Digital Accessibility
Digital accessibility is the practice of designing and building websites, apps, documents, and other digital products so that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and use them.
Accessibility covers a wide range of needs, including vision, hearing, mobility, and cognitive disabilities. Many people rely on assistive technology such as screen readers, magnifiers, voice control, or keyboard-only navigation. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), published by the World Wide Web Consortium, are the most widely used standard. WCAG groups its guidance under four principles and defines three conformance levels: A, AA, and AAA. Many laws and policies reference WCAG, including the Section 508 standards that apply to United States federal agencies.
Accessibility helps more than people with permanent disabilities. Captions help in noisy places, and clear layouts help anyone who is tired or distracted. A common misconception is that accessibility is a final checklist or a plugin added at the end. Fixing problems late costs more, and automated checkers catch only some of them. Sound practice builds accessibility into design and development from the start and includes testing with people who use assistive technology.
Key parts
Perceivable. Content can be seen or heard in more than one way, such as alt text for images and captions for video.
Operable. Every function works with a keyboard and other input methods.
Understandable. Text, labels, and behavior are clear and predictable.
Robust. Content works reliably with browsers and assistive technology.
