What
What
Web Accessibility Definition: "Development of information systems flexible enough to accommodate the needs of the broadest range of users...regardless of disability." — Cynthia Waddell
What are the Principles of Web Accessibility (POUR)?
- Perceivable – available through sight, hearing, or touch
- Operable – compatible with keyboard or mouse
- Understandable – user-friendly, easy to comprehend
- Robust – works across browsers, assistive technologies (such as screen readers), mobile devices, old devices/browsers, etc. Follows standards.
How do they translate to what you do?
At a high level it means:
- content is well structured and clearly written
- links make sense out of context
- not relying on color alone to convey meaning
- providing appropriate alternative text for non-text elements (i.e., images and charts)
- helping users navigate to relevant content
- ensure accessibility of non-HTML content (PDFs, Word docs, Powerpoint files, etc.)
- providing headers for data tables
- users can complete and submit all forms
- captioning and/or providing transcripts for media
See the WebAIM Quick Reference: Web Accessibility Principles PDF for a quick, but comprehensive look at the principles and how they translate to what you need to do.