|
|
|
|
Between 10% and 20% of the population in most countries have disabilities. You should also note that the average age of population in many countries is increasing and ageing sometimes results in combinations of accessibility issues such vision and hearing changes or changes in dexterity and memory. There are many barriers for many types of disabilities. Visual disabilitiesPeople with visual disabilities are individuals who are blind, have low vision, or have colour blindness. Without a text description, a user who can't see an image has no way of knowing what it is, or what it represents. People who are colour blind or who have low vision benefit from good contrasting colours. It is difficult to see elements (including text) whose colours are not sufficiently different from the elements around them (including the background or page colour). When information is presented by colour alone, a person who is colour blind misses that information. Visually impaired users may also have problems understanding sites that are do not cope with a non-visual browser such as a screen reader. A screen reader is a browser that reads pages out loud, thereby making them accessible to visually disabled users. Often a page that looks nice visually can be a complete mess when it is listened to through a screen reader. A person who has a visual disability will not find the mouse useful because it requires hand and eye coordination. Instead, this person must navigate the Web page using only the keyboard. For example, the Tab key is used to move the focus to the item that needs to be selected. A screen reader then announces the item so the user knows where the focus is on the page. The user then presses the Enter key instead of clicking the mouse button. Beware of:
Hearing disabilitiesUsers with hearing disabilities can’t understand information that is communicated with sound. The simple solution is to provide an alternative that does not use sound, such as a text description or an image. You might provide closed captioning, blinking error messages, and transcripts of the spoken audio. The main aim is to make sure that audio output information is provided in a redundant equivalent visual form. Beware of:
Physical and speech disabilitiesPhysically disabled users may not be able to use a mouse or type. Unless you take these users' needs into account when you create website navigation and input methods, physically disabled users may well find your site completely inaccessible. Beware of:
Cognitive or neurological disabilitiesWebsites can be complex and it can be difficult to finding the information you want. Inconsistent navigation and distracting, repetitive animation can make sites inaccessible to people with cognitive or learning disabilities, such as dyslexia and short-term memory deficit, who need a consistent design and simplified language. You should use the same layout and design for each page, so a person with a cognitive disability can more easily navigate through your site. People with cognitive or learning disabilities can also benefit from redundant input, such as providing both an audio file and a transcript of a video. By simultaneously viewing the text and hearing it read aloud, they can take advantage of both auditory and visual skills to comprehend the material better. Beware of:
|
More information Disability issues |
