
• If a link, describe destination
• If decorative, leave blank
(alt=“”)
Adding an image to a page in
WordPress
23

24. Content authors - Links
Make sure all links have
meaningful text
• Ensure that destination is
clear from the link:
My blog post: Read more
rather than
My blog post: Read more
• Don‟t just use click here
Links list from JAWS screen
reader
• If link opens new tab or
window inform the user
24

25. Content authors - Headings
Use headings properly
• Headings signpost your
content for all users
• Use heading levels just as you
would in a Word (or other
WP) document.
• Often used as navigation
mechanism by screen reader
users
• Headings are used by search
engines to help index
websites
Headings list from NVDA
screen reader
25

26. When Should I Think About
Accessibility?
Coolfields Consulting
www.coolfields.co.uk
@coolfields

27. Implementing accessibility
• Accessibility is a lot harder and more expensive to retrofit.
• So it needs to be designed in from the start
• Think of it as another requirement – one which may not be
explicitly asked for.
• If you‟re commissioning a website make sure your
developer has an accessibility policy.
27

28. So how do I know if my
website is accessible?
Coolfields Consulting
www.coolfields.co.uk
@coolfields

29. Quick accessibility checks - 1
You need to answer yes to all these questions:
• Can I easily access all functionality with the keyboard only?
• Can I easily access all parts of the site with the keyboard
only?
• Can I easily see where keyboard focus is?
• Does the keyboard tab order make sense?
• Do all videos have captions?
29

30. Quick accessibility checks - 2
You need to answer yes to all these questions:
• Can I resize text in a page without breaking the layout?
(Note: resizing and zooming are not the same thing)
• Are the page titles unique and meaningful?
• Are links obviously links?
• Do all links provide enough information to describe
destination?
• Do links which open new window warn the user first?
30

31. Quick accessibility checks - 3
You need to answer yes to all these questions:
• Do all images have appropriate alternate text?
• Do pages have appropriate headings and subheadings?
• Do all form fields have a corresponding label?
• Is the colour contrast sufficient?
You need to answer No to this question
• Is meaning conveyed by colour or shape only?
31

32. Useful links
Colour Contrast Analyzer
• http://paciellogroup.com/resources/contrastAnalyser
Wave
• standalone (http://wave.webaim.org/)
• or as Firefox add-on
How to get alternate text right
• http://owl.li/pGtKC
32

33. Thanks for listening –
any questions?
graham.armfield@coolfields.co.uk
@coolfields
33