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Digital Accessibility Support

Thank you for your interest in expanding your market reach by integrating accessibility into your digital communications. Universal design and inclusive best practices, is simply good business. As an Accessibility Specialist I can support your Information Technology Services in building innovative and inclusive solutions. As a valued resource in your toolkit, I can advise on website design and accessibility remediation techniques, perform developer training and usability testing, and support document writing and product marketing. Contact me for more information.

WCAG Principles

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (new window) documents explain how to make Web content more accessible to people with disabilities. Web “content” generally refers to the information in a Web page or Web application, including text, images, forms, sounds, and such. WCAG has 12 guidelines that are organized under 4 principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. For each guideline, there are testable success criteria, which are at three levels: A, AA, and AAA. It is recommended that you achieve AA compliance.

1. Perceivable: User agents, like screen readers, require clearly defined HTML elements within a structured DOM. The Accessibility Rich Internet Application (ARIA) Landmarks and a hierarchy of Headers should be used to define page regions and content context. The Banner, Navigation panel, Main section, and Footer are visually perceivable on a standard computer screen, but is not on a screen reader device.
2. Operable: All web page elements must be operable by a keyboard, speech input, and other non-mouse devices. Some of the Java scripts may not be keyboard accessible, and preventing non-mouse users from performing some functions.
3. Understandable: Page Titles must be unique and meaningful. Links and Buttons must have concise and clearly marked text labels. Images must have descriptive alternative text. The page foreground and background, and Icons, must have contrasting colors for low vision users. The web page must have clearly defined user instructions, and a separation of information content.
4. Robust: To deliver a desirable user experience, there must be a separation between web page design and user content. The web page may not render as expected in all browsers, and will not perform as expected in differing user agents. A design utilizing style sheets and Java Script widgets may improve the robustness. Note, the Accessibility Rich Internet Application (ARIA) code should only be used on a webpage if the native HTML code cannot implement the desired DOM effect.

Digital Accessibility Service

Protect your business investment with accessibility subject matter expertise. Contact me for a free one hour consultation in assessing your business website accessibility strategy. Contact David Best

Support digital inclusion education and help close the communication gap between the sighted and blind world of people for a more inclusive society. Donations to support this free accessibility training workshop service are welcome. Accessibility Workshops and Presentations (new window)