As we learned from the Exclusive Design reading, inclusive design is a process rather than a check list. Accessibility is also about thinking through the design process and considering how non-technical details, like language, can provide a clear and meaningful experience, and considering this early on feels less exclusionary than adding adjustments as an afterthought. Keeping this in mind, I want to share a few technical considerations that might help your process.
This tool evaluates contrast and provides a score for contrast. The scores are evaluated by three different metrics:
Single A is viewed as the minimum level of requirement which all websites, apps, and electronic content such as documents should adhere to.
Double A is viewed as the acceptable level of accessibility for many online services, which should work with most assistive technology which is now widely available on both desktop and mobile devices, or which can be purchased as a third-party installation.
Triple A compliance is viewed as the gold standard level of accessibility, which provides everything for a complete accessible offering, including all the bells and whistles which make the difference between a very good experience and an excellent one.
There are different tools that you can use to review potential issues and plan around them. The first link is one accessibility checker which will catch mistakes such as not having alt text and flag potential warnings. This is good as a first pass, but the design and development should be part of a longer conversation.
The second link has an archive of other metrics and resources that you can test against.
Design Considerations
As the reading mentioned, there is no checklist of items to do to make something accessible, but consider using default behaviors to make things work properly. Additionally, you can exaggerate and highlight changes on the screen, such as active states(when you click on something) and clear hovers.
Including a sitemap in the website allows for users of screen readers to navigate quickly and have a central hub to come back to.
Testing
As mentioned, there is no“doing accessibility” it should be engrained in the process of the design, and then it can be improved upon. Consider sharing your work with people of various ability levels and improve your work as the website continues to live.
As in the reading, user testing inspired thoughtful and more practical additions to the designs.
Accessibility
Web Contrast Color Checker
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
Online Tests
Design Considerations
Testing
Examples