Today, you would be hard pressed to find a person that has not used the internet. Some people might say that there is no other invention that has been more radical since the printing press, which was invented in the 1400s. Now, the world is at your fingertips with just the click of a button on your mouse—if you are able to use a mouse, or computer screen, or speakers—assuming that you are not one of the millions of individuals living with a disability of some kind. This section aims to help you in understanding exactly how individuals with disabilities navigate the internet, what troubles they encounter when they feel that they cannot access it, and what you can do to ensure that your own websites are more accessible.

It has been said that the internet is one of the best things that has happened to individuals with disabilities. Though you may not have ever considered this viewpoint, but it doesn't take much to really understand why it is true. Previously, newspapers were impossible for blind people to read—braille printing was expensive and bulky. They had to rely on family or friends to read the day's newspaper to them or give them a synopsis of it. Though this does work, it makes the blind individual dependent on someone. Now, most newspapers take the time to publish their content online in a format that is compatible with screen readers—a technology that is used by those who are visually impaired. The content is read out loud so that blind individuals can use computers to access any text content through their computer. Gone are the days of relying on their friends or family to read to them since they can now do it all independently.

Likewise, individuals with motor disabilities are not able to physically pick a newspaper up to read it are now able to access them on their computer using other assistive technologies adapted to their own disabilities. The adaptations are sometimes as simple as having the individual use a stick in their mouth to press keyboard commands, other times it is more advanced like using eye-tracking software that allows individuals to use the computer with as little as just their own eye movements. Those who are hearing impaired can read newspapers, but rely on transcripts and captions to understand multimedia content. Other individuals that have various cognitive disabilities see huge benefits from flexible web content.

Despite all of the potential for an accessible internet, it is still largely underutilized by many website owners—and it simply just be due to lack of knowledge. As soon as web developers start asking the important questions of their users, they will begin to see where the potential problems fall regarding accessibility on the internet for those with disabilities.

Roughly 20% of the population has a disability of some kind, and a significant percentage of this group have disabilities that make it hard for them to access the web. It is highly advised to take action to include these individuals when designing a website, and in some cases it violates the law to exclude them. But prior to making a website accessible, it is vital to understand exactly what accessibility is, be committed to ensuring it, and focus on learning how to implement it while understanding any legal obligations.

There are 3 main reasons that would motivate someone to create web content that is accessible.

1. To improve upon the lives of individuals with disabilities. This is a human-centered motivation.

2. To profit from a wider consumer base. This is an economic-centered motivation.

3. To avoid bad press or lawsuits. This is centered around public relations or punishment motivations.

All of these are great reasons to make a website accessible and in the end, as long as the website is accessible, the motivations behind it fade into the background. No matter what the motivation is, one thing that will always be true is that web accessibility is achieved successfully when care for people is the center of the operation. Even those who are making their website accessible simply to avoid lawsuits with eventually realize that the needs of the target audience should be carefully considered and then addressed. This entails; understanding what the perspectives and needs of the user is, moving forward beyond technical accessibility, and centering on the principles of accessibility.

Web accessibility techniques and guidelines are not implemented to make it difficult for web developers—it was invented to make life easier for those with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities need to access resources that are offered from the web. It used to be that many goods and services were only available by going to a brick and mortar storefront, but because shopping online is so prevalent, users can shop from their own home. The internet should not be an obstruction for those with disabilities, it is the solution. The internet holds the potential to significantly alter the daily lives of millions of individuals that are living with disabilities by growing their ability to access information and communicate independently. For the internet to fully reach it's potential for those with disabilities, those who develop websites have to commit to always design with accessibility in mind. When this is not done, it runs the risk to turn a revolutionary solution into yet another obstruction to those who live with disabilities.

Guidelines and techniques are vital because they represent an effort to specify and regulate what web accessibility really is. It is representative of a consensus about the best methods and practices of achieving web accessibility. The WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is the most accepted set of recommendations. It took many years to develop them which involved a handful of experts. The process is rigorous, slow, and methodical while the guidelines are a great foundation to build an accessible website upon, but until web developers understand the reasons behind these guidelines, it is possible that they could be applying the guidelines incorrectly or in a way that is ineffective.

The latest version of WCAG focuses greatly on the principles of accessibility, allowing the guidelines to be a bit more flexible, and will encourage developers to consciously go through the process conceptually.

The 4 main guiding principles of accessibility are: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.

The acronym is easy to remember, and lends itself to be easily remembered when thinking about “creating a POUR website”.

• Perceivable: This means that a user has to be able to perceive the information that is being presented to them. It cannot be invisible to all of their senses. They must be able to perceive the content with one or more of their senses either naturally or through the use of assistive technology.
• Operable: The user must be able to operate and navigate the interface, and it must not require any interaction that the user is not able to perform. This can be done naturally or through the use of assistive technology, like an oversized mouse or mouth stick. 
• Understandable: The user has to be able to understand not only the information, but also the operation of the user interface. Neither the content nor the operation should be beyond their understanding. This is especially applicable to those who have cognitive disabilities and is furnished through the use of supplemental material like multimedia and graphs. 
• Robust: The content within the website has to be robust, in that it can be reliably interpreted through the use of a wide array of user agents, including assistive technology. Additionally, the content needs to remain accessible as user agents and assistive technologies evolve.

If any of these 4 main principles are not true, then the website is not accessible to those who have disabilities. These principles are what the guidelines and success criteria are organized around. When a website abides by all of these guidelines, it is not only making easier use by those with disabilities, but the site becomes easier to use by all people, making it overall a good practice.

Disability Types

Visual

We are so used to seeing people wearing glasses or contacts, that it might not occur to us that poor vision is a real disability. Many people have natural vision that is so bad that there is no question that it would be considered a disability if it weren't for glasses. Some individuals have visual disabilities that are not as easily corrected, or they have no vision at all. A large portion of those who are legally blind actually have a little bit of vision. Low vision is another common condition and is seen a lot in the elderly community but also among others due to illness, injury, or just genetics. Color-blindness is another large portion of visual disabilities, though it can be considered an overstatement to call it a disability because the conditions in which it is an absolute limitation are rare. Still, it helps to be aware of colorblindness when designing content for the web.

It is obvious that those who are blind and cannot see things as well as others, if at all. Though it is true that a portion of those who are blind do have some vision, it can be inferred that those who are considered blind do not use their eyes to access the web. What does this mean? The traditional computer monitor and mouse are of very little use. It is not that they are incapable of using it, it is just that they simply cannot use them. So, how do they use the Internet then?

Screen readers are software programs that convert text into synthesized speech, allowing people with visual disabilities to listen to content on the Internet. Screen readers do more than just read the screen, as the name would imply. They enable users to navigate website links, they can browse through a list of headings, and so much more. Screen readers are also used by those who are deaf and blind, but instead of converting the text into speech, the screen reader will convert the text into braille. These devices have small pins that are raised or lowered creating the braille in which the deaf-blind person can feel.

It's interesting to think about the potential that these technologies have for individuals who are blind, but the catch is that the content has to be accessible to the technologies that visually impaired individuals use for the content to be of value to them.

Screen readers are not without their limitations. They cannot completely substitute the visual experience, but there are ways to compensate for this weakness. Screen readers are not able to describe images, therefore the only way that they can convey the meaning of an image is to read the text within a document that serves as an alternative for the image. If there is no alternative text, then the screen reader is not able to accurately convey the meaning of the image. Screen readers are also not able to survey a web page as a whole and convey how it is organized. It reads in a linear fashion and may not always skip over extra content like advertisements or navigation.

Screen readers use keyboards for navigation, and this is something that should not be overlooked by web developers. Some functionality of web sites are programmed in a way that will only work when used by a mouse. Many times, keyboard inaccessibility results from a JavaScript event that depends on movement or clicks from a mouse. There is no way to access these types of content with the keyboard alone.

Low vision is generally defined as vision that cannot be fully corrected by glasses, indicating that it interferes with daily activities like driving and reading. It is very common among the elderly population but it does occur in individuals of any age. It is important to note that the biggest problem for web accessibility and those with low vision is that the website is not perceivable.

Low vision can be the result of many conditions, some of which include macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and cataracts.

Screen magnifiers are the most commonly use technology that help people with low vision. It is a software program that will zoom in on a small area of the screen, which allows it to be seen more clearly. Certain types of content are hard to interpret when they are enlarged, like graphics that contain text. These can become pixelated and blocky making it even harder to understand.

Websites that have low contrast can be very hard to read for individuals with low vision. Bad color combinations contribute to some of the most poorly designed website. There is no absolute rule as to what the best contrast is, so it is up to each web developer's judgment though it is not difficult to tell when a color combination is not contrasting well and will be difficult to read.

Some individuals with the low vision change the settings on their computer or browser to both enlarge the text, and increase the contrast between the text and the background. Some individuals may choose to have a background that is black with text that is white or yellow, others will choose a white background with black text. Though these are the most common settings, they are not the absolute. However, it is important to allow individuals to be able to customize their contrast and color settings by putting text in true-text form as much as possible, rather than relying on graphics.

Less on the side of accessibility and more about usability, horizontal scrolling is terrible for those who use screen magnifiers. In general, everything should be configurable to the settings that an individual would like.

There are a few different types of color blindness, but it is less important to be able to define them than it is to be able to design for them. Despite popular belief it is not necessary to convert all images to black-and-white, or to get rid of images all together. The fact of the matter is that you might not have to change any images at all. Why is this? Many times when images are put onto the web their colors are irrelevant anyway. But if the purpose of the image is to communicate something using the colors within the image, then it is vital to provide a different way of understanding the same information.

Auditory

Often times, developers do not think about individuals who are deaf when considering Web accessibility. A large portion of these web developers consider accessibility guidelines to include screen readers for the blind but no concern for those who are deaf. While this is kind of understandable, as those who are blind have the most trouble because the web is considered a mostly visual medium. That is a misconception. The Internet is information. This information is able to be presented visually or audibly. It can be presented through the use of graphics, audio, video, animation, or text. Commonly, web content is viewed through the portal of a web browser, which likely is made up of text and graphics but increasingly content is made of video and other multimedia.

The solution is for providing accessibility for those with auditory disabilities is quite straightforward, captions and transcripts are helpful for multimedia content.

Learning about different types of auditory disabilities will help to increase the understanding and appreciation of these individuals along with a commitment to provide content that can be accessed by them successfully. Though, it should be noted that using the word disabilities within this section can be controversial considering individuals within the deaf community. These individuals are less inclined to consider their condition a disability. Still, the word disability will stay within the section only to stress the fact that those who are hearing-impaired may not be able to hear audio content, the critical point that web developers should remember. Auditory disabilities does not only include those who are deaf. There are some individuals who are completely deaf and there are some individuals who have various degrees of hearing loss.

Mild hearing loss is the inability to hear a sound that is below 30 dB. Speech might be difficult to understand, especially if there are background noises. Moderate hearing loss is the inability to hear a sound that is below 50 dB. This may be when a hearing aid is required. Severe hearing loss is the inability to hear sound below 80 dB. In some cases, hearing aids are useful but not always. Those with severe hearing loss may primarily communicate through the use of sign language and rely on lipreading. Profound hearing loss is the absence of the ability to hear, or to hear sounds below 95 dB some of these individuals communicate mainly through sign language or may rely on lip reading.

There are a few types of classifications of hearing loss. Conductive hearing loss is the result of damaging or blocking the moving parts within the ear. The bones of an inner ear that is healthy will vibrate in response to sound. Injury or disease lead to the lack of ability of these bones to vibrate correctly which prevents the proper detection of auditory information.

High tone hearing loss is just as it sounds. It is the inability to hear high tones. One of the most interesting consequences of this is that women's voices become more difficult to understand.

Neural hearing loss also known as nerve deafness occurs when the hair cells within the cochlea are damaged and prevent auditory information from getting to the brain. The bones may vibrate correctly, but the nerves are not able to transmit this information for the brain to process.

Low tone hearing loss is the inability to hear tones that are low. This means that male voices become more difficult to hear and understand.

Deaf-blindness occurs when an individual is both deaf and blind. These individuals likely communicate through sign language, but they must also be able to feel the signs that the other person is making—essentially by holding their hand when they are signing. When they are accessing content on the web they will likely utilize a refreshable braille device that will allow them to gain access to all of the textual content on the page, including alternative text used for images and convert it to braille.

Deafness encompasses more than just having a medical condition. Those who are deaf belong to a community, a culture. Because of this deafness is unique among types of disabilities. There is a strong sense of culture among those who use sign language as their primary source of communication. Considering this, there are also deaf people who do not use sign language. These individuals have likely been raised in a speaking household and read the lips of those who are talking to them.

When thinking about the methods to make an audio content accessible on the web to those who are deaf, a number of developers find that it would be best to make a sign language version of the content, but there are a few problems with this. Not only do not all deaf people fathom sign language, not everyone even speaks the same sign language and videos on the Internet are not usually clear enough or large enough to make sign language interpretations possible.

Motor

Christopher Reeve is most remembered as a famous actor who later became paralyzed from an accident. He suffered from quadriplegia and regained some sensation and mobility but never enough to be able to successfully use a computer without assistive technology. Considering that the Internet is an essential tool for many people who are disabled, as it can connect them to the world and supplies a high degree of independence. They can stay up-to-date with the news and research anything that they could think of, they may purchase any items of their choosing—they are limitlessly independent as long as all of the websites that they want to access have been designed to permit access to those with disabilities.

Motor disabilities can stem from traumatic injuries like a spinal cord injury, or the loss or damage of a limb. Congenital conditions and diseases also lead to motor disabilities. Cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, and essential tremor are some of the most popular. Those who suffer any of these elements can find it challenging to use a mouse or keyboard and could potentially be using voice activated software.

There are so many assistive technologies in existence and these are just a few of the major types that can be used.

A mouth stick is exactly that. It is a stick that is placed in the mouth and is one of the most popular assistive technologies available. It is simple and does not cost a lot. In general, it is manufactured so that there is a rubber tip on the end of the mouth stick to give it better traction, and a rubber or plastic portion on the opposite end that the person will put in their mouth. This can be used by someone who is not able to use their hands so that they can type and even use a trackball mouse, depending on how much patience they have.

The head wand is similar to the mouth stick, except this stick is attached to headgear. The person will move their head and make the wand tip type characters on a keyboard and navigate the web. Fatigue may be an issue when there are a lot of keystrokes required to complete a task using a head wand.

Those who have extremely limited mobility may use a single switch access. If the person only has mobility in their head, the switch can be placed to the side of the head allowing the person to click it with movements. Special software will usually interpret this action and allow the individual to navigate the operating system and webpages. Some software will even allow for the typing of words by using a feature that will auto complete words and try to guess what the person is typing so that they can choose the correct word while exerting as little effort as possible.

A sip and puff switch is similar in functionality to a single switch, but the sip and puff switch will interpret the breath actions of a user as on or off signals and can be used for many things. The hardware may be combined with software that will extend the functionality for more sophisticated applications beyond controlling a wheelchair or navigating a computer.

An oversized trackball mouse is not a device that is unique to those with disabilities, but often times these are easier to use for someone with a motor disability rather than a regular mouse. It can be used alongside of head wand or mouth stick, and is simple to manipulate. For instance, someone that has hand tremors could find this mouse more useful because as the mouse is moved to the right location, it wouldn't take much more effort for the cursor to accidentally move. And oversized trackball mouse could also be used with a foot if hand tremors make it impossible.

An adaptive keyboard often times has the area in between the keys raised rather than lowered to make typing easier for those who do not have reliable muscle control for their hands. The individual can place their hand on the keyboard and then slide their finger down to the correct key. Keyboard overlays are also an option for adopting a standard keyboard, which will give the same results. Sometimes an adaptive keyboard will have a special software that comes with word completion technology that allows the individual to type with much less keystrokes.

Eye tracking devices are a revolutionary alternative for those who have limited or no control over their hand movements. Eye tracking software will use the movement of the eyes to navigate through the Internet. Special software will allow the person to type out text with that word completion technology to speed the process up. These systems are extremely expensive so they are not seen it very often.

Alternatively, voice recognition software will allow a person to have control over their computer simply through speaking. This works on the assumption that the person has a voice that can be easily understood. Some individuals with that motor disabilities might have trouble speaking in a way that the software can interpret since some of the muscles that are used to control the voice are not quick to respond, speech becomes slurred even when there is no slowness in mental capacity.

Cognitive

Cognitive disabilities is a very broad concept and is not always defined in the best way. Put simply, a person that has a cognitive disability will have a greater difficulty with at least one type of mental task than the average person. There are many types of cognitive disabilities, and most of them are based on the biology or physiology of an individual. The connection of a person's biology and mental process is obvious in reference to a traumatic brain injury or genetic disorder, but even subtle cognitive disabilities are based on the way that the brain is structured.

A person that has profound cognitive disabilities will require assistance with almost every aspect of their life. On the contrary, someone with a minor learning disability may have the ability to function semi normally despite this, maybe even to the extent that their disability is never diagnosed or even discovered. Because there is such a wide variation of mental capabilities among those who have cognitive disabilities, there is a lot of complication.

Considering this, someone could make a reasonable argument that a lot of the content on the Internet is not able to be accessed by individuals with reflective cognitive disabilities no matter how much work the developer has put into it. Some content may always be too complex for a certain audience, this cannot be avoided. Even so, there are some things that can be done to intensify the accessibility of website content even for those with minor cognitive disabilities.

Cognitive disabilities are divided into two groups: functional and clinical.

• Clinical cognitive disabilities are those like autism, down syndrome, dementia, and traumatic brain injury. Less severe cognitive conditions include dyslexia, dyscalculia, attention deficit disorder, and learning disabilities. A clinical diagnosis is useful from a medical perspective but when thinking about web accessibility, classifying cognitive abilities by functional disabilities is seen as more useful.
• Functional disabilities will ignore the medical or behavioral cause of the disability and actually focus on the resulting abilities and the challenges that come with it. The main categories of functional cognitive disabilities will include difficulties or deficits with memory, attention, problem-solving, reading, math comprehension, visual comprehension, and linguistic and verbal comprehension. The main reason that functional disabilities are more useful when thinking of web accessibility is that they directly relate to the concerns had by web developers.

Simply notifying a web developer that a person has autism and may visit the site is not meaningful unless the web developer knows what kind of obstacles that a person with autism will face on their website. On the other hand when you tell a web developer that people may have difficulties comprehending math, the developer is then provided with a way to address the needs of this type of audience.

Some users with cognitive disabilities will have difficulties with their memory that hinder their ability to recall how they got to a certain place and a website. Some individuals may also have problems solving issues when they arise. Other individuals even lack the ability to focus on a task, making pop-up windows, scrolling text, and blinking icon there enemy.

Accommodating information for those who have reading, verbal, and it linguistic comprehension deficits would include things like supplemental media, ordinate illustration, and structural documents as well as clear and simple writing.

Math comprehension deficits can be battled with increasing the understandability of content through explaining the math conceptually, or avoiding math altogether. When content includes something like e-commerce that will take the price of the item plus tax and shipping, it is best to incorporate these calculations as automatic within the website so that the user does not have to do them.

Seizure

Some individuals are susceptible to seizures that are caused by flashing, strobing, or flickering effects. These flashes of light interact with the neurons in the eye and the body's central nervous system. Most content on the Internet is totally harmless to individuals that are susceptible to seizures, including many animations and videos. But for some developers, dramatic effects are seen as necessary. Though these effects might seem cool to some people, they are potentially dangerous to individuals that are afflicted with seizure disorders. Web developers need to make an effort to ensure that their content does not have the strobing, flashing, or flickering effects that will trigger a seizure.

The WCAG has outlined very specific thresholds for size, frequency, contrast, and intensity for flashes. Put simply, if the content flashes greater than three times per second, is notably large, has a bright contrast in the flashes, it may be a trigger for seizures and needs to be avoided. A section of the guidelines prohibits flickering effects that have a frequency greater than 2 Hz and a lower than 55 Hz. Even if this type of content does not trigger a seizure it could cause dizziness or nausea in some people. This is not a good feeling to have associated with your website. In addition to this, animating content can be of distraction to some users and is just another thing to stay away from.

Design Considerations

Web design has two schools of thought: the one that is on the same side as personalized web design, and the opposition to this.

Regarding the Internet and web accessibility, it can be said that one size does not fit all. Individuals with moderate to severe cognitive disabilities can benefit from designs that are extremely different from designs that are aimed at the general audience. Individuals with low vision may benefit from sites that have been different designed specifically for their needs that incorporate a higher contrast, larger fonts, and narrow page formats. Individuals who are deaf can benefit from animations of people using sign language while those who are blind may benefit from a simpler page design.

Those who are considered experts with web accessibility work toward specializing designs for every type of disability. When done correctly, the specialization would take into account all of the needs and preferences of users in a way that a poorly designed website will not. Some experts have made intricate methods of storing preferences of users within databases. Others have made templates that can be used for every major category of disability. Some techniques have been successful while others have fallen flat. Nevertheless all of the intentions were good no matter what the outcome was.

Maybe the strongest argument in favor of a personalized approach to design is that it looks to create web content that really is accessible for everyone. A personalized design will endeavor to do what a single design can almost never do – ideally satisfy the needs of everyone, not just minimally.

Those who are against personalized web design have a few arguments regarding the problems. In general, there is a large investment needed up front for time and effort to design the varying versions of the website. Another issue with personalized design approach is that it will still leave out some types of disabilities. It is not practical to try to design a website type for every disability and existence. Lastly, individuals with the same type of disability will have varying preferences regarding how they use the internet.

Some screen reader users enjoy a navigational links at the top of the page while others prefer them at the bottom. Some individuals with low vision prefer a black background with large yellow text while others find it easier to read enlarged black text on a white background. Some individuals that are deaf prefer to read a text translation while others would prefer to see it in a sign language interpretation. This is just a fraction of the issues that are raised, so it is easy to see why web design personalization has opponents.

The end goal of a personalized design is to accommodate everyone. It can be worth the time and effort when the resources are available, but that is not always the case. Sometimes it is simply more practical to use a single design that is meant to accommodate the most people as possible.

One popular myth regarding web accessibility is that individuals with disabilities benefit from text only versions. The truth is that this is not always correct. Some people believe that text only is the way to go because they are thinking strictly in terms of those who use screen readers. They are not considering those with motor disabilities, those with low vision, or even those with cognitive disabilities. The truth is that graphics and visual presentation are vital for those with dyslexia or other cognitive disabilities. These individuals greatly benefit from more multimedia to explain the concepts presented within the text.

Considering the User Perspective: A Summary of Design Issues

Those who are blind are not able to see images, graphics, and photos—meaning that they will listen to the webpage. They will also track through links using the tab key and rarely use a mouse. Because they have difficulty seeing, they may find it hard to tell where they are within the page. Intricate data tables and graphs are unusable because they cannot be interpreted visually, while colors are unusable, and should not be relied on to convey meaning. When those who are visually impaired utilize screen readers, the content will be read to them in the order that it appears within the code.

Those who are colorblind have trouble distinguishing colors of similar contrast, so ensure that there is a high enough contrast without relying on it to convey meaning. Sometimes, reds and greens are difficult to distinguish, so care should be taken when using colors to convey vital information. Ensure that you have provided an additional way to obtain the same information, like presenting an explanation within the text, using the graphic as supplemental material.

Those with low vision will use screen enlargers, so you should take care to limit the amount of horizontal scrolling and if possible, never used it. This is done by using a relative unit rather than an absolute unit. Individuals will also enlarge graphics when text is used with in them, so to be safe eliminate the use of text within graphics.

Those who are deaf will not be able to use any of the audio on the website, so transcripts should be provided for audio clips while captions should be used with videos. And if possible, sign language interpretations of the audio are preferred.

Motor disabilities provide a set of challenges that stop users from being able to use some parts of their bodies while relying on other assistive technology. Because of this you, should ensure that all functions can be completed by using the keyboard and that the tab order is logical and makes sense.

Cognitive disabilities presents a wide range of challenges, including confusion by complex layouts or navigational bars, difficulty focusing on or understanding the text, and inability to use one method of input. Because of this, you should ensure that your layout is as simple as possible while the navigational scheme is consistent. Textual information should be under logical headings while put into manageable chunks. For complex information provide supplemental illustrations or other media to explain these concepts.

Author: Garenne BigbyWebsite: http://garennebigby.com

Founder of DYNO Mapper and Former Advisory Committee Representative at the W3C.