What do we mean by online accessibility?

For those who know me, they know that I am a passionate advocate for online accessibility and that I try to create change and educate wherever I go (even when it is irrelevant!). But one of the most frequent questions I get is ‘what is online accessibility?’ By online accessibility, I mean that we think about what content we’re putting online and how we can ensure that as many people as possible can comprehend and receive the message.

In order to ensure that the message or the content is accessible, we need to consider what makes it inaccessible. 

Disability is so widespread and often brings in conflicting access requirements. For instance, a common access device is closed captions on video - this ensures that deaf, hard of hearing, people with auditory processing disorder, children, people who are not fluent in the language etc., can access the information without solely relying on hearing and their auditory comprehension. However, this could actually make the content inaccessible to people who have ADHD or other attention disorders which make it difficult for the information to be processed as intended - the captions can become a distraction. This is an example of a conflict in access requirements. 

How do we decide whose needs are more important? The answer is a little more creative than this. No one should be deciding on who gets access and who does not, this is not the solution, the solution is to ensure that everyone can choose what access they receive. YouTube has found a solution to the caption issue by creating a toggle so people can decide if the captions are on or off. This means that everyone is included. This is the aim of online accessibility, to include everybody. 

Of course, this now makes accessibility seem more complicated than it actually is. Most CMS’ (content management systems for websites) have accessibility incorporated within them, and most social media platforms have ways to include accessibility functions. This is very easy to google. 

The key components of ensuring your content accessible are: 

• Ensure your content is not too long

Long content is boring and makes it hard to concentrate to the end even if you are interested in the topic and you have no disabilities. It can put people off and is inaccessible to a variety of people. They just want to find out the information!

• Use plain language

Using complex terminology and jargon on a general page is unnecessary and is frankly, alienating. If you must use the language, ensure you explain what it means. Sometimes people confuse complex language with portraying intelligence - the best way to share knowledge is to make your content easy to understand for somebody who does not know your subject matter. It proves that you know what you are talking about, and everybody can understand you

• Include image descriptions

Image descriptions are useful for informing blind and visually impaired people who are using screenreaders of what is in the image. To write a useful image description, consider why you are using the image, what is the point of it and what do you want the reader to gain from it? Add these as alt attributes to a website, or add them as image descriptions on most social media. If you can’t, then the format is usually:

[Image description: Insert image description here]. 

• Add closed captions to your videos

Don’t assume everybody can hear or comprehend spoken language. If you are able to film a video, then you can definitely add captions. There are many apps for your phone, and it is easy to add within most video editing software. If it is a long video, you can use speech to text apps and edit them to save time and add the transcript as well. Personally I can ready faster than most people can talk, so a 20 minute video is a 5 minute read of a transcript which is easier for me and I process more information than simply watching the video would do.

• Don’t use flashing lights or strange effects on your video

Flashing lights and strobe effects are widely known as photosensitive epilepsy triggers and of course, no one wants their content to create seizures. But there are a lot of introductory segments or animated cuts between scenes on video which are blurry or have lots of flashing or movement. This is intended to be eye catching, but instead can cause sensory overload for autistic people, and others who experience anxiety or have sensory processing disorder. Rather than being eye catching, this can cause physical pain and will drive people away. (It also doesn’t look very good!)

• Don’t use ableist language

This is less about improving accessibility and is more about using more inclusive language. Ableism is rooted in the exclusion and the ostracisation of disabled people, this includes subjects such as eugenics, anti-wheelchair narratives, anti-lazy narratives, and inaccessibility. We all know not to use the word ‘retarded’ because it is ableist towards autistic people and people with learning disabilities. However, lots of people still use words such as; crazy, stupid, dumb, cretin, moron, insane, psycho etc. This language alienates people who have learning difficulties or brain fog or have mental illnesses. It generally is not a good idea to insult potential customers/clients/friends etc.

To conclude

This is a very quick summary of actions that can be implemented on all projects from websites to social media etc. Making your content accessible for disabled people will make your content better, and more accessible to abled people too. It does not take much extra time and is easy to implement into your existing workflow. 

As always, I love talking about all things accessibility so I am happy to have a chat about how you can implement accessibility into your work! Feel free to message me on LinkedIn!