Where's the fun in accessibility?
elisehe.in
Where's the fun in accessibility?
1–10 of 27 posts
Re: Where's the fun in accessibility?
#2Something I’ve done sometimes is make the alt-text for images humorous, especially when the image is hard to describe. I’ve worried a bit though that screen-reader users might find these longer descriptions annoying
Re: Where's the fun in accessibility?
#3If your website is commercial in nature then it can help to get rid of the buzzwords such as 'SEO' and 'accessibility' to just think of putting the customer first.
In a real retail business, what would you do for customers that needed some type of assistance, whether reading labels or navigating the store? Hopefully you would help them out as needed with a customer first ethos and not treat them as 'disabled'. If anything, their money is going to be yours quicker than with those 'able bodied' customers because you have gone out of your way to help them.
Chipping away at the 'accessibility' of a website, there is a long way to go before getting the 'aria' properties right on every link. Text might be below the size Google deems 'accessible'. Making that text big and chunky might upset designers who want the customer to be browsing by pictures not words. If you argue the case from an accessibility viewpoint they are imagining wheelchairs and they don't see their customers that way. However, if you can argue 'putting customers first' floats their boat. "Won't have text too small for Google" and "so the typical customer can read the text" is still about accessibility but you are not using the 'a' word.
For me the fun in accessibility is this word play, to persuade a wider team that has its own inertia and SEO religion to 'put the customer first'.
Re: Where's the fun in accessibility?
#4It's good that the author is questioning how to make accessible content in ways that make the experience of using a site better for everyone, but it's incredibly disappointing that they scattered the article with points saying (I'm paraphrasing) "I'm not visually impaired so I can't know what this is like!"
You can know. Just talk to people who use assistive tech. Don't guess at how to improve what you build. Hire a diverse team who know these problems because they encounter them. Hire consultants. Just reach out to your friends to find someone who'll spare an hour of their time in return for a coffee - I guarantee that they'll be amazed and so damn happy that you want to make your code work better for them.
Also, and this is critical for understanding why accessible software is worth building, you should also realise that making something accessible makes it better for everyone. Accessibility features like enabling keyboard navigation of an app improves the user experience for everyone who chooses to use that feature, not just for people who need that feature. I believe that if you think of adding accessible feature as "enabling powerusers" you stop finding excuses not to bother.
Re: Where's the fun in accessibility?
#5Oh look, a designer talking about accessibility... while using (on mobile at least) a lightweight, grey font for pull quotes, thus making it innaccesible for anyone who struggles with low contrast text, or is using a phone outside, or just has a shitty screen. Yes, it's good to be able to share "fun" content with all your users, but you should probably cover the absolute basics first.
Re: Where's the fun in accessibility?
#6It's good that the author is questioning how to make accessible content in ways that make the experience of using a site better for everyone, but it's incredibly disappointing that they scattered the article with points saying (I'm paraphrasing) "I'm not visually impaired so I can't know what this is like!" You can know. Just talk to people who use assistive tech. Don't guess at how to improve what you build. Hire a…
I can sympathize with the author. I try to learn about accessibility in my free time, so I cannot "hire a diverse team/consultants". I also don't want to annoy random people I meet with questions about their disabilities. So instead I read a lot. And when I write something, I am transparent about the fact that I do not have first hand experience (at least not to the point that I was unable to complete a task due to accessibility issues).
I agree this is far from ideal, but it is better than nothing.
Re: Where's the fun in accessibility?
#7I guess the issue is that visually we can scan a page and and experience many things at once. Also, there are many ways to move the mouse cursor from one position to the next. There is a lot to work with.
I am wondering whether there are similar mechanisms for non-visual, non-mouse contexts. I don't think the solution is to add an endless stream of background noises to our websites. I fear the article is correct when it says:
> This leaves the entire burden of branding on voice & tone alone.
Re: Where's the fun in accessibility?
#8> We’ve been taught that UX is not only about function, but about delight, whimsy, wit, and beauty.
Is this real? If this is really the case, it would explain why my observations of UX feel delightfully negative. There's too much focus on themselves and not on the user.
Re: Where's the fun in accessibility?
#9It's good that the author is questioning how to make accessible content in ways that make the experience of using a site better for everyone, but it's incredibly disappointing that they scattered the article with points saying (I'm paraphrasing) "I'm not visually impaired so I can't know what this is like!" You can know. Just talk to people who use assistive tech. Don't guess at how to improve what you build. Hire a…
Thanks for raising! I guess I feel it's a necessary disclaimer out of respect to people who do have the first-hand experience. But I can see how it can come off as an excuse for not getting it right, and it certainly shouldn't be.
FWIW, I did talk to a screen reader user for this article (the accessibility consultant I mention – he is the chair of a local blind union), but indeed I don't know anybody personally and he could have easily brushed me off as random cold emailer, so I'm grateful for his comments.
Re: Where's the fun in accessibility?
#10It's good that the author is questioning how to make accessible content in ways that make the experience of using a site better for everyone, but it's incredibly disappointing that they scattered the article with points saying (I'm paraphrasing) "I'm not visually impaired so I can't know what this is like!" You can know. Just talk to people who use assistive tech. Don't guess at how to improve what you build. Hire a…
I can sympathize with the author. I try to learn about accessibility in my free time, so I cannot "hire a diverse team/consultants". I also don't want to annoy random people I meet with questions about their disabilities. So instead I read a lot. And when I write something, I am transparent about the fact that I do not have first hand experience (at least not to the point that I was unable to complete a task due to a…
I also don't want to annoy random people I meet with questions about their disabilities.
You obviously need to be tactful about it, but if you're genuine and willing to listen to people about the problems they face and you're in a position to solve them, in even just a tiny way, they won't be annoyed. Totally the opposite in fact.
People assuming things like "they'll be annoyed to talk about the problems they face" is really another form of discrimination. It's so much better not to make assumptions about people and let them decide if they'll help you or not.