Pioneering Practicality: Prioritizing Accessibility Principles
03/15/2024
Inspirations to this Exploration
The progress of drag and drop, also referred to as Content Management System (CMS), WYSIWYG and Low/Code/No/Code, website builders have come a very long way in the 5 years since I started freelancing, and a trend that’s always made me cautious is animations on marketing sites’ landing page. Sometimes the plugin that was used gets updates and un-intentionally extends load times, or the call to action (CTA) on a header can’t be read for the admittedly lovely video imagery of people exploring nature in the background. These are just some of the problems I’ve run into with “fancy,” marketing websites. And I get it, it’s exciting to see flashy images that tell a great story… and I’m not saying you shouldn’t or can’t include them, but when they distract from the information being presented, it’s not a good experience for anyone, much less folks with varying levels of physical, audible, visual, or cognitive ability on the internet.
3 Quick Themes on the Accessibility Journey
There are three levels of accessibility compliance; A, meaning that some folks can access, AA, most can access, and AAA, almost all can access, because, let’s be honest, there’s no reality in which every single permutaion of hardware, ability, and software can be tested to confirm 100% ALL people can access. In previous posts I’ve mentioned that there are 4 principles, 5 requirements, and 13 guidelines that a business or non-profit can pick and choose from. Looking at the World Wide Web (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) WCAG 2 checklist, there are over 80 elements to consider depending on a company’s goals and market fit. To summarize the 5 requirements:
- Confirmation of target level, determined by site owner: A, AA, AAA.
- There is no such thing as “partial page compliance,” it’s an all or nothing experience per page.
- A process must maintain compliance. For example, a registration process that spans multiple page views must maintain compliance across the entire journey and not leave keyboard navigation users stranded anywhere along the way.
- Modern accessibility hardware and software technologies, called “user agents,” in the WCAG world, can make use of the site.
- Function > Form, i.e. the design isn’t so pretty or flashy that it impedes functionality, think animations, parallax, etc.
And to further support the fifth requirement, WAI calls out 4 distinct guidelines of the more than 80 that MUST be addressed at any level of accessibility. These 4 guidelines, indicated as stars in Figure 1, and contribute to what I’m calling the POUR method.
Figure 1: POUR Method with four associated guidelines called out as stars.
With this and reviewing the W3C/WAI Checklist, I’ve come up with 3 themes, with the 4 associated guidelines called out, for small businesses and non-profits to focus on when starting their own accessibility journey.
- NAVAGIBILITY
- 2.1.2 – No Keyboard Traps (header tags, image tags alt attributes, etc.)
- COMPLETE PROCESSES (filling out forms, registration, etc.)
- AUDIO/VISUAL CONTROLS
- 1.4.2 – Audio Control
- 2.3.1 – Three Flashes or Below Threshold
- 2.2.2 – Pause, Stop, Hide
By incorporating these themes and guidelines into your organization’s development goals, UR 1/2 thru the POUR method and on track improve inclusivity! For some actions that can be taken today, based on my own efforts, check out my other post that dives into the principles in a practical way.
For more robust interim solutions and quick fixes for accessibility issues until a comprehensive plan can be implemented, check out W3C/WAI’s ‘first aid kit’ resource. This resource provides practical guidance for organizations looking to make immediate improvements to their website accessibility, beyond those I’ve highlighted here and in previous posts. If instead you or your team would prefer speaking with a human about all this admittedly overwhelming information, I’m now offering 30 and 60-minute accessibility consultations via UpWork.
Disclaimer
As a disclaimer, the information provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice.
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I am now not sure where you’re getting your info, however great topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more. Thanks for excellent information I was searching for this information for my mission.
Most of my information is distilled from the US Federal government trainings on the topic as well as my own knowledge of the industry and background. The resources and other info can be found in the The POUR Method, Resources and Inspo post.
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Thanks for the callout, I’m admittedly no grammar expert, but do try to work with my tools (spell check and AI on occasion) for clarity and issues, but alas, I am human make mistakes. I’ll work to resolve these, as I’d certainly hate to disrupt anyone else’s experience.
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Thank you for your post. I really enjoyed reading it, especially because it addressed my issue. It helped me a lot and I hope it will also help others.
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Thank you, glad you’ve found them helpful, and I appreciate the comments. All of the sites I manage are built with these principles, and I continue to fall back on them to make updates and changes, such as adding a video recording walking through The POUR Method.
Please check out this other blog post that includes links to accessible PDFs, YouTube overview of The POUR Method, and other resources to help in your journey. Once you’ve exhausted these, feel free to reach out for a consult!
May I have information on the topic of your article?
Please check out this other blog post that includes links to accessible PDFs, YouTube overview of The POUR Method, and other resources to help in your journey. Once you’ve exhausted these, feel free to reach out for a consult!
Please provide me with more details on the topic
Please check out this other blog post that includes links to accessible PDFs, YouTube overview of The POUR Method, and other resources to help in your journey. Once you’ve exhausted these, feel free to reach out for a consult!
I’d like to find out more? I’d love to find out more details.
Please check out this other blog post that includes links to accessible PDFs, YouTube overview of The POUR Method, and other resources to help in your journey. Once you’ve exhausted these, feel free to reach out for a consult!
Thank you for your articles. I find them very helpful. Could you help me with something?
Thank you, glad you’ve found them helpful. Please check out this other blog post that includes links to accessible PDFs, YouTube overview of The POUR Method, and other resources to help in your journey. Once you’ve exhausted these, feel free to reach out for a consult!
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