This is how your website becomes barrier-free!
This is how your website becomes barrier-free!
A topic that you only think about when you are directly or indirectly affected. Accessibility in the digital world. Because people with disabilities should also receive information on social issues on an equal footing. All important information about digital accessibility can be found in the following article.
When is a website accessible?
Not all people are the same. Some have impairments in seeing, hearing, moving or even thinking. This makes the use of the digital world impossible or only possible to a limited extent.
However, the importance of the Internet in everyday life continues to increase. Whether shopping or arranging an appointment for the next visit to the authorities, all of this can be done much more easily via the Internet. The corona pandemic has also shown once again how dependent the internet is. Whether working from home or arranging a vaccination appointment had to be done online. But how is this supposed to be possible for people with disabilities or for seniors who are totally unfamiliar with the digital world?
This is exactly where accessibility comes into play. Look at the website from the perspective of people with disabilities. It quickly becomes apparent that the usual web design with small letters, lots of text and few audible elements is not suitable for people with disabilities. These barriers can be removed by appropriate adjustments. The accessible version of a website enables people with disabilities to use the website.
Reasons for an accessible website
An accessible website not only stands for an open and inclusive society, but also has a number of advantages from a business point of view.
→ Target group
An accessible website enables a larger target group to use the website. A website can be made barrier-free for people with visual impairments or people with motor impairments through voice control. An accessible website puts you one step ahead of some of your competitors. And your target group keeps growing.
→ loyal customers
Unfortunately, barrier-free websites are often still a rarity. For this reason, those affected often remain loyal to a provider once they have found a barrier-free website. In this way, you not only invest in a barrier-free website, but also in long-term business relationships.
→ Ranking factor
While accessibility isn’t a direct factor in your website’s ranking on Google. However, the ranking will increase due to the improved user experience of people with disabilities. In addition, your website will be recommended to family and friends by those affected and thus accessed more frequently. Accessibility is therefore an indirect ranking factor on Google.
Accessibility criteria
Now that we have an overview of the topic of accessibility, we present the principles and how they can be implemented.
principles of accessibility
The measures for an accessible website can all be assigned to the following principles and help to improve the website.
→ perceptibility
Perceivable means that all information on the website should be designed in such a way that it can be perceived without problems. This includes texts in plain language, descriptions of videos, subtitles, contrasts and colors.
→ usability
The user interface and the navigation bar must be operable for everyone and at all times. This can be achieved through the option of using the keyboard, sufficient time for operation and skip links.
→ understandability
A barrier-free website should be understandable for as many users as possible. Good readability, error detection and user help can help make the website understandable for many people.
→ Robustness
Robustness means the nature of the website for user agents. Above all, this means assistance technologies such as magnification software, screen readers and Braille displays.
Elements of an accessible website
The following six elements are crucial for an accessible website.
→ Writing and contrasts
So that the content can be perceived well, there should be as high a color contrast as possible between the text in the foreground and the background. Color vision deficiencies such as red-green weakness should also be taken into account when choosing colors. A high contrast also has the advantage that when using the smartphone, the content can be seen even in strong sunlight.
→ Captions
This element is especially crucial for people with impaired vision. Alt text is read aloud by screen readers, allowing people with disabilities to get an idea of the images. The alt texts are also displayed for Google image searches and when the images cannot be loaded for technical reasons.
→ Control surfaces
Links and clickable buttons can become an insurmountable hurdle for some users. The reason for this is that the clickable area is too small. In addition, operation with the fingers is not necessarily possible, even if it is possible with the mouse.
→ language
For an accessible website, easy and simple language should be used. This is characterized by short sentences, a simple sentence structure and few foreign words. By using simple language, you can reach as many people as possible.
→ forms
The input fields, which z. B. enable contact with you, should also be barrier-free. You can check this on your website by clicking on the label of the field with the mouse. If the mouse pointer jumps into the corresponding field, the forms can be classified as barrier-free.
→ structure
The navigation and the block that contains the actual content of the page gives structure to the website. This structure comes with an award. This award also enables the visually impaired to find their way around the website.
Useful tools
Do you already have a website and want to know if it is barrier-free? We will introduce you to helpful tools for testing your website.
With the Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (WAVE for short) you can test your website for accessibility. The tool was developed by scientists at Utah State University in the US and is one of the most popular tools for creating an accessible website.
To test the contrast of your website, you can use the free Contrast Checker. The website is only barrier-free if there is sufficient contrast between the writing and the background.
If you also provide documents for download on your website, these should also be barrier-free. You can do this with the Check PDF Accessibility Checker (PAC) for accessibility.
Conclusion
Accessible websites enable people with disabilities to participate in digital life. 
