The world is a wondrous place, so wondrous in fact, that we've decided to rebuild the whole thing over again, piece by piece. Much to the disappointment of my inner nine year old, no I'm not talking about any Mars expeditions or peaceful Death Stars (Life Star?). I am of course talking about the wide World of the web.
It might be a little cliché to say, but our world is moving online. Everything from mail to music and movies to March Madness used to only exist in the physical world, but bit by kilobit is being made digital.
Now, while this isn't a groundbreaking idea, it was one I found myself thinking a bit more deeply about as I began to learn more about accessibility online. As a Product Manager for a Marketing Cloud platform centred around websites, I can tell you that Web Accessibility is rapidly growing in significance for anyone who has anything to do with stuff online. Not only that, I believe that the transition from traditional Accessibility to Web Accessibility is the latest example of us humans taking a piece of the physical world, and moving it online (which I just think is super neat).
Now, why do I think that? What a wonderfully timed question! To answer, I'd like to explore Accessibility in a bit more depth so we can:
- Understand a bit more about what accessibility is
- Contextualize what it means for those of us who create experiences or run business online
- Talk about how quickly Web Accessibility is coming to the mainstream and
- To look at some things you might want to keep in mind when building things online (aka. some tips from your friendly neighbourhood Product Manager who has worked on many thousands of websites over the past few years😊)
Now without further ado, let's go on an adventure!
What is this "Accessibility" talk you speak of?
Ultimately, accessibility is all about access, and barriers to that access. As one respondent to a Government of Canada survey (7) put it:
"My definition of 'barrier' is anything that impairs or prevents access, physically or mentally, to any physical movement, learning and/or acceptance by others. Ergo, 'accessibility' successfully counters or eliminates the barriers." – Pat Almond, Alberta
Many of us are already acquainted with many examples of this in the physical world today: access to a building might present the barrier of stairs. Access to information on a printed sign presents a visual barrier due to its reliance on vision. All throughout our world there are many examples of small adaptations (ramps, brail etc.) that aim to reduce the impact these barriers have, and to improve access for everyone.
So, what if we take the same principal and apply it to Web Accessibility? Well, first we might ask what sorts of things people are trying to access online, to which I would respond "just about everything from access to education and online dinner reservations to the ability to communicate with anyone not in the same room!"
"Woah there, thats a whole lot of stuff someone might want to access, but what barriers are there to getting stuff online? I sometimes have a hard time NOT being connected to digital stuff out there."
Thanks for the segway anonymous quote I had nothing to do with. While many barriers exist, most of the common ones fall into one of five major categories (nicely outlined by Point Park University in the references below) which include: Auditory, Cognitive and Neurological, Physical, Speech and Visual. In practicality this could manifest as difficulty using a mouse or keyboard with precision to not being able to see small font with faint text on a website.
The moral of the story is, barriers are out there, and we should all pay attention!
So why is it I should pay attention again?
My oh MY you are on a ROLL with the great questions reader - in a sentence, you should pay attention because this means if you make any tool, website, application or other digital experience out there on the World Wide Web you may be creating barriers between people and you!
In the same way that stairs create a barrier between a patron and your baking business, the same is true for improper fonts, colours or motion creating a barrier between a patron and your ONLINE bakery business (which I'd like to imagine sells cupcakes... and nobody likes barriers between them and cupcakes).
If that doesn't convince you, let's put on our PM hat and look at some data:
- Those living with disabilities make up the worlds largest minority group (5)
- There are some 61 million adults living with a disability in the United States alone (5,6)
- Of these, 8.1 million possess some form of vision impairments (5) (making it very hard to see your latest promo video) and
- 7.6 million possess hearing issues (5) (making it very difficult to listen to your latest promo video)
- In the United States, it is estimated that Americans with disabilities generate nearly $490 billion a year in disposable income (4) (that is a LOT of cupcakes...)
For businesses, artists, students and many others this means they are excluding millions of people from access to their digital store, experience or venture. For the millions of people with a disability, it means they simply can't get access to all of the wonderful things on the web that most of us take for granted.
Why should I care about accessibility NOW?
"Calen you're a trendy guy who's hip with the times, can you be both trendy AND love Web Accessibility?"
Excellent question ghost in the machine (by the way, please say "hi" to 2004 Will Smith for me).
In the last few years, governments around the world have begun to make changes to regulations and guidelines to classify Web Accessibility in the same way they've historically looked at physical Accessibility. Let's look at some hip and topical regulations that come to mind from recent memory:
- The Americans with Disability Act (USA, 2010 amendment)
- The Rehabilitation Act (Section 508) [USA, 2017 Update]
- The Air Carrier Access Act (USA, 2016)
- The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Section 1557) [USA, 2016]
- The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (Ontario, Canada, 2005)
- Standard sur l’accessibilité des sites Web (Quebec, Canada, 2018 Modernization)
- EN 301549 [The EU, 2016]
As you can see, many of these acts have only been proposed (or amended) in the last 3-5 years, suggesting Web Accessibility is quickly rising to prominence around the world.
To me, this recent global shift represents our latest transition (or perhaps translation) of a physical world concept into the digital space; whether or not you think Web Accessibility ties things like file folders and mail for coolness in moving online, I think it's important to be aware of this trend so we can all plan and prepare for its impact.
What about some tips on what to watch out for?
Well since you asked so politely...
These are my tips on things to watch for as you, your business or organization starts to think about Web Accessibility (based on my experience working with thousands of websites so far):
Small tools can pack big punch!
Just because Web Accessibility is a big subject, it doesn't mean we can't start small! Simple tools like adjustable font sizes and colour contrast toggles are often easy to implement and can help improve the readability of any site by a fairly substantial margin - I recommend you look into these tools for your websites!
Your brand could use a second, accessible look.
On the subject of quick wins, you might think you can make some quick adjustments to the font size or colour contrast of text on your website and call it a day...but there is just one complication: your brand! I have seen many branding teams' hands tied when looking at Web Accessibility simply because the brand itself - the colours, size restrictions etc. - don't actually align to Web Accessibility best practices.
My recommendation is to start thinking about your brand now. Rebrands aren't all that uncommon, so the next time your organization starts talking about one, bring up the subject of Web Accessibility and how your brand fits in. These sorts of changes are always better planned than improvised!
Most people don't know what Web Accessibility is, so the duty is on us to spread the word!
Simply put, there are likely a LOT of stakeholders out there who don't understand the impact of accessibility barriers or how to go about mitigating them. My recommendation is to start thinking about ways to inject some basic Web Accessibility knowledge into everyday product conversations with your stakeholders ASAP. A transition like this will take time, but laying some groundwork now will help you evolve your organizational readiness over time as these standards continue to change and grow in their affect.
Accessibility tools need to be accessible!
This one goes out to all my PM's out there who create the tools that so many of us use to build things online. Following the law of "the default always wins," us PM's need to be thinking about how to build tools that enable people to easily build and maintain web accessible experiences. If it isn't easy to use, people won't use it, meaning higher barriers and a less accessible web.
So, you've made it to the end! I hope you've learned a bit about what Web Accessibility is, why it's interesting, a bit about why you might think it's interesting, and some things to consider as you dip your toes into the world of an accessible web.
In addition to my references, I have also included some useful links that you might want to check out to get started in your exploration of Web Accessibility!
"Accessibility is the complete ability to join in, participate or attend the activity or conversation as much as anybody else of my age in my community." – Anonymous
Learn More! (References for your reference)
US Government Checklist on ADA Compliance (web design enthusiasts beware)
Point Park University of the Types of Barriers
Types of barriers: https://online.pointpark.edu/information-technology/web-accessibility-people-with-disabilities/
W3 on Diverse Abilities and Barriers
American Institute for Research on Purchasing Power
Disabled World on People with Disabilities in the USA
eSSENTIAL ACCESSIBILITY on the Benefits of Accessibility
The Canadian Government on Creating Accessible Legislation
The Proposes Accessible Canada Act Bill Summary
Accessibility Guidelines from WCAG, UAAG, ATAG
Additional Information on Legislation
The EPA & Section 508
The Quebec Governments Outline of the Standard sur l’accessibilité des sites Web
Other References
Rick Mercer talking with Lieutenant Governor David Onley on Accessibility (among other things)
Ontario Human Rights Code
Ontario's Accessibility Action Plat to 2025
eSSENTIAL ACCESSIBILITY on COVID and the importance of Inclusion
Photo by Ariel Pilotto on Unsplash
