A11y - What, Why, How
The goal of this presentation is to help humanize how we interact with the digital world. A fundamentally modern human experience shared by all. But like too many things in our world, not accessible to all.
Join me to explore, the What, the Why and the How, of Digital Accessibility.
A11y - What, Why, How
What is A11y?
A11y
Accessibility
Accessibility
In a nutshell that's what A11y is
- Small changes in our understanding
- With meaningful impact đ¯ for others
What is A11y to websites
- It's thinking about All users
All Interactions
- Mouse đ
- Touch đ
- Keyboard đš
- Screen Readers đ
All Visions
- Poor Eyesights đ
- Colour Vision Deficiencies đ¨
- Screen Glare âī¸
All Differences
- Cognitive đ§
- Sensory đ
- Physical âŋ
Fundamentally
It's about no barrier to access
That Was The What
Why should you care?
In a nutshell
You should care because people matter đ
This Is A Hard Question
"Blind People Don't Drive Cars"
But, I do have 3 different answers for you
- A đ Answer
- A đ Answer
- A 𤊠Answer
A đ Answer
Ableism
The đ Answer
Various Laws
The 𤊠Answer
The Curb Cut Effect
Nick-philly, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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1945
- World War 2 has come to an end âī¸
- Lots of people came home broken đ
- And in the town of Kalamazoo, Michigan đī¸
- The First Curb Cut was built đˇ
1970
- People protested by making their own curb cuts đŠâđ¤
- Taking jack hammers to the curbs âī¸
- Pouring concert to create ramps đˇ
- They broke down barriers to their movement đ¤
1990
- Over 40 years later â
- Curb cuts become law in the US đŠââī¸
If you're like me
You never thought of curb cuts as assistance technology âŋ
Curb Cuts help everyone
Not only for the mobility impaired
- Pushing a pram or trolley đ
- Carrying anything heavy đī¸ââī¸
- Walking with joint pain âĄ
- Getting home after a đģ
That's the curb cut Effect
- Enabling access for some đ
- Enhances access for all đĨ°
Another Curb Cut Effect
Closed Captions
- Made for the hearing impaired đĻģ
- Enables people to follow along easier đ
- Helps people with second languages ãī¸
- Allows you to watch netflix with noisy people đē
A11y Helps EVERYONE
Because we all live in the same world
Why I Care
I never want to make someone feel disabled by a product I helped deliver!
That Was The Why
How can you help?
Everyone
Help normalize talking about a11y đ§âđ¤âđ§
Be a voice for those often not considered đŖī¸
UX/UI People
Here are a few things to keep in mind
- Mouse đ & Keyboard đš
- Element states, focus, hover, disabled
- Touch đ
- Button sizes and clearance
- Screen Readers đ
- Content order being consistent across devices
Copy People
- How the screen reader should read visual UI đ
- Express link purpose, by link text alone đ
Dev People
The web starts out a11y, until we break it đĨ
Push back and learn how not to break it! â¨
- Aria is powerful, but can make things worse đˇ
- Use native over custom đĻ
- Press Tab and understand the keyboard â¨ī¸
- Learn to use screen readers & the a11y tree đ
QA People
Test with a screen reader đ
Test everything with a keyboard đš
Share your experience not just the bugs đ¤
There is a lot to learn
A few places to start
Don't learn alone
A11y Guild
I'm going to be starting an a11y guild â¨
Expect an announcement in slack soon đ
Everyone is welcome to come along đ