What Is A Disability

Types Of Disabilities

A disability can be defined in terms of a human impairment and the environmental situation. That is, a blind person is disabled if given a printed book, but is not disabled if given a braille book. Likewise, a sighted person given a braille book would be disabled, but not if they are given a printed book. We can also impair our cognitive abilities if consuming too much alcohol.

Almost everyone will experience a disability at some point in their lives; whether due to aging, a chronic disease, illness, or an injury. With seniors and people with disabilities representing 40% of income over the coming years, a focus on access and inclusion is a smart and sustainable business investment.
The Canadian Survey on Disability (new window) estimates that aging baby boomers account for 33% of the population but 55% of the discretionary income, and between 2016 and 2041, the number of seniors aged 65 and over is projected to more than double. Currently about one third of Canadians over the age of 65 have a disability, and 70% of disabilities are non-apparent.

The number of seniors aged 65 and over is projected to almost double from 16.7% of population in 2017, to 24.8% by 2041.
One in seven Canadians aged 15 to 64 years or older reported having a disability.
About 14% of persons with disabilities have a university diploma compared to 27% of persons without disabilities.
Those that have a high school diploma or equivalent with disabilities is about 26.6%, and without disabilities is about 23.7%.
Canadian Accessibility statistics (new window)

Accessibility for Vision Loss

Vision: Low-Vision, Blindness, Deaf-Blind, Color-Blindness

Visual disabilities range from mild or moderate vision impairments in one or both eyes (low vision or partial sight), to substantial and uncorrectable loss of vision in both eyes (blindness). It is estimated that about 2.3% of adult Canadians live with vision loss. Some people have reduced or lack of sensitivity to certain colors (color blindness), or increased sensitivity towards excessive brightness in colors. These variations in perception of colors and brightness can be independent of the visual acuity. It is estimated that about 8 percent of the male population, and about 1 percent of females, experience color blindness. People with visual disabilities access the web with:

Screen readers that read electronic text out loud for blind users.
Screen magnifiers with a keyboard rather than a mouse.
Adjust browser preferences to enlarge text.
Adjust browser preferences to enhance contrast.

Vision Challenges

Low vision users encounter a range of issues to do with design, styling, animation, movement and positioning. Shoppers with color blindness will bookmark shopping sites where they can get reliable information on product colors and where they can override the colors, and not have to guess at which items were discounted. Imagine online shopping where discounted prices are indicated by red text and required fields on forms are indicated by red text. all of the text looks brown to somebody saddled with the protanopia eye condition. Solutions may use sufficient color contrast, redundant information for color (such as including names of the colors of products as well as showing a sample of the color), adding text cues (such as an asterisk to discounted prices in addition to showing them in a different color), and coding the website to allow override of default presentation.

Font size – Small fonts can be especially problematic. Some people will bypass this using screen magnification software but many people who need larger fonts don’t have a need for screen magnification. As such it is important that web pages support text resizing within the browser. Text resizing is different from zoom which resizes the whole page.
Poor contrast – Poor color contrast can affect a wide range of users including many people with visual, cognition, and learning disabilities. It can also impact users on mobile devices in bright environments. Lack of sufficient contrast prevents people from being able to perceive the information that the content is attempting to convey. This in turn causes barriers to interaction, as users may be unable to identify their location on a page, the state of the interactive elements (links and controls), read text, or identify the content of images. The importance of good color contrast can’t be understated as there are many more people with low vision than there are people who are blind.
Relying on color – Color is a key component to web design improving not just aesthetic appeal and branding but also its usability and accessibility. However, some users have difficulty perceiving color. People with partial sight often experience limited color vision, and many older users do not see color well. In addition, people using text-only, limited-color or monochrome displays and browsers will be unable to access information that is presented only in color.

Vision Resources

Accessibility for Hearing Loss

Hearing: Deafness and Hard-Of-Hearing

Auditory disabilities range from mild or moderate hearing impairments in one or both ears (hard of hearing), to substantial and uncorrectable impairment of hearing in both ears (deafness). Some people with auditory disabilities can hear sounds but sometimes not sufficiently to understand all speech, especially when there is background noise. This includes people using hearing aids or other approaches to improve the sound. Hearing loss increases with aging. Auditory disabilities affect about 3.2% of Canadians. They rely on website owners to provide captions and transcripts of audio. They also benefit from high quality audio, where the foreground speech is louder and clearer than any background noise. It is easy to assume that people with hearing and speech loss do not experience many challenges on the Web given it is mostly a visual medium. This is not the case. Video is an obvious challenge for people who are deaf and hard of hearing, who can not hear speech. To support people who cannot hear, videos should have Closed Captions, subtitles and/or transcripts:

Closed Captions for the same language as the spoken audio.
Subtitles for spoken audio translated into another language.
Transcripts are a text version of the speech and non-speech audio information needed to understand the content.
Sign language uses hand and arm movements, facial expressions, and body positions to convey meaning.

Hearing Challenges

Audio content, such as videos with voices and sounds that do not have captions or transcripts, are completely inaccessible to anyone with significant hearing loss. Closed Captions must also be in sync with the audio of the video. This means the text for the Closed Captions appear at the same time as they are spoken. People who lip read may be following the content by both watching people speak as well as reading. If the captions are out of sync it is like hearing the audio track but one or two seconds behind the visual content. Some video platforms are increasingly providing automatic captioning functionality. This can be a great help in creating captions but currently not reliable for use by people with disabilities, especially when speakers have accents and for many languages with less support for speech recognition. The existence of captions alone is not always enough to make them usable. It is also important that Closed Captions / subtitles are easy to read. In other words they have good contrast, are a decent size and are set against a background so they don’t get lost in the video background that changes. Also, comprehending text may also be a challenge for people whose first language is sign language, as can functionality that relies on speech.

Media players also have a role to play. Buttons to switch Closed Captions on and off should be easy to find in the player controls. Ideally, they are grouped together with the Play/Pause, volume, rewind/forward wind and full screen buttons. Having the button hidden within settings makes it hard to find. Buttons to control the font size of Closed Captions are also very helpful. Some older users may start to rely on Closed Captions more and more and may appreciate slightly larger font sizes.

For people born deaf, their first language is sign language. As such, written text in closed captions or pages of written text may not be easy to read. Some people may find it easier to watch a video with sign language alternatives over closed captions. For pages that contain a lot of text good use of images, icons and color to reinforce meaning can be really helpful as long as they are not relied on alone. A good use of layout and structure (headings, lists, etc.) can also make content easier to understand.

Hearing Resources

Accessibility for Motor Loss

Motor: Limited Fine Motor Control

Physical disabilities (sometimes called motor disabilities) include weakness, limitations of muscular control (such as involuntary movements including tremors, lack of coordination, or paralysis), limitations of sensation, joint problems (such as arthritis), pain that impedes movement, or missing limbs. Physical disabilities, that affects about 11% of adult Canadians can be a result of traumatic injuries, Spinal cord injury, Loss or damage of limb, Diseases and Congenital Conditions, Cerebral palsy, Muscular dystrophy, Multiple sclerosis, Spina bifida, Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS), Arthritis, and Parkinson’s disease. People with physical disabilities need an alternative to the mouse for input. Website developers must ensure the site is operable with a keyboard. Some of these input devices may be hands free devices like a head pointer to make selections, puff and sip morse code, voice recognition, eye tracking with virtual keyboard, and mouth-stick. Over 11% of Canadian adults experienced one of the three most prevalent disability types; pain, mobility or flexibility. It is estimated about 9.7% Pain, 7.6% Flexibility, 7.2% Mobility, and 3.5% Dexterity. About 1% of people use a wheelchair or scooter as their primary mode of transportation.

It is easy to assume that people with speech impediments don’t encounter challenges on the Web given the Web is thought of as a visual medium. However, an obvious area where people are challenged are voice-based services such in home devices including Alexa, Google Home, and voice control on mobile such as Siri, Google Voice, and Cortana. While these are great accessible alternatives for many disabled people, they are not for people with limited or no speech. Voice-based services are a good example of an accessible enhancement but one that should not be relied on alone. It is important to include multiple ways to do a task rather than limit it to just one way. Ensuring the alternative to voice-based services is accessible is key. For example, if a contact us page has a phone number and a contact us form the form must be accessible. If voice search is used on mobile apps there must be a text based search that is also accessible as well as multiple ways to find information through links.

Motor Challenges

Switch controls offer an alternative way to interact with digital content if using a mouse, keyboard, voice or gestures is not possible. People with limited or no upper body movement such as Repetitive Strain Injury, Cerebral Palsy, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s disease may use switch controls. However use is not limited to just people with limited movement. They are also highly beneficial to people with cognitive and learning difficulties. Given the number of different movements and senses we all have there are a wide variety of different types of switches to accommodate various needs.

Sip-and-puff switches which are triggered by sipping and puffing into a straw which then mimics tabbing and clicking.
Button switches which can be activated using the hand, foot or head. These can be single switches or multiple switches.
Camera switches which can be activated when tilting the head into a camera. Some mobile phones have this built into the accessibility settings.
Eye tracking, the process of measuring either the point of gaze (where one is looking) or the motion of an eye relative to the head.

People with limited dexterity can use speech recognition software. Speech recognition software enables spoken language to be translated into text and commands by computers and devices. When using speech recognition software it is possible to activate links, fill out forms, and activate buttons. It bypasses the need for a keyboard, mouse, or other pointing device. Like screen readers speech recognition software relies on the underlying code to navigate. Some common Underlying Code Issues are:

Unclear links and buttons – if a button lacks visible text a user will not know its name and how to activate it. Instead they will have to number links on a page and select the link by its number.
Lack keyboard access – if a user can not set focus on a button it can not be activated.
Illogical focus order – if the focus order is different from the visual order of a page it can confuse users and they can loos track of where focus is.
Missing or poor visible focus – when focus states are not clear it might not be possible to know where the current focus is.

Technology plays an increasing role in how we control our environment. The convenience of apps and devices that enable us to play music, switch on the TV, control the temperature, answer the door. What is convenience for some is essential for others. People with limited or no mobility/dexterity may rely on these apps and devices but if you have limited speech as well. People may have limited or no speech for a number of reasons:

Mutism, the inability to speak, may occur due to anxiety, brain injuries, or inability to hear and learn speech.
Speech impediments such as stuttering or Tourettes.
Degenerative disease such as Huntington’s disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Being deaf or hard of hearing may also affect speech.
Temporary illness such as coughs or treatment such as chemo that can affect the throat and speech.
Situational impairments such as being in a noisy environment where a website or app can’t easily hear or distinguish voice or a quiet environment where it is not possible to be noisy such as in a library.

Motor Resources

Accessibility for Cognitive Loss

Cognitive: Learning Disabilities, Dyslexia, Distractibility

Cognitive and neurological disabilities involve disorders of any part of the nervous system, including the brain and the peripheral nervous system. This can impact how well people hear, move, see, speak, understand information, and inability to remember or focus on large amounts of information. Cognitive and neurological disabilities do not necessarily affect the intelligence of a person. It is estimated that about 8.5% of adult Canadians have a cognitive or neurological disability (About 3.9% Mental/psychological, 2.3% Memory, and 2.3% Learning). These can be grouped as:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
Intellectual disabilities
Learning disabilities
Mental health disabilities
Memory impairments
Multiple sclerosis
Perceptual disabilities, and
Seizure disorders.

Cognitive Challenges

Complex navigation mechanisms and page layouts can be difficult to understand and use for many people. When a navigation system is vast and complex, finding the link a user may want becomes problematic, especially with the added dexterity issues that fly out menus can present. If a site is responsive, it is not uncommon for some users (including users with low vision) to either resize the window to a smaller mobile size or zoom content to trigger a responsive layout where navigation is packed away behind a menu button and content is presented in a single column layout making it easier to navigate for some. However, following on from the idea that what works for some won’t work for all. That is, this may not be the preferred strategy for someone who finds scrolling distracting. This is why sites must be flexible so people have a choice.

Inclusive web design is concerned with the four common problem areas in cognitive and neurological disability:

Perception and processing: This refers to an individual’s ability to identify, perceive, and integrate visual and auditory information into meaningful chunks. The inclusive design solutions involve techniques like using the clearest and simplest language appropriate for the content, pairing graphics with text, allowing fonts to be enlarged, providing text contrast, and adding white space to the page.
Memory: The inclusive design must consider techniques like navigation that is consistent across the site and over time, the use of obvious breadcrumbs, and consistent use of style to denote hypertext links such as a blue underline.
Problem solving: The inclusive design must consider techniques like testing the user interface interactive components for users with a low threshold of frustration, checking for valid links on a regular basis, making sure the forms work properly, avoiding pop-ups, and providing a mechanism to answer questions or providing support to the user if needed.
Attention: The inclusive design must consider user distractions, such as scrolling text and blinking icons that can make it difficult to interact with the web environment.

Reading text can be a challenge for a variety of reasons. It can be to small, too big, the line height to narrow, the style hard to read or the colors difficult to see. A key strategy for people with cognition and learning disabilities is to adapt the page to suit their needs using browser controls or custom style sheets. This allows people to adjust font styles, font and background colors, customize borders, increase line spacing, adjust margins, and so on. All this is only possible as long as the website has been coded in such a way as to allow people to make such customization.

Complex sentences that are difficult to read and unusual words that are difficult to understand can prevent users understanding content and context. Additionally, use of metaphors and slang can be difficult for some people who do not understand nuance. Walls of text can also be equally difficult to understand. Ideally long passages of text should make good use of headings, sub headings, bulleted and numbered lists as well as images, graphs or other illustrations to help explain and reinforce information contained with the text.

Images can be both helpful or distracting depending on how they are used. Icons need to be clearly recognizable and consistent with what people will recognize from around the Web. But for some icons can always be difficult to understand so presenting a visible text label next to an icon can help with understanding. For example a delete icon has a visible ‘Delete’ text label adjacent to it. Text within images however could be hard for users to understand. A news website with text within an image may be too busy and distracting to read. Especially if there are multiple images of text on the page. But when used in a balanced way images can make improve comprehension of a page by providing a secondary way to convey information already in text and reinforce meaning.

Moving, blinking, or flickering content, video or audio that auto-plays and cannot be turned off can be distracting for users. Content like this is designed to grab the users attention, to promote products and push adverts. As such, while they may act as an annoyance for some they can be a huge challenge to others. Movement and animation should be avoided, or come to a rest after a short time. Alternatively a stop, pause or mute button can be provided to stop the animation or media.

Cognitive Resources

Accessibility for the Aging Population

Aging: Invisible Disabilities, Medical, and Temporary

Age related or temporary disabilities will effect everyone at some point in their life. When driving you need hands free devices. When in a noisy environment you need text and images. If you are not aging, or you can guarantee that you will never have an accident or some debilitating disease, or will never be in an environmental situation where you cannot see or hear, then you need not be concerned about accessibility. In the next few decades we will see unparalleled growth in the number of people becoming elderly. As we age, we experience increasing impairments that affect how we interact with computers and websites. The next few decades will see an unparalleled growth in the number of people becoming elderly compared with any other period in human history. The United Nations estimate that by 2050 one out of every five people will be over 60 years of age, and in some countries the proportion will be much higher than that. Designing products that are easier for older people to use is similar to designing for people with disabilities. That is, websites, applications, and tools that are accessible to people with disabilities are not just more accessible to older users, but to all users as well. Web Accessibility is essential For Some, but useful For All.

people using mobile phones, smart watches, smart TVs, and other devices with small screens, different input modes, etc.
Older people with changing abilities due to ageing.
People with temporary disabilities, such as a broken arm.
People with situational limitations, such as in bright sunlight.
People using a slow Internet connection, or who have limited or expensive bandwidth.
Also, the added benefit of helping search engines index websites’ contents better.

Aging Challenges

There is something about great design that allows it to go practically unnoticed. But it doesn’t take much to make things confusing and frustrating, so websites and apps have to be properly coded. Poor layout can be very frustrating, and good design involves good layout, which means a better user experience. This includes clear headings, navigation bars, and consistent styling. Any web user will get frustrated with bad layout and design. Complex layouts also make finding information difficult. So, making websites and apps predictable and understandable makes them accessible to people with cognitive and learning disabilities, and more usable for everyone. Especially for people with lower computer skills.

Without clear notifications and feedback, people are quickly disorientated and confused. Especially error messages which are often complex and confusing. Trying to hit a small target requires lots of effort, but on the Web, we can make areas for clicking and tapping larger and easier to use, which is critical for people with reduced dexterity; And handy on mobile devices especially when we might be moving around at the time. Sometimes customization is a necessity for those with low vision and dyslexia (to be able to adjust the size, spacing, font, and colors without loss of functions or clarity), but is a convenient preference for all users.

People who are deaf or hard of hearing need audio information as captions or transcripts, but others prefer it to better understand content because users can hear the information in audio and see it in text at the same time. For example, a research study found that 71% of students without hearing difficulties use captions, primarily to help them focus and retain information. It is significantly easier and quicker for many users to skim or read transcripts, rather than watched or listened to the video.
1. Transcripts can be used without needing to download video files. For example, to save data on mobile devices, or can be used offline, printed, or converted to braille.
2. Captions can be used:
– in loud environments where users cannot hear the audio. For example, a bar, an airport, or a concert.
– In quiet environments where users cannot turn on sound. For example, in a library, on public transportation, or when others are sleeping.
– By people who cannot understand the spoken language well and can understand the written language better. For example, people who are not native speakers of the language.
– By people learning to read, including people learning a new language.

One of the advances of technology is voice recognition; Whether it’s searching the Web, Dictating emails, Or controlling your navigation app. Many people with physical disabilities rely on voice recognition to use the computer, but it is also very helpful for many people with dyslexia, and very useful for people who have difficulty reading text. As well as some people who just like to multi-task. Voice recognition could help people with temporary limitations (like an injured arm), and it can also prevent injuries becoming worse (like Repetitive Stress Injury). Likewise, computers can convert text to speech for those people that cannot see the text on this screen for whatever reason.

Not being able to use your computer because your mouse does not work, might be frustrating, but many people use only the keyboard to navigate websites either through preference or circumstance. Whether it’s temporarily limited mobility, a permanent physical disability, or simply a broken mouse, the result is the same for all users.