Does Your Website Discriminate? Ours Does.

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The power of the web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect
— Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web

Back in high school, my 11th-grade health class took a field trip to DC. The point of the field trip wasn’t our destination, it was how we got there. Right as we were boarding the bus, our teacher assigned us a disability. Whaaaa? 😳

He broke us out into teams of five where two people were blindfolded, 其中两个人只能使用一只手臂,第五个人坐在轮椅上,不能使用他的手臂. My challenge was to only have use of one arm. I was relieved I wasn’t blindfolded.

坐在轮椅上的人在中间,两边都是一个单手推着轮椅的人. The blindfolded people each held onto the shoulder of the one-armed person to guide them.

We had to get into a metro station, purchase farecards, ride down the elevator, get through the turnstile, traverse the platform and board the metro train. My vague recollection of it was harrowing, frustrating and pretty hilarious at times too.

这绝对让我体会到,在一个总是不考虑残疾人的世界里,残疾人每天不得不忍受的挣扎. 值得庆幸的是,在现实世界中,人们已经做了很多工作来帮助各种残疾的人,但在虚拟世界中呢?

Surfing the Net Blind

Ever try to browse the internet blindfolded, or controlling your mouse with your less dominant hand, or simply not using a mouse or keypad but using the keyboard only?

据估计,世界上约有五分之一的人患有某种残疾,无法有效地上网.

The CDC has reported that over 61 million Americans have a disability that affects major life activities.

Blind person using a mobile device.

Blind person using a mobile device.

What does it mean to have an accessible website?

Web accessibility refers to the concept of making the internet accessible to ALL kinds of people; disabled, non-disabled, temporarily disabled, or those struggling with a webpage’s format.

作为人类包容性和普遍性的原则,网络可访问性越来越多地出现在小企业的话语中.

Effective web accessibility means websites, tools, 技术是为残疾人或有自然障碍的人量身定制的,这样他们就能使用网络.

网站易访问性的主要目标是让用户能够有效地感知, understand, navigate, and interact with content available on the web.

Jason from Hanover, Germany - using the Internet as a blind man through software assistance.

Visual Considerations

Web accessibility hiccups that users experience can often be inadvertent, 但它们应该是每一个企业主头脑中的首要问题——无论是小公司还是大公司.

Visual issues are most apparent when developers, web designers, and other creatives place emphasis on the aesthetic appearance of their website and overcomplicate it, rather than making it widely compatible.

It’s often better to keep web pages succinct and simple to understand.

For a web page to be accessible, and usable for all different kinds of web users, particularly those experiencing disabilities, it must consider the visual factors that can alter a user’s experience:

  • Colorblindness

  • Small or illegible text 

  • 糟糕的内容层次结构(混乱或破碎的超链接,不清晰的网页设置,草率的展示)

  • Bright sunlight, poor computer display, color brightness

  • Alt Text allows the image information to be available to blind users, but also to those who elect to “turn off’ web images

    • 图像信息和alt文本也可用于不能直观地“看到”图像的技术, like search engines

    • Alt Text允许任何类型的用户了解图像的细节,并允许屏幕阅读器口述图像信息给用户'

  • 一些用户遇到的情况是,在互联网收费较高的地区或低带宽地区使用网络会花费更多

Other factors impacting successful web accessibility

A governing principle for web accessibility is Section 508 of the United States government code, which mandates that all government information be web-accessible, meaning accounting for all potential disabilities:

  • Auditory

  • Physical

  • Neurological

  • Speech

  • Cognitive

One of the main goals of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI - W3C) involves being able to fundamentally function for all different kinds of users; no matter the circumstances. 

Factors that could affect a non-disabled user’s web experience:

  • Hardware makeup of mobile device/desktop 

  • Software compatibility

  • Language variation

  • Ability to use web regardless of user’s cognitive makeup 

  • Elderly users’ macular degeneration 

  • Diminishing motor skills

  • Temporary/situational disabilities:

    • A broken finger or arm

    • Absence of [reading] glasses

    • Having a cast on an arm

    • Bright sunlight, poor computer display, color brightness, etc. 

  • Location accessibility:

    • Slow internet connection affecting user’s experience

    • A website should not be dependent on fast bandwidth. Websites should be versatile for all different kinds of bandwidths and internet connections, no matter where you live, there should be ways in which everyone can access your content.

  • Technological Versatility: 

    • The user is able to navigate through the use of the keyboard 

      • Directional commands or letters

      • Other assistive technology like speech input and commands

    • Text transcripts can be crucial for deaf users that are unable to use speech input, commands, or any audio function altogether. 转录dafa888.casino网页版也可以帮助创建HTML(超文本标记语言)格式的文本转录本.

The impact of accessibility and the benefits for everyone in a variety of situations.

Legal and Ethical Importance of Web Accessibility

There is a clear legal responsibility to making sites web-accessible. No user should be discriminated against, even if it is an inadvertent, aesthetic mistake on a web page. 

Access to information and communications technologies, including the web, is defined as a basic human right, according to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (via - United Nations).

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires certain businesses to make accommodations for disabled people; those who need to navigate the web by voice command, are blind, deaf, or require other assistive technologies.

不考虑这些辅助技术对企业来说是危险的,因为它可能会引发法律诉讼, financial liability, poor PR perception, and damage to branding.

有些企业的唯一目的是审计其他企业的在线业务,以确保他们的网站符合网页可访问性 laws

97% of the top 1 million websites in the world fail a basic web accessibility test, leaving them susceptible to legal trouble. There were 8x as many web accessibility lawsuits filed between 2016 and 2019 than ever before.

互联网从未像今天这样深入到Dafa888casino的生活中,它是未来覆盖每一个基础的重要业务. 

In being a proponent of web accessibility, you’re promoting the objective of equity. It’s genuinely good to promote web accessibility for all.

No one deserves to be discriminated against in any capacity, and especially so when they don’t have a choice about whether or not they’re disabled.

网络和技术可及性通过反对歧视滋生了更多的包容性. By making your business or website open to all different kinds of users, you’re additionally opening doors to more potential business opportunities.

What good is your website if it’s only limited to a certain set of people? 

How do I evaluate my website’s accessibility?

  • WAVE Evaluation Tool: provides feedback by evaluating images, color contrast deficiencies, 并有助于促进人类对网页可访问性的许多其他方面的评估. Available through Google Chrome Store and WebAim.

  • Audio Eye:可访问性得分是由通过问题的数量(一个网页的特征,加强可访问性)除以可能对弱势用户造成问题的数量(免费试用)决定的。.

  • Square ADA:免费的审计评估工具,为您提供您的网站的可访问性的快照,专门针对Squarespace网站.

  • ADA Compliance Monitor: AI-powered accessibility compliance system.

Top 10 reasons web accessibility is important to your small business

  1. It places emphasis on human good and inevitably widens its own marketing scope.

  2. A web-friendly site reiterates your brand awareness and represents your message. 它通过对各类网络用户的公平追求,提升了品牌的信念和知名度. 

  3. As a brand seeking to establish conviction, 设计力量(Dafa888casino)相信所有人的繁荣和公平,并相信对Dafa888casino的客户的共同追求.

  4. WAI的包容性和普遍性的目标有助于实现企业原则的完整循环. A web-friendly site displays brand awareness and communicates what you stand for

  5. The law establishes that everyone has a right to the information accessible on the web. Outside of being in accord with legal government compliance, web accessibility can be a crucial edge that allows for more business opportunities, lends promotion of your brand, site, logo, and product, while differentiating yourself from competitors.

  6. Creative entrepreneurs, writers, individual business owners, 设计师在设计他们的品牌和标志时,应该经常鼓励他们考虑网站的可访问性——这是品牌塑造的另一个方面 distinguish themselves

  7. If you are to not consider creating a web page that is widely accessible, you’re creating problems for yourself down the road. 网络可访问性只会继续成为小企业的一个更大的组成部分——它不会消失.

  8. Technology is advancing at a rate where nearly everyone is looking to use some form of the internet; a web page through desktop, a tablet, a mobile device, and TV. Without web-accessible pages, 残疾用户不理解内容的全部效果,因为它没有被正确地呈现给他们. 

  9. America will only continue to demand more universal and inclusive principles, especially when it comes to digital technology.

  10. 是时候让网页可访问性成为所有不同用户的优先事项了——这不仅是合理的业务, but it’s also the right thing to do.

How does our site discriminate? Let me count the ways…

A sampling of the errors the WAVE extension shows for our site.

A sampling of the errors the WAVE extension shows for our site.

When we first built our website just shy of two years ago, we knew about accessibility but can’t claim deep expertise. Because I've been a designer for a long time, color principles, comprehension, 和可读性是空洞的,艾米丽和我都得到了更多的规则命名的图像, headlines and content too.

But since we’re about to embark on a rebrand, we’re digging deep to really understand how to design our next site with a focus on equity, accessibility and inclusion.

For our current site, we’ve considered installing an accessibility overlay widget. I ran our site’s homepage through the Userway test BUT before we put the widget code into our site, we researched it further and found out these overlays aren’t the best solution…

这些小部件中的一些实际上会使残疾人更难访问站点上的信息,并且不能完全保护您 compliance lawsuits. Accessibility is just not something that can be done using a widget. It still requires human subtleties and understanding.

这巩固了Dafa888casino继续学习更多可访问性的决心,并将最佳实践纳入Dafa888casino的下一个网站建设以及Dafa888casino客户的网站. 令人欣慰的是,在同理心和理解人类同胞的需求方面,Dafa888casino仍然比人工智能做得更好. Now we must act on it!

 

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