Having worked in the construction industry for a number of years I became adept at identifying accessibility issues in the built environment. With the advent of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990 the requirement that websites be accessible to people with disabilities came to fruition. With this requirement, how to comply became an issue.
It’s the Right Thing To Do
In his book Don’t Make Me Think, Steven Krug makes a couple of key comments regarding website accessibility. One is, It’s the Right Thing To Do because of how extraordinarily better it makes peoples lives. Secondly, how many opportunities do we have to dramatically improve people’s lives by doing our job just a little better. (Krug, 2014)
He also says, “Go for the Low Hanging Fruit.”
- Add alt text to every image.
- Use Headings correctly.
- Making forms work with screen readers.
- Put a “Skip to Main Content” link at the top of every page.
- Make all content accessible by keyboard.
- Create significant contrast between your text and background.
- Use an accessible template. (Krug, 2014)
With care and well selected plugins I’ll be on the right path.
References
Krug, S. (2014). Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited. New Riders.