W3C's Web Accessibility Perspectives Videos
TLDR
Watch the videos: https://www.w3.org/WAI/perspective-videos
Why Should I Watch These Videos?
For starters, they’re short.
But more than that, they demonstrate how people who experience disabilities use the web. You'll get to see the roadblocks they face every day.
The Videos
Click the links below to watch each video.
Many people use only a keyboard to navigate websites. Some people have temporary limited mobility, like from a broken arm. Others experience a permanent physical disability where they can’t grasp a mouse.
Try using a website like ESPN.com with just your keyboard. It’s an eye opening experience. You mean I have to tab through every single score to get to the articles?
Next, put your keyboard on the ground and try navigating with your toes. Take your shoes and socks off first, genius!
Captions are an example of assistance that a person experiencing hearing loss can’t live without. People with cognitive disabilities may also benefit. But people without hearing loss can benefit as well. Some people like to have captions on as a personal preference.
I used to watch the TV show, Battlestar Galactica. Some characters whispered to each other a lot and I struggled to understand what they said. In their defense, they were often hiding from killer space robots! Replaying the scene with captions turned on helped me catch the biggest reveal of the entire series. Without captions I’d have missed it entirely.
Good color contrast makes websites more readable for everyone. Resist the temptation of using gray text on a lighter shade of gray background with small fonts, for example. It may look slick but it's very hard for some people to read.
What's right for you may not work for everyone. Those 4-point fonts may look slick but they may be a nightmare to read for people who experience low vision or dyslexia. Allow users to adjust fonts, text size, spacing and color without loss of function or clarity.
Use clear headings, navigation bars, and consistent styling. Bad layout and design frustrates everyone.
If you want a good, clean laugh, visit Youtube and search for “Butters pantry”. I know South Park isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but this exaggerated scene between Butters and his father strangely does an excellent job of highlighting the importance of organized design.
Nobody wants Hamburger Helper in their milk instead of Nestlie Quick. Nobody, Butters.
Some people use speech instead of typing or clicking to navigate. It can help people recovering from injury.
People who experience blindness may rely on screen readers that convert text on the screen to speech. Screen readers are helpful to people who have difficulty reading text. They also help people multitask - my wife listens to Youtube videos that read Reddit feeds aloud while she's working.
Avoid long, complex sentences. Use clear and concise language. Don't use unexplained acronyms. Avoid passive voice. Basically, everything they taught us in College Writing 101.
Large Links, Buttons, Controls
Using a website shouldn't be like threading a needle.
My phone has a pull down menu where you can turn off alarms. It has a downward pointing arrow you tap to expand the menu. The expanded menu has an option to turn off the alarm. I don't know how many times I've missed the little arrow and instead clicked into the clock app instead. Very frustrating! Imagine trying to perform this acrobatic task with a pointing device held in your mouth. Not fun!
Make areas for clicking and tapping larger and easier to use. Controls that aren't associated with each other should have wide separation on the screen. Make sure your page can be magnified without losing functionality or hiding controls.
Bad Error message: "Error #14503. Try again later."
Better Error message: "Invalid or missing date for Date of Birth field. Please input proper date and try again. If you need help, please contact support at [contact info]."
Without proper notifications and feedback people may get disoriented or confused. Avoid complex and confusing error messages. Make error messages understandable and predictable. Predictable and understandable makes the website accessible to people with cognitive and learning disabilities. And more usable for everyone.