Accessibility

In recent user testing with a range of participants including Visually Impaired (VIP) and Blind users we found that the majority of problems were common across all groups. However the effect of poor usability is more severe for users with visual disabilities. Surprisingly all of the issues are very familiar and are easy to fix so we thought we’d revisit some of the basics of accessible web design.

Accessible does not always mean usable. Here are a few pointers on how to make accessible sites that are truly usable.

It is perfectly possible to diligently apply alt text to every image on a site and create a result that is completely useless . Unless the alt text effectively conveys the information the image displays, it will be ineffective.

In the course of our work for the National Disability Authority over the last year we've talked to a wide variety groups and individuals who have an interest in accessibility and as a result of their input, our approach has shifted a little. Here's what we found out.

A common approach to accessibility is to provide a text only version of web pages, but this does not address all of the accessibility issues.