What is web accessibilty. Part 1 - Kursor Creative

Web accessibility, what is it and does it apply to me?

Many people believe this is not an issue to their website, but honestly they are wrong. Why should a person who can not see not be able to view your website?

Web accessibility affects everyone on the web some more than others. The main reason for it is to assist those that have some kind of issue viewing your webpage.

Things to look for are not just images or colors, these are just a few items on a website that may affect a person with an impairment.

You need to also look at your color contrast, font, images and link title and summary’s, tables and documents, But still this is only the tip of the accessibility iceberg. And some formats are not accessible at all.

Some of the basic things to look out for are:

1. Page headings
2. Alternative text
3. Labels
4. Captions
5. Semantic markup
6. Transcripts
7. Contrast
8. Accessible documents

I have heard some people say why should I care a blind person doesn’t need to see my website, well when you get down to it, it is discriminatory that they can’t read or view your content. In 2000 the Sydney Olympic Committee was taken to court as their website was in-accessible.

So the basics to all this is you should attempt to make your site accessible to all. So if the visitor to your site is color blind, blind they to can enjoy your piece of the web.

The whole web will one day need to be accessible to all people so you should help with your website. Contact us to give your website a once over to point out any accessibility issues your website may be facing.

Resources

Here are a few resources that may make your understanding just that little easier:

www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag

webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklist

Part 2 will cover accessible documents on the web.