Accessible web design is a way of building a website so that
people who may experience difficulty accessing the information
from or purchasing goods or services on a website can do
so. These difficulties range from older hardware/software
and slower internet connections to people for whom English
(or whatever language the website is presented in) is a second
langue to people living with disabilities. It is for this
last group that most effort is expended when considering
accessibility and where this article will primarily focus.
However it is important to note that all accessibility issues
are interrelated and can help a website do its job better
for any potential client.
People with partial or complete visual impairment present
perhaps the biggest set of challenges to the web designer.
After all, the web is primarily a visual medium. The power
of the web, though is that it doesn’t rely on only
one way of presenting. A video can have running captions
for the hearing impaired. Text can be resized for those who
find it too small or colors changed for people who can read
it better with different contrasts. And it can be read aloud
for those who can’t see it at all.
Many blind and partially sighted internet users rely on
what are known as screen readers. These are programs which
act a bit like your browser except, as the name implies,
they read what is on the page aloud. They allow the user
to not only hear the copy but also to navigate through the
website, enter information into a purchase form, and even
glean data presented in graphs, maps, or other images – if
the page has been designed with this in mind.
In order to explain how we need to understand a little of
how a web page works. As you probably know, what you see
on a webpage is what the author has chosen to show you – to
accomplish that she needs to write so called code. To see
what it looks like simply look at the top of your browser
and find View. There find the View Source (or something similar)
and click it. A page will appear which, if you don’t
read HTML, looks like gibberish. This is the language of
web presentation. Most of that code is there to tell your
browser how to present the page. On a given page there are
likely to be decorative images like navigation buttons, informative
images like maps, text, and navigation. There may also be
videos, embedded sounds, animations, complex forms, etc.
And if the page has been designed with accessibility in mind
then it also contains options so that a person with an older
computer or a screen reader can still benefit from the information
or services being presented. This is accomplished by including
bits of HTML code which screen readers can find but which
may or may not appear on a browser. For instance adding a
little to the code which presents and places a picture can
also include a verbal description ordinarily it is invisible
but a screen reader will find it and read it aloud.
Now this article is about how making all this extra effort
will increase sales to everyone. After all, going through
the process of website
accessibility testing, the first step, and then changing
a current site accordingly can’t be free. And though
it need not be expensive, true enough it isn’t free.
There are two main reasons why the investment is worthwhile – beyond
the moral and legal aspects.
First, adding the bits of code, such as in the case of pictures,
gives your designer the chance to add keywords, which search
engines look for in a page to determine your site’s
ranking. Also, by using quality accessible design techniques
your page will be more attractive to search engines. Search
engines use software usually called robots or spiders to
read a page – visually impaired users use software
screen readers to do the same. Most of the elements and techniques
which make a page attractive to one are exactly what is needed
to be attractive to the other.
Second, one of the things accessible design makes one think
about when designing a page is how to streamline the process
the page is created for. If something is for sale, discount
airline tickets, for instance, then how do we make the pitch,
search out the specific tickets, and take the payment information
as efficiently as possible. What extras, like nifty graphics,
seductive seaside sounds, or blinking headlines help us achieve
our goal and which distract? The average web user decides
whether to stay on a new web page in the first five seconds
and they allow for one or two frustrating moments. Then they
leave and find your competition. Removing obstacles and making
the next step clear and easy will help everyone do business
on your website.
To turn that potential client into a real, paying one you
need to use all the tools available. Accessible design is
one of the more powerful ones you have. It opens up a whole
new potential group of clients with visual impairments or
don’t read English too well who need access to internet
services but it also makes making that sale to any visitor
to your site that much more likely.
Nik Page Has been working in SEO, website accessibility
and usability testing since the early 90's.
He is currently General Manager of
Page
Accessibility Labs
