Unreachable web: how we made such a mess

Theoretically, anyone can use the web. In reality - people with disabilities remain overboard.



I decided to translate this article because I fully agree with what is written in it: the implementation of accessibility standards is at a very low level and we need to start changing this situation. Misha proposes real steps to be taken by each participant in the development process, and talks about why this should be done.

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How sad the situation is can be judged by the results of a survey that I conducted earlier: 84% of respondents do not deal with the problem of accessibility at all. Another 12% are trying to make websites accessible, but admit that they are not doing everything or not. And only 2% pay due attention to the adaptation of the site for people with disabilities.

Honestly, I thought that in other countries with this is better, but judging by the article, everything is just as bad as ours.



Let's make the web accessible to everyone, colleagues - this is important!

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Unlike other public spaces, the Internet provides us with various uses and interactions with it. We can use a variety of devices, browsers and operating systems; we can change the size and color of the text; we can use the mouse, keyboard, finger or stylus; or we can use the on-screen speaker, translating the printed text into sounds.



Whatever your needs and preferences, there is almost certainly a way for you to use the Internet.



In theory.



In reality, the web is a mess. These additional uses often forget to implement or deliberately discard them, despite the fact that the available sites and applications can definitely be beautiful looking, innovative and enjoyable to use.



Speech more than simple inconvenience is a matter of human rights. People with disabilities need these options to work on the Internet.



That's what I think about how we got into this situation and what we can do.

1. We can learn how to make websites without examining accessibility issues, and do just that.

I studied site building, picking at the code and looking at what happens after that. It was exciting and gave faith in their own strength, but dangerous. We do not trust an architect who does not know building codes, and we should not hire web developers to make websites inaccessible for people with disabilities. More broadly, this applies not only to developers and designers, but also to managers, content creators, bloggers, and all other participants in the digital product creation process.



You do not know how to create affordable products? I recommend reading articles on WebAIM or check out the hashtag # a11y . In the future I will add my resources. Follow @MischaAndrews .



After learning the basics, I studied computer science and psychology - and as before, no mention of accessibility. When I first encountered accessibility at work, I learned some basics, but they did not give a holistic picture and I had to relearn. For example, I was told that all that was required was to fill in the alt attribute for images. When I was learning from work, there were very few references to accessibility, except when I took a course specifically on this topic or specifically looked for an affordable solution.



This is a critical system failure. We create websites and applications to use them, but we consider providing accessibility as an optional additional functionality.



Our field of activity is usually not regulated, and I do not think it should, but definitely something is missing. Accessibility should be built into the learning process of creating digital products.



Here is what we can do:

• Teachers : teach accessibility - and grade it. If you do not know how, take a course on accessibility on the web and spread the knowledge gained. Even if you lack the confidence to call yourself an accessibility expert, learn the basics to reduce the likelihood that you will give harmful advice.
  
  
  NO. DO NOT DO THIS. ALT LABELS HAVE A PURPOSE. They are not clever. pic.twitter.com/E03MKBPKvg

  - Eb (@erabrand) October 8, 2015

  
  
  DO NOT DO IT THIS WAY. ALT ATTRIBUTES HAVE A PURPOSE. They are needed to improve accessibility, and not for witty tricks.
  
  
  
  
• Content creators : Don't expect your platform to do everything for you. Will not do. Systems like WordPress and Drupal, which allow you to create accessible websites, do not guarantee that your templates or content will be available and automatic tests cannot track everything. If you don’t know where to start, I recommend watching this three-minute accessibility video review , read this article on accessibility from the point of view of the content creator, and walk along resources like WebAIM .
  
  
  
  
• Designers and developers : if you do not have enough knowledge - learn. If you already know something useful, share your work and tell in detail how you tested availability and resolved problems. Talk about accessibility not only in the framework of specialized articles and speeches. Choose platforms and libraries to create and test available products, but remember that they do not guarantee accessibility — you should always test and improve your products.
  
  
  
  
• Managers : set an example. Study accessibility issues, put time on it, discuss it with the team, include it in the job description and KPI. Hire a consultant to audit your projects, conduct training, and develop plans to create more affordable products and environments. Recruit people with disabilities, and if you think that this is not possible, find out why and eliminate these problems in your company.
  
  

2. We are not responsible for products that are inaccessible to people with disabilities.

What happens if the product is unavailable? In most cases - almost nothing or nothing at all.



Your colleagues at work, most likely, do not care about accessibility, unless it is clearly included in their responsibilities or does not hurt them personally. There are no guarantees that after opening the product for users, you will receive feedback on accessibility issues - just as ordinary users do not talk about inconveniences while working until they are asked about it.



And despite the fact that the law requires accessibility (in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and a growing number of European countries), lawsuits are rare.



This lack of sustainability allows you to ignore accessibility in the short term.



There are exceptions. Perhaps you are working in a classroom in which due attention is given to accessibility or your users do not let you forget about it.



But even if the creation of inaccessible products gets away with you, you should not assume that you do not affect people's lives or that you do not lose potential buyers or that your company policy will never change and you will not have to redo or fix accessibility issues. ( That's when she flies a pretty penny.)



Almost certainly, especially if you work in a team that does not have developers with disabilities, your work on improving web accessibility will be underestimated. Therefore, help your colleagues understand that accessibility is important and inevitable. Show them how to use special tools to test the availability of your products. Invite people with disabilities to participate in user testing and pay them for it. Teach colleagues, take accessibility to heart, study legislation.



Increase accessibility priority - and we will eliminate the problem of irresponsibility.





One person cannot pull out accessibility for the entire organization. Accessibility will only appear if content is created available.

3. Assumptions mislead us

Here are some of the excuses for not accepting accessibility that I've heard:

“Our product is designed for large companies. Disabled people in such places usually do not work. ”

“We have few users and there are no people with disabilities among them.”

“This is just an internal product, no need to make it available.”



If you add up all these prejudices, you can ask yourself: where do people with disabilities work then? If not in big companies and not in small ones and not in your company, then where? If you think the answer is “nowhere,” think about why it can be difficult to find a job when people assume that you do not exist.



But these assumptions are wrong. On average, every fifth person has a disability and they are not always striking. You may have colleagues with poor eyesight (it is possible that it is difficult for such people to read small text and your Internet should support different font sizes); or with disorders of the musculoskeletal system (it may be difficult to use the mouse, so the forms should be accessible to work from the keyboard); or they may be hard to hear (therefore, webinars and videos must be accompanied by subtitles); or have cognitive impairments (perhaps they are among 15–20 percent of people who have difficulty reading, so written content should be simplified).



If you do not think you should please people with disabilities, you are involved in discrimination. You create an environment in which people with disabilities cannot work.



When this attitude prevails among those who create the Internet, discrimination (intentional or not) becomes embedded in its structure.



So let's get rid of the assumptions that prevent people from using sites. Let's assume that our users, current or future, have limited capabilities.



Hi Starbucks. I would love to use your new order feature from a mobile, but it is not available for blind iOS users.





DigitalOcean, I would really like to use your service, but, unfortunately, your site is still completely inaccessible for people who use the keyboard for navigation.





Hi, Slipio! Can you add subtitles? I do not hear well and do not understand what the Professor says.

4. The law does not say what we should do.

Around the world, accessibility laws are blurred and ambiguous. In Australia, this is the Disability Discrimination Act (1992 Discrimination Act) , but it does not specify what you should do from a technical point of view.

I could not find what law regulates this issue in Russia, I found only this order regulating the availability of official websites of state. institutions for the visually impaired, but it is ridiculously short and has very streamlined language. Note per.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 is increasingly being used as an international benchmark, but a benchmark is not always the law (depends on your country and business).



But even compliance with WCAG recommendations does not guarantee accessibility. And if it were guaranteed, this compliance depends on the software and equipment used by people. And since software will never stop developing and changing, the field for testing will also change with it.



This uncertainty makes it more difficult for managers to develop accessibility policies, but this does not mean that you need to give up. The worst thing you can do from a social and legal point of view is nothing. Checking only compliance with WCAG standards is also not the best option (and this may not protect you from lawsuits), but you can start with this.



The perfect strategy? Make accessibility an important step in creating content and your products. This means that you have to constantly study for yourself, teach employees and maintain a culture in which accessibility is truly valued. Check your products during (and after) development on a wide range of special tools. And as a fallback (but no more), develop a plan in case someone cannot use your product or service. Use the plan, and then eliminate the source of the problem.

5. New trends push technology into uncharted territory.

When customers, top managers and developers (and anyone else at all) talk about digital innovations, do they always really want them? Or is "innovative" used instead of "fashionable"?



Most web designers had a client (or several) dissatisfied with a site that did not “shoot.” These cases have affected us. The site is not appreciated if it is not "sexy."



Although aesthetics and good design are important, fashion is dangerous because it changes dramatically and pushes digital products into uncharted, untested territory.



Accessibility and style are not mutually exclusive, but following the latest design trends (or even sudden ideas) without proper thought and testing will lead to catastrophic accessibility issues, not to mention potential usability issues.



To pay attention to accessibility, we must slow down. This does not mean that you can not experiment, but you have to spend more time thinking and testing your works.



Customers : before asking for something fashionable, ask yourself why you really want it. If you cannot come up with a good rationale, you may want to abandon this idea. And if you still decide that you need this feature or a new design, you should insist that they be thoroughly tested, and in terms of accessibility too. This means that you have to pay for this work and wait until it is completed.



Designers and developers : practice saying no to unprocessed ideas or bargain more time for testing and troubleshooting. Firmly convey to customers that accessibility is a must-have component that will take time to implement. If you have to, help them understand that a product that looks ready may not be ready . While the product has not been tested on various platforms, browsers and special devices, it is not ready for launch.

How do we clean this mess?

In such conditions, it is easy to lose heart, but it should be noted that making available sites is not difficult and does not require much time. But this is if we assume that this process is not postponed for the last moment and is not the area of ​​responsibility of one employee in the company.



Everyone involved in the creation of websites, applications or digital content should take seriously their responsibility for creating an open digital environment. Learn what you don't know. But the most important thing is to determine the assumptions that need to be changed: that only specialists on it are involved in accessibility, or that it is not important, or that no one will notice, or that it is too complex or irrelevant.



We ourselves have created this mess, tempted by the rapid pace of technology and fashion. So let's stop being seduced! Let's take the time to thoroughly test and polish our digital products. Let's make the web accessible to everyone, as it should have been all this time.

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I must admit that I do not have a disability, so my views cannot fully reflect what it means to have limited opportunities in the digital age. I am writing this from the point of view of a web developer who has made both accessible and inaccessible sites and who wants to help create a more open Internet for all.



Did I miss something important in this article? Please express your opinion . If you want to find out about my other articles, you may want to follow me on Twitter: @MischaAndrews .



Thanks a lot to Adam Van Winden for CDRV and @erabrand for feedback on the draft of this article. Any mistakes or tactlessness are mine, but she helped and helps me understand where I am biased.

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If you are interested in this topic, I recommend reading these materials:

• Modern Internet with the eyes of the blind - Headers ( addition )
• Designing sites for people with dementia
• How do visually impaired programmers program? thanks for extempl link
• “That day when we hired a blind programmer” thanks for extempl link
• UI components available thanks for the Firefoxic link
• How I Code and Use a Computer at 1,000 WPM !!
• Dos and don'ts on designing for accessibility ( posters from the article in high resolution ) thanks for the link Firefoxic
• Availability of “custom html controls for blind users