Reducing Barriers to Online Access for People with Disabilities
Digital technology has always had the potential to help people with disabilities. Since digital devices' capabilities have advanced significantly for a long time, it is common to assume that accessibility is also advancing at a similar rate. Unfortunately, accessibility for people with disabilities is neither assured nor consistent.
To ensure that the inclusionary promise of digital technologies is achieved, an intentional and systemic effort is needed to improve your website experience. Be aware of the message you are consenting. And learn tips and tools that will help your business improve your website experience.
People with disabilities make up the largest minority population in the US. 54.4 million individuals are disabled. As the baby boom generation matures, this figure will quickly rise.
What are the barriers to online access?
When a website's design or presentation includes a feature that makes it challenging to read or engage with the material, this is known as an online access barrier. Four key issues are the most common causes of user difficulty:
- Reading hindrances, such as the wrong font style, the wrong text size, or the wrong backdrop and text color contrast.
- Barriers to comprehension - When web text employs excessively technical jargon or terminology, the page doesn't make sense, or when alt tags and link descriptions are absent.
- Impossible keyboard navigation is frequently caused by website faults such as missing input labels on forms, empty links and buttons, and missing document language.
Is Your Website Inaccessible?
What does having an accessible interface entail? In the technology world, your computer interface will be usable by those with disabilities, such as hearing impairments, and vision impairments, many of whom access software, operating systems, and websites via assistive technology. A screen reader, which produces computer-generated speech output of what is displayed on the screen, speech recognition, which enables hands-free input, and numerous other keyboards and pointing devices are examples of assistive technologies that are often used.
Barriers that people commonly experience because of inaccessible websites
There are numerous factors that may contribute to varying degrees of auditory, cognitive, physical, verbal, and visual difficulties in individuals. For instance, some people may have impairments from birth, as a result of an illness, disease, or accident, or they may have them as they get older. Even when they do encounter such functional limits, some people might not believe themselves to have disabilities. Each person is unique. How people function with, skills, tools, interests, and expectations vary, and these factors might affect how they utilize the Internet. Take into account, for example, the following elements:
Age-related disabilities: are something that many people will experience. Even if they have the same functional needs as other people with disabilities, there can occasionally be big variations in how they need to use assistive technology.
Mixed impairments: Some people have a combination of distinct impairments, which may restrict how they engage with the Web. For instance, captions for audio may be helpful for someone who is deaf and has low vision, but only if the captions can be changed in terms of size and color.
Health conditions: Some people have health conditions that may affect their stamina, dexterity, or concentration. For instance, some may experience fatigue, pain, or other symptoms that could have an impact on their physical use of the computer or limit the duration or extent of their use of the Web. User-friendly web development or accessibility features can assist users.
Impairments that are only temporary: Some people may be dealing with impairments that are only brief, such as those that could be brought on by an accident, surgery, or medicine.
Together We Can Reduce Barriers to Online Access for People with Disabilities
Everyone, including those without impairments, benefits from websites and online tools created for persons with varying abilities. Instead of classifying people based on their medical conditions, it is crucial to consider the wide variety of functional needs. The United States has supported the rights of people with disabilities, and as technology advances, so have the legal protections of those rights prevailed.
Disability-friendly web design and development are the focus of ADA Web Accessibility. We offer a web accessibility solution that can add captions and transcripts to your web pages to make them more user-friendly. To expand your reach among online users who have impairments, get in touch with us right now.