Not everyone is equal when it comes to surfing the Internet: people with visual, hearing or motor disabilities do not have the same abilities.
And yet, they too must be able to access the web.
How to guarantee web accessibility? What are the right protocols to follow in this way? That everyone can easily browse the Internet? Response elements.
1) Understandable Content
The web of accessibility consists in making the content of its site understandable by the greatest number.
A simple and universal language should, therefore, be used as much as possible. If, however, jargon and technical terms must be used, it is important to give clear definitions of these expressions.
To be easily understood, ventilating the text and structuring the content by dividing it into different sections is also recommended.
Finally, remember to clearly explain the actions to be performed by the user (for example: “Enter A password of at least 12 characters comprising a password of at least 12 characters capital letter and a number”).
2) Textual Equivalents
Text equivalents are a fundamental element in making a website readable by everyone.
Let us take the example of a blind user: the latter certainly uses text-to-speech software, which reads information on the screen and transcribes it “orally.”
However, such software is unable to describe an image: this is where the replacement text (alt tag) comes in since it gives the tool the information it needs to describe the image.
The same is true for hearing-impaired Internet users who cannot listen to a podcast or the sound of a video: remember to transcribe the audio files and subtitle the videos to ensure their accessibility.
3) The Use of Colors
In the design of a website, colors are important, but the design should not be based exclusively on them: the navigation elements must be able to be recognized without necessarily distinguishing the colors.
It is better to focus on other factors, such as shapes or contrast (between the text and the background in particular).
This is especially useful for people with color blindness, who distinguish colors differently and have a harder time seeing contrasts.
4) User Personalization
One of the web design practices that harms accessibility the most is that of imposing a unique and unalterable version of the site.
Font, font size, and color palettes are all things that users might want to adapt based on their visual abilities or color apprehension.
So offer the possibility of configuring these elements: for example, a version of the site offers less harmonious and aesthetic colors, but much more contrasting and legible.
5) Navigation by Means Other Than the Mouse
To navigate, the majority of Internet users use a mouse, and all websites are designed for this tool: their elements are easily clickable, the pages can be scrolled…
However, a number of people use the Internet by means other than a mouse: for example, blind people most often use a keyboard. Therefore, it is important to guarantee that all the elements are accessible by this means links, boxes of a form, etc.
For visually impaired people who still use a mouse, it is important that clickable links are large and clearly visible.
Still, others use voice commands and other means to navigate, and these should be considered as well.
6) An Easy To Interpret the Site
As we have seen, people with disabilities and those with disabilities have recourse to various assistance solutions to be able to browse the Internet.
However, for this software to be able to read and interpret the content of a site correctly, the site must respect certain standards:
- The use of semantic HTML, that is to say, HTML markup reinforcing the meaning of the information contained in the pages;
- The use of a CSS style sheet;
- The use of JavaScript to better guide the user and ensure a good experience.
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