Web accessibility is usually thought of as something that is hard to do or expensive to work into a project. It is also thought of as something that is only beneficial to users with severe or noticeable disabilities. Many times accessible designs are a result of good UX practices and can benefit all users. Creating accessible websites can help our aging populations navigate the web easier as well as someone with low literacy or a learning disability.
If you add up all the users in the world who have a disability, whether mild or severe, long-term or temporary, this number far surpasses the amount of people using IE8. Why do we put more consideration into browser support than we do people with disabilities?
The web has become an essential source of information and it is our responsibility as designers and developers to take all users into consideration and build a better web experience for everyone. Some key points this talk will cover will be:
A brief overview of accessible front-end design Some simple guidelines to make accessible websites Proof that when accessibility is built in at the beginning of a project, it is much less painful and less expensive to implement You will walk away with a better understanding of how you may be excluding certain users from your sites and immediate actions to prevent it from happening.