Have you ever been frustrated by a website because it took too long to load, the fonts were too small, the color scheme was boring, or it wasn’t mobile-friendly?
Although some users may not notice these issues, people with disabilities may find them to be deal breakers, preventing them from fully experiencing the Internet and all of its content.
In other words, what exactly is web accessibility?
“Web accessibility” refers to the rules that must be followed when making content for the web so that all users, no matter what kind of abilities they have, can get to it and use it.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is a global community that creates open standards for the Web’s continued evolution, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is in charge of the Web Accessibility Initiative, and its recommendations have been incorporated into laws in several nations.
In other words, how accessible is the web?
According to the WCAG, there are three levels of accessibility compliance:
It’s the standard by which all websites must comply in terms of accessibility. Primarily, it examines how easy it is to utilize a website. A website that does not comply with this standard will be unavailable to all users.
Accessibility Level AA: Pays special attention to the display of on-screen elements, working to eliminate the most serious accessibility issues. A lot of businesses aim for the AA certification. Plus, it fulfills every prerequisite for Advanced.
In its comprehensive analysis of a website’s design, development, content, and other aspectsTo be accessible, a website must be designed from the ground up.Everything necessary for both Level A and Level AA is included.
The significance of making the web accessible
Twenty-two percent of Canadians over the age of fifteen experience at least one handicap, which you may not realize until you specifically look for it. That’s over 6.2 million Canadians who have to deal with issues on a daily basis, such as physical barriers and unavailable digital material and jobs. The rate of disability is expected to climb with the aging population and the prevalence of chronic diseases. The question of accessibility is becoming increasingly crucial.
Accessible design not only makes information more readily available but also enhances the overall quality of the user’s experience. Thus, accessibility must be taken into account from the start in order to build a website that is user-friendly and conducive to engagement in any setting (with content, visual design, and development).
As was just said, several countries have passed laws to ensure equal access. Companies with more than 50 workers and all public sector organizations are required by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) to comply with WCAG level AA criteria by January 1, 2021. An additional $100,000 per day of noncompliance is possible.
How Easily People Can Interact with your product and brand
Brand value, creativity, and customer base may all increase with increased accessibility. Credibility and trustworthiness are conveyed to the consumer via a well-branded business, as is an appreciation for their requirements. Having an accessible brand facilitates communication with your target audience and eliminates obstacles that can discourage potential consumers from utilizing your business and its offerings.
When making a brand, keep the following in mind to make sure it can be used by everyone:
Readability, hierarchy, and typeface
Increasing the font size is the simplest technique to make a brand more accessible. If you make your fonts larger, people with visual impairments will have an easier time seeing the text on your site.
The ability to clearly identify and follow the progression of distinct parts is greatly aided by a clear and diversified hierarchy. A good typographic hierarchy uses different fonts, colors, styles, and sizes to create a sense of unity and make the text easier to read.
Use of larger and smaller font sizes for headers and paragraphs to effectively convey hierarchy
Shade And Comparison
It’s crucial to choose colors that stand for your business, convey the ideal image, and are easily available. It’s OK to use inaccessible color combinations sometimes, but only if you meet WCAG’s requirements for pairings.
It is recommended to have a contrast ratio of at least 7:1 for level AAA compliance and 4.5:1 for level AA.
WebAIM is an online contrast checker that lets you enter your background and foreground colors to identify any contrast problems and make adjustments to match the standards, ensuring that your colors have sufficient contrast. A plugin like Contrast may be used with Figma to verify individual parts.
The scan results of a button that does not meet the contrast criteria are shown on the left, while those of a button that does are shown on the right.
If you’re having difficulties locating contrast-compatible colors, Contrast Finder may help. Simply enter the colors you wish to use, and the program will return a palette of alternatives that meet accessibility standards.
The Use Of A Unified Style
Users with visual and/or cognitive limitations may get lost in the design when visual cues such as icon styles, typefaces, hierarchy, and color usage are inconsistent. Consistency in the layout of structural components like menus, forms, error messages, etc. is also important for clear communication.
Do you fear for the safety of your site visitors because your company’s name is unavailable in any of the following ways? To make sure your website is accessible to everyone, you may want to employ an automatic accessibility solution like accessiBe, which combines JavaScript with AI to do just that. They have user profiles that make it easy to set up and a lot of ways to change the content to fit each person’s needs.
One of the most critical aspects of creating a successful business or website is making it accessible to as many people as possible. It’s the law in various countries. Because of its absence, you may be turning away a sizable portion of your target audience. When you take measures to make your branding and website creation more accessible, you invite more people to engage with your business and its resources, products, and initiatives.
A Review of Available Solutions
tennerr can assist via a straightforward online utility program for determining whether or not a given foreground and background color combination satisfies accessibility standards and for making any necessary adjustments to the brightness of either color. AA and AAA conformance are shown.
The Contrast Figma plugin displays component contrast. The Smart Sampling function ensures that your text looks good against gradient and graphic backgrounds.
This tool, known as the Contrast Finder, determines whether or not a given contrast value between two colors (background and foreground) is legitimate. The main goal is to come up with some valid color contrasts that are similar to the ones that are shown when the contrast is not valid.
