Designing for accessibility means accepting that, for web sites, there is:
- No standard user (information consumer/person) using the web
- No standard device for browsing the web
Some People and their Abilities to Consider:
- People with Visual Impairments
- People with Hearing Impairments
- People with Mobility Impairments
- People with Cognitive Impairments
Gain an appreciation of web accessibility from the user perspective through the following video "Keeping Web Accessibility In Mind". A transcript of the video is also available.
1. People with Visual Impairments
- Blind - unable to see visual information
- Color deficiency
- Euteranopia - red-green deficiency
- Protanopia - red deficiency
- Tritanopia - blue/yellow deficit
- Achromatopsia - total colour blindness
- Limited vision (can see but not well; may need large fonts or magnifiers). Far-sightedness, and other vision impairments greatly increase after the age of forty
2. People with Hearing Impairments
- Deaf
- Hard of hearing - cannot hear sounds reliably
3. People with Mobility Impairments
People with mobility impairments have difficulty moving one or more parts of the body. Where web design is concerned, this usually involves a disability involving the hands and/or arms. It can include:
- Total or partial paralysis
- Repetitive stress injuries (RSI)
- Arthritis
- Stroke
- ALS (Arterial Lateral Sclerosis; Lou Gehrig's Disease)
- Parkinson's disease
- Spinal cord injuries
- Cerebral palsy
- Loss of limbs or digits
- Low dexterity (unable to use a pointing device like a mouse and instead must use keyboard or switch)
4. People with Learning Difficulties and/or Cognitive Impairments
Learning Difficulties
- Attention Deficit Disorder
- Dyslexia
- Low comprehension (having problems understanding content, textual or otherwise)
- Low reading (having problems reading text)
- Other non-verbal learning difficulties
Cognitive Disabilities
- Loss of brain function
- Short term memory loss
- Epilepsy - may be subject to epileptic episodes
- Alzheimer's disease
- Parkinson's disease
- Multiple sclerosis
Others Who Benefit from Accessible Web Sites Include People Who:
- Use technology such as mobile phones and PDAs,
- Surf the web using text-based browser such as Lynx
- Do not load images for various reasons
- Access content in a situation where their eyes, ears, or hands are busy (e.g. driving to work, working in a noisy environment)
- Are annoyed or distracted by flashing animations
- Have hardware limitations such as:
- Small screens
- Older computers or browser versions
- No audio speakers
- Slow modem connection
- High per-minute charges for Internet connection
- Connection via a mainframe (dumb) terminal
- Slow dial-up connections (especially common in rural areas as well as outside of the U.S.)
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