Make Websites More Accessible To People With Disabilities
People with certain disabilities don’t need to worry about using the internet anymore because they’re now doing a few things to make the content accessible to everyone. Let’s look at the way things are changing and you should be able to recognize a few of them from around the web.
The text must be readable
When you are looking for something on the internet you will surely come up against a website with tiny text. If you can’t read it imagine how difficult it’s going to be for someone with poor eyesight? Luckily most websites have realized the error of their ways and they’re starting to increase the size of the text so everyone can enjoy their articles. You can also still increase the text on your own by zooming into your web browser if some websites refuse to change.
Different forms of media
When everyone was getting started online there was no such thing as podcasting. These days it’s very popular and it means blind people can listen to content without downloading large video files. Videos are also very popular if you prefer watching someone as they speak. Deaf people don’t have anything to worry about because you’ll always find the written word anywhere you go. If a website is sensible it will combine all these forms of media.
Offer a video transcript
We’ve just talked about videos being popular, but what about the people who can’t listen to them? If there isn’t an accompanying article they might not be able to get the information they need. A website can send their videos to a transcription company and once they get the transcript back they can include it underneath the video. It might take someone longer to read everything, but at least they’ll get the information one way or another.
Record your articles
Do you have any idea how long the average article is on the majority of websites? The word could will be somewhere in between 1,000 and 2,000. Some better websites realize it will take them a few minutes to turn each article into a recording and it means people who can’t read the content will be able to consume it. If you are looking for these recordings they can generally be found at the very top of each article.
Add alt text to images
A website that doesn’t have any images is not great because people want to picture something inside their head. If someone doesn’t have great vision they might not be able to see the images. They can still consume the content because there are certain programs that turn text into audio, but how are they meant to interpret a photo? If people add alt text to their images it means the programs can tell people what it’s supposed to be so they can still picture something in their mind.
Label your forms correctly
This is probably the best way websites can help visitors navigate their way around. We’ve just spoken about people using text-to-speech programs, but how will they be able to navigate their way around a website if the sites don’t label their navigation bar correctly. If they try to use fancy names people won’t know whether or not they should be clicking on them. That is why websites will try their hardest to simplify their navigation bar so they can help as many people as possible.
Things will get better
We’re still in the early days of the internet, so they’ll definitely be many more things to come. It’s only fair because the internet should be available to everyone. Can you think of any great things you’d like to see become available in the future?
The author of this article, Jennie Peters, is an employee at Freedom Lift Systems, leading suppliers and installers of porch wheelchair lifts. In her spare time, Jennie loves reading and is a massive fan of Stephen King.
