There are many different ways to make things accessible to disabled people. If it is outside where people generally walk, there’ll often be features to help (for example, slopes on and off the sidewalks, or tarmacked paths rather than mud paths in parks). If it is to access or to navigate a public building, we see ramps, wider aisles, elevators and disabled toilets on every floor. These are all necessary and due to the legal standards in most countries, they are not optional. This is because disabled people deserve the same access as everybody else. To not give them this would be to discriminate against them. But there are other areas of life that need to be made accessible for disabled ones too and these can sometimes be overlooked. Fortunately, companies like accessiBe are there to help make fair and equal access for disabled people in the online world.
What is the accessibility issue online?
On the face of it, the internet is an excellent tool for those with disabilities to use. It has created many opportunities for them. And yet, there are many websites that a large number of disabled people cannot access. Why is this? Well just as the ramps, elevators, etc mentioned above are needed for access to buildings, or the different floors inside a building, there are tools needed for some types of disabilities so that they can access websites. The needs vary greatly depending on the disability so a website can’t be made accessible with just a couple of minor changes. There are those with visual impairments, hearing impairments, cognitive problems, physical limitations and many more. While being able to change a font size to make it larger may help someone with a visual impairment, this won’t really make a difference to someone with a hearing impairment. So, all of the different needs should be addressed for a website to become accessible.
Can it be done?
This can seem like a massive task that will take forever to accomplish, and it could put you off making the effort. But this really isn’t something you should delay in doing. It is likely a legal obligation in your country to make sure your website is accessible. And you can stop the stressing about it being such an overwhelming task. As mentioned earlier, there are companies out there that do the work for you. So get your website accessible today.
