How People With Disabilities Use Digital Technology
Input - Typing, Writing and Clicking
When content is accessible, people can use a variety of hardware and software
to enter text and activate commands.
Some people do not use keyboards
and use only pointing devices instead.
This could include a specialised mouse,
joystick, trackball,
or touch screen to click links and buttons and to type on on-screen keyboards.
However, even when using these tools,
people might have difficulty
selecting 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.
Websites and apps also need to provide support
for people who use the keyboard only.
This includes providing ways to skip over repeated content,
such as headers and navigation bars, as well as not breaking the default
functionality in browsers and operating systems.
For example,
using the Tab key to move around
clickable items in the content,
using the Enter key for selecting items,
and making the currently active item visible
by showing a rectangular box around it.
Websites and apps that provide word prediction and accelerators,
for example for search terms,
reduce the amount of typing,
and make them more efficient
for keyboard users.
Additionally, not everyone using only the keyboard can see the screen;
for example, people who are blind.
So, in addition to ensuring keyboard support,
websites and apps also need to provide clear instructions,
labels for form controls, error messages, and status notifications,
so that people know what is happening on the screen.
Websites and apps need to help people find and correct mistakes in their input;
for example, by showing a summary of the entered data before submitting it.
They also need to provide sufficient time to complete tasks,
or avoid timing limitations altogether.
Many people with disabilities require more time to navigate
and orient themselves in the content, and to click and type.
In particular, people with cognitive and learning disabilities.
Finally, websites and apps also need to consider people who do not use
keyboard or pointing devices at all, and use speech input instead.
For example, websites and apps need to be programmed and designed
so that the name of a button
in the software code matches the name displayed to the user.
Click send email.
You can help 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