Applied Accessibility

Good evening.
I have a question about accessibility. Do majority of developers use those rules? I mean do people while building web-pages each time put attention on this or mainly ignore this? I don’t ask if it good or bad but if it is done or not?
Thanks.

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I’d say the majority of the subset of devs who are listened to (ie who have a very public profile) actively push and explain accessibility (eg Chris Coyier, Lea Verou), and this kinda has a knock on effect of getting people thinking about it. And testing tools like Googles Lighthouse mark sites on accessibility. And Google penalises sites on failing some aspects of accessibility. So that all translates into something concrete; if you test most big websites they generally score pretty well. In orgs, it depends where you work, what the policies are and if there’s someone who actively pushes for accessibility. If it’s public sector then it’s normally mandated.

Personally, I try, basic accessibility is easy and is just well structured HTML. Aria stuff kinda naturally falls out of that. Personally I normally test websites in Lynx as well after making sure they work in visual browsers; if they work in Lynx, they’re probably pretty accessible /shrug

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This. Using Semantic HTML goes a long way in helping screen readers do their magic.

There are some laws that require websites to be accessible such as this in Ontario, Canada which includes fines for non-compliance: http://www.3playmedia.com/2016/06/03/aoda-compliance-a-primer-on-canadian-accessibility-standards/ (not to mention privacy laws around capturing user information (like contact forms) and how you have to safeguard their transfer, such as with PIPA in BC, Canada http://www.bclaws.ca/Recon/document/ID/freeside/00_03063_01). Laws are going to be different everywhere, so be aware of whats out there.

Having an accessible site has always meant about 2/3rds of the work required for SEO completed by also being compliant with accessibility standards. That IMO has always made it worth the effort.

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Old post, but nevertheless good to see others also think about this. So far to me personally the applied accessibility is by far, for a beginning programmer, the most unsatisfying part to get through. Everytime I write code, nothing changes in the screen, it’s very ‘abstract coding’ to me. Halfway through and pushing myself to get it done before bedtime just to get over it.

I do believe the importance of picking this up at the start though, as it might be harder to implement later on and easier to get along with if you (I) learn to code for accessibility for (visual) impaired people.

Just wanted to share, as in my opinion that’s what forums are for :slight_smile:

where is Applied Accessibility section?

In Responsive Web Design, the fourth section.