Web Accessibility Guide for Web Designing Companies
Web designing companies work with hundreds of different kinds of businesses today, creating unique web resources and apps for them to reach out to clients online. But the fact that not all people have equal access opportunities should be integrated into every professional’s practice.
The Internet is cheap and affordable, but people with impaired eyesight, hearing, or motor impairments are still unable to use it the way others do. Thus, web designing companies building websites with inclusiveness and empathy in mind should take accessibility seriously. Here is a brief accessibility guide from Beluga Lab experts.
What Populations Should Web Designing Companies Keep in Mind?
Web design is not as universal as one might think. In most cases, it targets specific populations and target audience groups. For instance, if you sell infant formula, you’ll hardly try to reach out to men or elderly people. Moms typically choose and buy these products, so they serve as the key consumer category for such a website. It works the same way with an online shop selling car tires; if it’s your primary product, you will hardly sell it to women, targeting men as your primary segment.
But that’s about marketing, and what about accessibility? Which populations should web designing companies take into account?
#1 Visual Impairment
Only in the USA, 8+ million people have some form of visual impairment, while over two million are blind. They need a specific approach to web design to access the needed content. You should give users a chance to enhance the contrast between foreground and background for easier reading and also provide a site version with larger font for those with visual impairments. An audio version of text materials should be available for blind people.
#2 Motor Impairment
Physical disabilities can be anything, from missing limbs to arthritis to cerebral palsy. These consumers may find it hard to navigate the website with the usual controls. They can benefit from eye-tracking devices and keyboard-only inputs on the website. There are also special on-screen keyboards and speech recognition software to make site navigation manageable for this population group.
#3 Deafness
Deaf, partially deaf, and those using hearing aids should also be able to access website content effectively. It relates to the accessibility of multimedia content, accompanied by audio material. In most cases, accessibility improves if you add subtitles to all multimedia. But don’t stick to words only; remember to render the tone, music, and other sounds to give people the whole impression of the content.