Why We Need To Design the Web with Accessibility in Mind

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share a short story that inspired this newsletter.

A few years ago, while my team was running A/B tests on a website, my web developer used the wrong yellow hex code - it was a very bright fluorescent yellow, instead of the correct shade.

When I asked about it, he corrected the mistake and reminded me that he was colorblind. I had completely forgotten about it (my bad).

“Disability is a part of being human. Almost everyone will temporarily or permanently experience disability at some point in their life.” ~World Health Organization

People with disabilities often face more challenges in daily activities than others, in ways we don’t immediately consider.

Inaccessible environments create barriers that make it difficult for people with disabilities to fully and effectively participate in society on an equal basis with everyone else. It’s a form of discrimination if you think about it.

This includes websites with poor accessibility.

Having an accessible website ensures that everyone can access the content and services your website offers. It also demonstrates your commitment to serving all customers, regardless of their abilities.

• According to World Health Organization, an estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant disability. That represents 16% of the world’s population, or 1 in 6 of us.
• 97% of all digital properties on the Internet have basic and easily fixable accessibility errors.
• Only 3% of the web is accessible to people who use assistive technology.

Accessibility is legal compliance (!) but also…

Accessibility is not just a buzzword or a moral responsibility. There’s ROI in it.

1. It is legal compliance.

In a 2023 Website Accessibility Lawsuit Recap Report, there were 2,281 website accessibility lawsuits filed in the United States.

Laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) mandate accessibility standards and non-compliance can result in legal consequences.

If you want to learn about these guidelines, we breakdown ADA & WCAG in our web accessibility blog.

2. It’s inclusivity for everyone (not just those with disabilities).

Web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed to be usable by people with disabilities.

However, accessibility features also improve the overall user experience and benefit everyone, not just those with disabilities.

For example, accessibility features also help:

• older people with changing abilities that naturally develop due to aging,
• people with “temporary disabilities” (e.g. a broken arm or lost glasses),
• people with “situational limitations” (e.g. being in bright sunlight which gives screen glare, or in a noisy place where you can’t hear properly).

BONUS: Accessible website features are also favored by search engines, which can boost your SEO & search rankings.

How to check if your website is compliant

This is your friendly reminder to check your site meets accessibility standards, if you haven’t in a while.

Here’s how in 2 quick steps:

• Use web accessibility evaluation tools like WAVE, GTmetrix or Lighthouse to scan your website for common accessibility issues.
• These tools also provide reports and suggestions for accessibility improvements.

Accessibility is an ongoing process.?

Aim to regularly monitor your site, test for issues and stay informed about updates to accessibility standards and best practices.

We also strongly encourage training your team.

Educate yourself and your team members on the ADA and WCAG guidelines, the importance of accessibility and how to create and maintain accessible content.

This includes your web developers, designers, content creators, and anyone else involved in the site development and management.

Our top tips for accessibility

Being accessible is not about dumbing down your website.

It’s about giving users options to set up an environment that works with their particular disabilities and assistive technologies.

The range of disabilities that people have is incredibly broad.

?? Keep in mind that it is often that people can have more than one, or a combination of disabilities.

Here are our favorite must-have accessibility features:

• Use descriptive Alt Text for images. The keyword is descriptive. Alt text helps screen readers explain image content to visually impaired users.
• Provide transcripts and captions for audio and video content. Captions help people with hearing impairments and those with cognitive or learning disabilities to better understand content. Captions can also be helpful in noisy places for those without disability.

• Break up long paragraphs with bullet points or bold text. This makes your content easier to scan, helping everyone quickly find the information they need. It also helps people with dyslexia by making the text less overwhelming and easier to read.
• Good color contrast between text and background. This helps users with visual impairments such as color blindness. You can use tools like WebAIM Color Contrast Checker or WhoCanUse to test your color choices.

• Tips for attention deficit disorder and motion sickness.?Revolving headers and motion graphics look fancy and tempting to have, but please use with moderation! Any elements with automatic motions can distract people with attention deficit disorders or cause motion sickness. Make sure to give users the option to pause or disable automatic motions.
• Device interactions. Features like text resizing, pinch-to-zoom, and light/dark mode display options can be very essential for certain types of disabilities such as those with low vision, difficulty seeing or differentiating between colors, or people with migraines.
• Forms.?Label forms clearly and provide specific error messages with suggestions for fixing mistakes. This makes forms easier to use for everyone.

• Test with real users. Tools and tech can’t tell you everything. Test your site with real users to get feedback. If possible, test with users who have disabilities.

Share some of your must-have accessibility features in the comments!

If you're wondering how to identify or implement change to your website that meets accessibility standards, feel free to reach out.

Let's make the web a better place for everyone.

What’s new @ KARL Mission

Instagram update

We wanted to celebrate a win for our team. Thanks to Mag & Christine for another viral moment on Instagram ??

POV: You always go to tea break together [2 million views, & growing]

Follow us on Instagram @karlmission for some laughs.

More reads from the KARL blog

• What Every Business Needs to Know About Website Accessibility
• The High Cost of Bad Design: Why Constant User Testing is Key to Success
• 12 Strategies to Gather User Feedback Aligned with Business Goals

Signing off,

Alex, Captain of the KARL Crew

If you haven't already, subscribe to the newsletter for more content.

If you're curious about us, check out www.karlmission.com

??? Stay tuned for our new podcast, CROmance. Launching soon!

A shout out to our humble clients: