Making A Strong Case For Accessibility

A presentation at Orlando Code Camp in February 2024 in Orlando, FL, USA by Todd Libby

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Making a Strong Case for Accessibility Todd Libby @toddlibby

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Thank you!

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Making Your Case at Your Organization

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Using Data to Advocate

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WebAIM Million Report • One million homepages https://webaim.org/projects/million/

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WebAIM Million Report • One million homepages • 50.8+ million accessibility errors in (’22) https://webaim.org/projects/million/

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WebAIM Million Report • One million homepages • 50.8+ million accessibility errors in (’22) • 49.9+ million accessibility errors (’23) https://webaim.org/projects/million/

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WebAIM Million Report • One million homepages • 50.8+ million accessibility errors in (’22) • 49.9+ million accessibility errors (’23) -1.6% https://webaim.org/projects/million/

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WebAIM Million Report • 955 to 1050 elements per home page

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WebAIM Million Report • 955 to 1050 elements per home page • Increased 10% since February 2022

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WebAIM Million Report • 955 to 1050 elements per home page • Increased 10% since February 2022 • 4.8% of all home page errors had a detected accessibility error

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96.3% had WCAG 2 failures

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Low Contrast of Text

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1.1:1 color contrast ratio g (Contrast ran es from 1:1 to 21:1)

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Missing Alternative Text

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<img src=“/path/to/img/lobster.png”> 🚫 <img src=“/path/to/img/lobster.png” alt=“”> ✅ <img src=“/path/to/img/ lobster.png” alt=“Todd’s lobster roll, hot butter, and blueberry soda.”> ✅

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• Empty links • Missing form input labels • Empty buttons • Missing document language

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96.1% of all errors

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Disability is just Blind, Deaf, or Paralysis. Right?

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Learning / Cognitive ADHD / ADD Fibromyalgia / Arthritis Tremors / Parkinson’s Migraine Headaches / Photophobia Neurodiversity

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Excuses

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“The client doesn’t have the budget for it.”

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“We’ll get to it after launch.”

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“Why do we even need to make this thing accessible?”

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“Why do we even need to make this thing accessible?” “There is no time to do this.”

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“Why do we even need to make this thing accessible?” “There is no time to do this.” “We don’t have disabled users.”

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“Why do we even need to make this thing accessible?” “There is no time to do this.” “We don’t have disabled users.” “The people that use our product are not disabled.”

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“It’s a huge waste of time.”

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Buy-In

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Buy-In How do I et buy-in from stakeholders, clients, collea ues? g g • Support from the top level down to individuals.

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Buy-In How do I et buy-in from stakeholders, clients, collea ues? • Support from the top level down to individuals. g g • Less is more.

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Buy-In How do I et buy-in from stakeholders, clients, collea ues? • Support from the top level down to individuals. • Less is more. g g • Low maintenance.

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Buy-In How do I et buy-in from stakeholders, clients, collea ues? • Support from the top level down to individuals. • Less is more. • Low maintenance. g g • Live recorded testing with disabled users.

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$8 Trillion Worldwide of disposable income of individuals with disabilities https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2022/investing-disability-inclusion/741416

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$490 Billion Disposable income of individuals with disabilities in the U.S. https://diverseabilitymagazine.com/2018/09/buying-power-people-disabilities/

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Advocates

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Organization Advocates Teams or individuals that advocate in your or anization g • Liaison for accessibility on each team.

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Organization Advocates Teams or individuals that advocate in your or anization • Liaison for accessibility on each team. g • Mentor/teacher to help others.

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Organization Advocates Teams or individuals that advocate in your or anization • Liaison for accessibility on each team. • Mentor/teacher to help others. g • Accessible documentation and tooling.

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Organization Advocates Teams or individuals that advocate in your or anization • Liaison for accessibility on each team. • Mentor/teacher to help others. • Accessible documentation and tooling. • An intermediary between teams. g • Director of Accessibility/CAO/Team leads.

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Assessment

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Assessment Assess the product and the proficiency within the or anization • Gauging where the product(s) are. • What is the current state of the product, website, or app? • Current knowledge that teams and people have. • How versed are they in guidelines (WCAG) and practices? g • How much training do you have and will you need?

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Training

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Training Maintainin A Written Record • It should meet requirements that apply to the organization • Record the training. • Use organizations that do training. • Fable • TPGi g • WebAIM

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Guidelines

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Guidelines Consistent implementation • Design systems ensure accessibility and inclusivity. • Accessible components reduce time to implement. • Testing procedures for e cient job performance. ffi • Collaborative document guidelines.

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Standards

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Standards Guidelines from different countries • American Disabilities Act (ADA) • Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) • Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) - United States • Section 508 - (U.S. Government) • Accessible Canada Act (ACA), Accessibilities for Ontario’s with Disabilities Act (AODA) - Canada • Web Accessibility Directive, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act European Union • Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD) Art 9 & 21

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Testing

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Use Cases/Testing Hirin disabled people • Test & record cases where disabled users are using the product. • Present to C-suite & top level people to colleagues/teams. • Outsource testing with companies. • Hire disabled people! g • Teaching and advocating! They have the lived experiences!

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Accessibility Overlays

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“We use an accessibility overlay. We’re okay.”

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AccessiBe Audioeye Equalweb Facil’iti Userway

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Overlays will get you sued.

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So what do we do?

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Maintenance

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Maintenance Accessibility is never done • Automated testing wherever possible. • Screen reader testing before every release. • Annual/semi-annual audits. • User testing.

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“…our industry as a whole thinks less and less about accessibility (not that we ever had an A game on the subject), and talks less and less about progressive enhancement, preferring to chase the ephemeral goal posts of overengineered solutions to non-problems.” Jeffrey Zeldman - https://www.zeldman.com/2019/12/01/bluebeanieday2019/

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Design and develop for the people on the other side of the glass.

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A11y is a right. NOT a privilege. https://cottonbureau.com/products/a11y-is-a-right#/5254640/

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“The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disabilities an essential aspect.” — Tim Berners-Lee https://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/accessibility

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Connect/Links https://toddl.dev/slides/ @toddlibby on Twitter LinkedIn - 🦞 Todd Libby

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Thank you!