First let’s talk about what A11y means. It literally stands for the word “Accessibility”.
It’s A… followed by 11 characters… then a y.
When we see A11y we should think and pronounce it as Accessibility – just like the word itself. However, it should also be a good indication that it is referring to website accessibility since the abbreviation is predominantly used by the web industry.
A11y includes a significant number of people
A11y covers a much larger group of people than you would initially think when you consider different types of impairments.
Some examples:
- Permanent: visual impairment (including blindness, color blindness, or poor vision (mild or severe)); tremors
- Temporary: broken arm; post surgery
- Situational: woman holding a crying baby; working in a crowded room
Why should we make websites A11y compliant?
This is the most important thing I have learned about following A11y guidelines: making websites compliant should make using websites better for EVERYONE – not just visitors with impairments.
A11y guidelines make websites more standardized interactively… which means a larger segment of the population are familiar with how to interact with a website and to predict the results of their interaction. For example, imagine how we now automatically know what to do and what to expect by clicking on a simple text link.
It is this familiarity and predictability that makes a website easier to use for many people. A11y is focused on consistency and interactivity for that reason… so following A11y guidelines ultimately increases the ease of use (and therefore Positive User Experience) for everyone.
A11y topics
- Focus – importance of indicating the current interactive element to the user
- Navigation – making navigation clear and easy for interaction
- Semantics – structuring site code to make sense organizationally
- ARIA – using hidden attributes to assist users with impairments
- Styles – using styling to improve Positive User Experience