| title | description | published | date | tags |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Accessibility |
true |
2020-05-13 12:55:28 UTC |
Roughly fifteen percent of the worldwide population has a disability. A website that does not account for disabilities through accessibility excludes millions of people. If you create a website that you are proud of and want people to use, accessibility ensures that it works. Accessibility is also a legal issue. Berea College would be susceptible to lawsuits if it hosted a non-accessible website. Website accessibility isn't difficult either; it just adds a couple of steps to the coding routine.
It will be your job as a developer to implement the appropriate accessibility practices. Before issuing a pull request that touches the front end (HTML/Javascript/CSS), your code must go through accessibility testing. If the code fails to meet any requirement on the Beginner Checklist, it must be fixed before the pull request can be accepted. To reiterate: the pull request will not be accepted if it fails at any point during the Beginner Checklist. Please ensure that your code follows the guidelines.
If you are unclear on how to complete a website accessibility test or if you need a refresher, here is an overview from someone who is paid to complete accessibility tests.
If you haven’t done so already, you will need to download a screen reader. If you have Windows you will be using NVDA. If you have MAC you will be using the built-in Voice Over. As an FYI, screen readers are more compatible with certain browsers. NVDA works best with Firefox and Voice Over works best with Safari. There are a few links below that should help you learn how to utilize screen readers.
NVDA Basics: NVDA Screen Reader Basics Using NVDA to Evaluate Web Accessibility NVDA Keyboard Commands
Voice Over Basics: Voice Over Screen Reader Basics Using Voice Over to Evaluate Web Accessibility Voice Over Keyboard Commands
- Axe: A Chrome extension that checks for all sorts of accessibility errors.
- Web Accessibility Initiative – Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA): Aria is a technical spec that is created to solve accessibility errors that native HTML cannot. This guideline explains how to use ARIA.
- A11ycats Google Developers Youtube: This is a great Youtube channel if you are interested in learning more about web accessibility.
The checklists listed below are based on The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 created by the W3C. There are three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Our current goal is to meet the beginner level requirements with the ultimate goal of always doing better than before.
In order for your webpage to meet the minimum requirements, you must be able to correctly implement all the items on the Beginner Checklist.
There are examples written with each guideline but if you would like to learn more you can go to the WCAG website listed above or you can follow this link.
Beginner Checklist Intermediate Checklist Advanced Checklist Audio & Video Checklist