web accessibility
DESCRIPTION
Web Accessibility: User interfaces for people with disabilities or notTRANSCRIPT
user experience agency
Web Accessibility: User interfaces for people with disabilities or not
Number of people with disabilities
Number of people with disabilities
• Around 1 billion people or 15% of world population live with disabilities. (World Health Organisation)
• This is a significant portion of people and can affect your website effectiveness.
85%
15%
Non-Disable
Disable
About disabilities
About disabilities
• “Disability is a complex phenomenon, reflecting an interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives”. (World Health Organisation)
• “A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these”. (Wikipedia)
• Disabilities can be visible or non-visible. Examples of invisible disabilities are diabetes & asthma.
• There are inborn disabilities but also disabilities obtained or appeared at a later stage of person’s life. A disability can be inherited or not.
How people with disabilities behave?
Majority of people with disabilities don’t call themselves disable.
Kubler-Ross model can be used to explain persons’ behaviour.
The theory is that the reaction to illness, death and loss are as unique as the person experiencing them. Some people may get stuck in one stage.
5.Acceptance 4.Depression 3.Bargaining
How people with disabilities behave?
2.Anger 1.Denial
Only a small amount of people reach stage 5
Disabilities & your Online Interface
Disabilities & your Online Interface
• Have you ever thought about how many people haven’t managed to explore your site because it was inaccessible to them?
• Why is it important to consider users with disabilities while you are designing?
Web Accessibility
Web Accessibility
“Web accessibility refers to the inclusive design of making websites usable by people of all abilities and disabilities” Wikipedia
Why Website Accessibility matters?
Why Website Accessibility matters?
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Equality Act 2010 , other social rights or criminal laws make a similar provision; “it is unlawful to discriminate against people in respect of their disabilities in relation to employment, the provision of goods and services, education and transport”. This applies to websites & internet services.
Increasing your website (online interface) accessibility will:
• Improve users reach & satisfaction
• Increase conversion
• Ensure your interface complies with the law
What to consider while designing
What to consider while designing
It is crucial to start considering users with disabilities/impairments from the early stages of your UXD (User Experience Design). This approach will make your online interface accessible to the majority.
UXD stages: 1. Research
2. Persona
3. User Journeys
4. User Interface (Wireframes & Designs)
5. Evaluation (Testing)
Critical stages!
Research & Personas
Research & Personas
While researching the internal/external audience, explore the number of potential users with disabilities.
Some sectors may have an increased number of users with impairments e.g. charity.
Add users disabilities on your Persona.
A great practise to help you define users’ needs & traits at the early stage of your UX work.
User Interface
User Interface
Create User friendly Interfaces & if accessibility options are necessary, place them at a prominent position of the page.
It is preferable to give users the ‘accessibility’ options straight away.
Users who don’t consider themselves disable they will not select an option with the label ‘accessibility’.
Who else needs Web Accessibility options
Who else needs Web Accessibility options
It is not only the physical, sensory, mental or other impairments that restricts users from accessing an interface but also the external factors (environmental conditions). For instance:
– People are using their mobile to access your site on the road.
– iPad users like watching videos whilst on the move (on trains, planes, buses etc.).
Summary
Summary
• People hardly accept any disability/impairment.
• Avoid using the term Accessibility.
• Add users disabilities on your Personas.
• Make accessibility options as prominent as possible.
• Make your interface accessible and user friendly having clear layouts, colour contrast, appropriate text size, universal symbols and icons etc.
• Avoid bad UX practice that hurt people with disabilities e.g. small italicized text is practically illegible for people with dyslexia. (UX movement example)
The most important:
“Create Inclusive User Interfaces!”
