November 2023 Special Needs Living Magazine

Digital Accessibility Extends Beyond Your Website

BY JAMES WARNKEN

When I first started my digital accessibility journey, I spent more than 2 years learning how to make websites and web applications accessible to people with disabilities and I am still learning to this day. Here is a topic that is often overlooked, accessibility extending beyond just a website or application.

It should come as no surprise, but accessibility extends well beyond your website or application. Let’s take a step back for a second, how do people find and get to your website or application? Things like social media, communications, marketing, advertising, and even print materials might come to mind and each of them are correct, and each should be accessible.

If you have a 100% accessible website but create inaccessible content to share on social media, how would someone with a disability ever get to your website? This question always tends to lead to a big “Ah ha” moment for people, which is completely understandable as it is a much wider perspective than the conversation typically reaches. So here is my advice to extend accessibility beyond your website or application.

1. When creating content for social media, create multiple formats and share them all! If a user cannot see a video, they can likely listen to the audio, and If a user cannot hear the audio, they can likely read the captions. The more variations we create and share, the more likely one of the versions is to be exactly what someone needs. Don’t be shy!

2. When it comes to communication, encourage it every chance you get and take it seriously! If a user encounters an accessibility barrier, they should know that they can reach out and they should be encouraged to do so. Once they do reach out, be sure to listen and respond accordingly. You should never tell someone to “just go look on the website”.

3. When it comes to print materials, provide as many alternatives as you can. Print materials can be made in large print, braille, and simplified versions to ensure users have options to fit their needs. Not everyone can scan a QR code or understand off of imagery, so share alternatives when you can.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but is a great place to start. Thinking about accessibility is a great way to unlock creativity and push the norms while also enhancing the experience of everyone who comes across your business. Next time you open up Canva to Design a Facebook post, think about all of the ways you could recreate that content, then go out and do it! Apply accessibility to every aspect of your user experience and watch to see how it benefits everyone, not just those with disabilities.