Designing for everyone accessibility in web development

Key Takeaways

**Challenge:** 61 million Americans (1 in 4 adults) live with disabilities, yet most websites fail accessibility standards—creating frustrating experiences for users with vision, mobility, cognitive, or hearing impairments

• **Solution:** Integrate accessibility and Section 508 compliance into the design process from the start, not as an afterthought

• **Broader Impact:** Accessibility benefits everyone—including users with temporary disabilities (broken arm), color blindness, neurodiversity (dyslexia, ADHD), and situational constraints (noisy environment, holding a baby)

• **Implementation:** Test early iterations for accessibility, use certified DHS Trusted Testers for government projects, or incorporate automated tools like AccessiBe or Axe Dev Tools

Accessing Information on the Internet

Accessing information on the internet can sometimes be an incredibly frustrating experience for those individuals with disabilities. Software accessibility issues are common and often go unresolved and unnoticed. The good news is there are many experts who specialize in accessibility testing. In this article, I'll talk a little about the accessibility problem and some solutions.

The Size and Scope of the Challenge

Firstly, let's start with the size and scope of the challenge. According to the CDC, 61 million (1 in 4) adults in the US live with a disability (cdc.gov). The CDC also reports that:

• 12 million people 40 years old and over in the United States have vision impairment, including 1 million who are blind (cdc.gov)

• 1 in 7 adults have mobility issues and with age disability becomes more common, affecting about 2 in 5 adults 65 and older (cdc.gov).

• Over 16 million people in the United States are living with cognitive impairment (cdc.gov)

• The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorder's 2021 report noted that 1 in 8 people in the United States (13 percent, or 30 million) aged 12 years or older have hearing loss in both ears, based on standard hearing examinations (nidcd.nih.gov).

Designing for Accessibility

As UX Designers and Researchers, making this experience intuitive is what we specialize in; however, that often operates under the assumption that users navigate the web with the full functionality of a mouse, keyboard, screen, and speakers. If this assumption fails to hold true (i.e. someone cannot use a mouse, see the screen, or hear their speakers), our designs might inadvertently alienate a significant population of our users and fail the exact people we were initially trying to help.

To accommodate individuals with disabilities, accessibility and 508 compliance need to become a core part of the design process. If you are not familiar with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, it is a set of standards that requires Federal agencies to make Information and Communications Technology (ICT) accessible to employees and members of the public who have physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities.

Figure 1: A sample of possible permanent, temporary, and situational disabilities.

As OneSpring's Senior UX Designer, Sara Tung, pointed out, "User experience is improved for everyone when accessibility is considered in the design." When thinking of accessibility, people typically think of permanent disabilities such as visual impairment or hearing impairment; however, it covers a much wider scope of users including (but not limited to) someone with:

• Limited mobility due to a cast or sling

• Color blindness

• Neurodiversity, including dyslexia and ADHD, among others.

• A situational or environmental constraint such as a noisy room or new baby you need to hold in your arms

Designing for accessibility allows everyone, no matter their circumstance, to interact with your designs and content. Testing even the initial iterations of a website for accessibility will both minimize rework over the development life-cycle and give the entire team a much better idea of what is needed for a website to be accessible.

Therefore, having someone who is certified in accessibility testing on your team is important to make sure it's performed correctly. For example, some government projects require certified Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Trusted Testers to be on the team. Becoming a Trusted Tester is a commitment, which requires several weeks to complete (see this article to learn more).

Incorporating Accessibility into Development

To incorporate accessibility into your development life-cycle, consider bringing on a specialist in this area. Alternatively, you could incorporate automated services like AccessiBe, COMPLYFirst, or Axe Dev Tools into the life-cycle to identify and change inaccessible parts of your application as it's being developed. The bottom line is that making sure your application is accessible helps ensure the experience is improved for all users.