It only feels like yesterday that I was celebrating the new year, thinking about resolutions and goals. Now that we are almost a quarter of the way through the year (sigh), I am kicking myself in the bum and publishing this article - my curated Web Accessibility Manifesto for 2024.
When I was working on an internal company project to make an existing web application WCAG compliant for several months, it highlighted to me that accessibility is sadly still very much an afterthought. My experience learning more about accessibility and the challenges some people face was both eye-opening and humbling and has forever changed my view of digital products.
These points are in no particular order, but stood out as important references to consider during the process. I hope those new to the world of accessibility can get some inspiration and insight and continue to learn and advocate with such an important area of society.
Accessibility is about people, it is not about ticking off a checklist. Disability is caused by a mismatch between the design and the person.
“Accessible” does not always mean “usable”. Applying accessibility techniques with the correct syntax, and having an accessible website, are two different things.
Accessibility and inclusivity should be considered, clarified and communicated before the first line of code is written. You need to think about how users might access and use your service before you design or build anything. It is lack of awareness that most commonly results in things being inaccessible. Everyone should have equal access to digital content.
Accessibility gets more challenging as we deviate more and more from standard form elements and designs.
Digital accessibility should be treated like cybersecurity. Accessibility is an ongoing process - the goal isn’t perfection, but ongoing improvement. There is no such thing as “zero accessibility defects”.
Accessibility is not something that is either true or false. It can only be measured in relation to a specific ability or scenario. For something to be accessible, someone needs to be able to complete the task they are trying to achieve without encountering a barrier or issue.
Design and build for keyboard and touch screen devices first, then think about the mouse.
Accessibility should be built in rather than bolted on. What is convenience for some is essential for others. To put things into perspective, someone with leukaemia may need to research life-and-death decisions on treatment options. So while things like screen reader accessibility may be a technical requirement to some, we're really doing it to benefit human beings who rely on us to do our job as developers, designers, and testers so they can access their computers.