Web accessibility has evolved from a niche consideration to a standard practice driven by legal, ethical, business, technological, and institutional factors...
96% of the top one million web pages had accessibility issues in 2023
Institute for Disability Research, Policy, and Practice
What isAccessibility
In digital contexts, accessibility often refers to making websites, applications, and digital content usable for people with disabilities such as visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments. It is crucial for ensuring that everyone can access and use digital resources without barriers.
Perceivable
Providing alternative text, captions, and text descriptions
Understandable
Content and operation of the interface should be clear to all users
Operable
Making elements accessible with methods like keyboard, mouse, or voice commands
Compliant
Following accessibility standards and guidelines, such as the WCAG
Disabilityand Neurodiversity
A disability is any condition of the body or mind that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities and interact with the world around them. For neurodiversity, it describes the idea that there is a wide range of ways that people perceive and respond to the world, and some neurodiverse conditions could fall under the umbrella of disability.
15%
of the world’s population is neurodivergence
6.2M
Canadians live with a disability
1.3B
experience significant disability worldwide
13%
Americans are neurodivergent
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are technical standards on web accessibility developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). These guidelines aim to make websites, apps, electronic documents, and other digital assets accessible to people with a broad range of disabilities, including sensory, intellectual, learning, and physical disabilities.
Disabilities Acts in the
United States and Canada
They require websites to be accessible to neurodiverse individuals, ensuring they have equal access to the content and functionality of the site.
Accessible Canada Act (ACA)
Availability in formats accessible to various disabilities
Alternatives for multimedia and ensuring navigability
Usability of the site through assistive technologies
American Disabilities Act (ADA)
Text alternatives for non-text content
Availability in captions for videos
All functionalities available for people who cannot use a mouse