2

I'm currently working on several projects with multiple organisations. We are generally barely given any resources to implement tons of accessibility functionalities to help disabled users (I know how terrible that is). Though, most of our applications are complicated, graphically heavy and put in a work field that does not allow for any major disabilities.

Are there any specific things we should consider implementing to allow accessibility, even if our products are not intended to be used by majorly disabled people? What would be ethically correct to do here?

Improve this question
2
  • 2
    You shouldn't generally need extra budget in order to get the basics of accessibility right, since it comes for free when writing HTML correctly. By correctly, I mean semantic markup used appropriately, labels paired with fields, etc. Out of interest, what "accessibility functionalities" do you think you might need beyond that?
    – Matt Obee
    Feb 1, 2018 at 16:37
  • I just found out about the A/AA/AAA compliances and noticed our code is actually written to meet most compliances, except 'advanced' functionalities, like screen reader functionality, for example.
    – user68158
    Feb 2, 2018 at 7:24

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

Take a look at the guidelines for WCAG 2.0 compliance: https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/

Level A compliance should be achievable, even with the limitations your organization has placed on you. It may require a bit of additional hours, but shouldn't significantly increase the scope or cost of a project. Things like, provide text labels for important visual elements like icons in navigation. Enable users to navigate page elements and forms using their keyboard (without a mouse). Test to make sure your products can be read by screen readers.

Most organizations I've been a part of shoot for Level AA compliance.

Here's a quick summary of the differences between Levels A, AA, and AA:

Level A Success Criteria are those which will have a high impact on a broad array of user populations. In other words, they (usually) don’t focus on one type of disability only. They will also have the lowest impact on the presentation logic and business logic of the site. Finally, implementation of these requirements will typically be the easiest.

Level AA Success Criteria will also have a high impact for users. Sometimes only specific user populations will be impacted, but the impact is important. Adherence to these Success Criteria may impose changes to a system’s presentation logic or business logic.

Level AAA Success Criteria are often focused on improvements for specific user populations. They may be difficult or expensive to adhere to, depending on platform limitations. The benefit-to-cost ratio may be low enough to de-prioritize these items.

(Source: http://www.karlgroves.com/2013/05/20/understanding-wcag-level/)

Improve this answer
1
  • Simply adding alt text to images and meta-info to form sets will help a lot.
    – RobC
    Feb 1, 2018 at 17:27
1

Be pragmatic and sensible to your situation. In this case, you are not dealing with the general population: You are catering to a subset of it.

You already know that your user-base is without major disabilities, so consider the impediments that someone could have and be a member of that group. For example, could members of this group be colourblind? If so, cater to that possibility, and whichever others might apply to these people.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy