This video from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
introduces the wide diversity of people and abilities.
It shows some of the barriers faced by people with disabilities when using digital technology.
Auditory Disabilities.
Auditory disabilities affect how people hear, including hearing less in one
Auditory Disabilities.
or both ears, not hearing, and hearing sounds
in a range of different ways.
High-quality sound is important for many people with reduced hearing.
Audio needs to be clear and background noise low
to make speech easier to understand.
Websites and apps that allow users to adjust the volume of the audio
that it is currently playing
without changing the volume for other sounds from the computer, such
as notifications, make it easier for people to hear the audio.
Some people with auditory disabilities use hearing devices but this does
not always mean they can hear all audio, or hear it clearly.
Websites and apps that do not rely on audio alone make it easier for people
with different types of auditory disabilities to perceive the information.
This includes using visual alerts and haptic feedback,
such as vibration on mobile phones, in addition to audio.
Another example of
visual alternatives to audio are captions.
Captions provide important audio information in text format.
They indicate who is speaking and important sounds,
such as significant sound effects in a movie.
Many people who use captions need to adjust the text size,
font, and color to make the captions more readable.
While automatic captions are gradually improving,
they are usually too inaccurate to rely on as an alternative.
For example, they don't recognise specialized terms well
and the sentences can sometimes run together,
making it hard to keep up.
While many people with auditory disabilities
do not use sign language, for many it is their primary language.
There are many sign languages in different countries, regions, and cultures.
Sign language is also different from written and spoken language.
That means people are often translating between sign language
and written language,
and people’s levels of understanding of written language can vary.
In order to see sign language
clearly, people rely on high-quality video transmissions.
This includes needing access to high-speed internet and devices
that can handle high-quality video.
People with auditory disabilities also include people who are deaf-blind.
Many people who are deaf-blind rely on communication that is tactile,
like braille.
Portable braille displays can convert text on the computer
to braille letters that can be felt on the fingertips.
And for multimedia, like videos, people rely on descriptive transcripts.
This is text, such as an article or script, that contains all the audio
and visual information so that the video can be understood without watching it.
You can help make technology
accessible to me.
Accessibility: It's about people.
Cognitive and Learning Disabilities.
Cognitive and learning disabilities
affect how people process, understand and remember information.
They cover a wide range of cognitive differences and disabilities,
and many of them do not affect overall intelligence.
For example, many people have varying degrees of dyslexia.
Dyslexia affects the ability to recognise and sound out written words
which impact spelling and reading comprehension.
Websites and apps with sufficient white space and headings to separate the content
make it easier for people to read.
Clear navigation with distinct section headers
also make it easier for people to navigate through the content.
Websites and apps also need to work with reading tools,
including tools that adjust how the text is presented,
read the text aloud, and help with spelling and grammar.
Similarly, some people have varying degrees of dyscalculia.
Dyscalculia affects the ability to process
and work with numbers in mathematical concepts.
Websites and apps that provide alternatives to
mathematical abstractions, are easier to use for people with dyscalculia.
This could include showing a progress bar instead of or
in addition to showing a percentage.
Websites and apps can also provide visual aids
and text descriptions for things like schedules and temperatures.
People have varying degrees of memory
abilities, including short-term and working memory.
Reduced short-term memory effects, the ability to remember new things
such as passwords or where in a process someone might be,
especially in stressful situations.
Websites and apps with clear navigation and layout, prominent
and unique page titles and distinct instructions and cues
can make it easier for people to remember where they are in the content.
Websites and apps can also help people remember information
they have previously added, such as addresses and telephone numbers.
People might have different levels of attention and focus.
This includes people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD,
brain trauma, age related forgetfulness and dementia.
These cognitive differences affect the ability to focus and to resume a task
after the user is distracted.
In addition to
breaking up longer passages of text and using headings, websites and apps
without pop up windows and automatically playing videos, sounds or animations
make it easier for people to focus and follow the content.
Some people experience difficulty orienting themselves
in layouts and visual designs that are new to them.
It may also be difficult for them
to learn new keystrokes or gestures needed for interaction.
Websites and apps with consistent and predictable designs
and with clear and distinct instructions make it easier
for people to know where they are and complete tasks.
You can help make technology accessible.
To me.
Accessibility.
It's about people.
Physical Disabilities.
Physical disabilities affect how people move,
including an inability to move,
limited mobility,
a lack of coordination,
tremors and involuntary movement,
pain that impedes movement,
as well as missing and non-typical limbs.
People who use a mouse might have difficulty with fine motor control.
For example, tremors, non-typical joints, pain, or fatigue can prevent people
from being able to select small targets, such as small links, buttons and controls.
Websites and apps with large clickable areas around checkboxes, radio buttons,
and other controls, are easier to use for people with limited mobility
and reduced dexterity.
Other people use speech input instead.
While speech input uses the keyboard interface in the background,
websites and apps that are programmed and designed with consideration for speech input
are more effective.
For example, when the name of a button in the code matches the name displayed visually,
people using speech input know what they need to say
to click that button.
Click send email.
Some people do not use a mouse, touch screen, or other pointing devices.
They might use specialised keyboards with larger keys,
or more space between the keys.
Some use tools such as a mouthstick or headstick to type.
Websites and apps that make functions
visibly clear with active focus styles
and usable with keyboard only
are easier to use for
people with physical disabilities.
Regardless of the input device used,
websites and apps that provide sufficient time to type and to complete tasks
are easier to use for people with physical disabilities
because it might take people longer to navigate and type,
and to correct typing mistakes.
Providing clear headings and instructions
helps people to understand the tasks
and reduces the time needed to complete them.
This includes instructions for forms and functionality,
as well as error messages and dialogues.
Finally, websites and apps that work in
both portrait and landscape orientation
are easier to use for people
who have their devices mounted to their
wheelchair, desk, or bed.
You can help make technology accessible to me.
Accessibility: it's about people.
Speech Disabilities.
Speech disabilities
affect how people speak,
including not speaking,
or speaking in a range of different
patterns, pitches and sounds.
Some people do not speak at all.
This can include people
who are Deaf,
autistic, have injured or no vocal organs,
or have other conditions
impacting physical
or cognitive speech production.
Unfortunately,
although it's a common misperception,
speaking differently
is not an indication of a person's
intellectual capabilities.
Many people stutter, pause,
or pronounce words
in a range of different
patterns, pitches and utterances
due to various disabilities.
While you might be able to understand me,
automatic speech recognition systems
often don't.
Some people use a variety of different
assistive technologies
to generate speech.
I use software for generating speech,
which is often
not recognized
by automatic speech recognition.
Websites and apps
that require speech input
can be a barrier for people
with speech disabilities,
especially when they rely on
automatic speech recognition.
Instead,
websites and apps such as customer
support systems
need to provide alternatives
to voice calls, like chat or email.
You can help make
technology accessible to me.
Accessibility: It's about people.
Visual Disabilities.
Visual disabilities affect how people see,
including partial vision in one or both eyes, not seeing at all,
or seeing in a range of different ways including colors and brightness.
People who are blind use assistive technology
on computers and mobile phones called screen readers.
These software tools can read the information
on the screen out loud, or they can present it in Braille.
Screen readers can process websites and apps with correctly coded headings,
lists, links, buttons, and other structures much better.
Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway,
between breeding and wintering grounds.
Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs.
(A map of the world, showing some example bird migration routes image)
Websites and apps
also need to work with a keyboard and have text alternatives for images.
However, most people with visual disabilities
are not blind but have some form of low vision.
This means that people can partially see,
just not clearly, or within the full range of vision.
Some people with low vision use screen magnification software
as a digital magnifying glass to enlarge everything on the screen.
This includes images, text and the mouse pointer.
With this, people only see small parts of the screen at a time,
so they rely on visual cues and consistent design in websites
and apps to stay oriented and navigate effectively.
Others with low
vision might not use the same assistive technology.
They might adjust properties in the web, browser or operating system,
such as increasing the default text size to better see the text.
Websites and apps that are programed and designed to adapt to the properties
set by the users, such as different text sizes, font type and line spacing.
Allow people to use the content without the text overlapping, getting cropped
or requiring them to scroll both vertically and horizontally.
People who cannot distinguish certain colors are often called “color blind”.
Websites and apps that avoid
text with low contrast,
are easier to use.
It’s also important that websites and apps don’t use only color
to communicate information, but do use text and symbols in addition
to color, such as an asterisk to indicate required input fields.
Some people are sensitive to bright light,
so it's important that websites and apps can adapt to the color schemes
that people set in their browsers and operating systems.
You can make technology accessible to me.
Accessibility: It's about people.
For more information
from the Web Accessibility Initiative
on How People With Disabilities
Use Digital Technology
visit w3.org/WAI/people