After learning about the most important guidelines and recommendations in Part 1 , I would like to share five tips for greater accessibility that you can implement immediately.
Tip 1: Be curious
The internet is vast, and a search for "accessibility" yields over 7.8 billion results. I suggest you start with the following websites and gradually familiarize yourselves with the topic.
More technical:
- Access for all
- Access for all Blog
- Federal E-Accessibility website
- Information on the European Accessibility Act
- Accessibility statement for the Canton of Zurich
More technical:
- W3C WCAG Guidelines
- The A11Y Project
- Cecilie's Course Automatic Accessibility Testing
- Building the most inaccessible site possible with a perfect Lighthouse score - Manuel Matuzović
Tip 2: Get to know your users
Conduct user research. Talk to those affected. Observe them in their daily lives. Get to know them and their perception of the environment. One possible starting point is the live testing of Access for All (Access for All Live Testing). Or the classic method from requirements engineering: Apprenticing. Learn about the processes, activities, and challenges of your users.
Based on the insights gained, or perhaps together with the users, you can then create proto-personas.
Personas or proto-personas are a great tool for developing empathy and constantly reminding yourself of your users. Create proto-personas tailored to your context, for example, for people with..
- impaired vision
- impaired hearing
- limited speech ability
- low reading skills ("Not suitable for non-swimmers")
- motor impairments.
More information about proto-personas can be found here or in our Innovation / Design Thinking 😀
Tip 3: Document the non-functional requirements
One quality criterion for software according to ISO 25000 is usability. This is determined by the following characteristics:
- Recognizability
- Learnability
- Usability
- Protection against incorrect entries
- UI aesthetics
- Accessibility
Compare also the Infometis Circle of Service Quality, which represents all aspects of quality.
Once your team has created your proto-personas, you can use them to gather usability requirements.
Document these requirements explicitly . Since these are not directly functionalities, but rather framework conditions and specifications, it is important that you regularly test your product against these requirements.
We are happy to provide support in collecting and testing non-functional requirements with our services for requirements engineering and test automation
Tip 4: Test and automate
Defines and implements automated and manual tests to identify accessibility gaps, such as the lack of alt text for an image, as early as possible.
GitLab and GitHub offer add-ons to integrate accessibility testing directly into the CI/CD pipeline.
In addition, there are tools specifically designed for accessibility testing, such as axe (paid), WAVE (open source) and experten.de - Accessibility Test (free).
The Foundation for Accessibility for All offers various services for accessibility testing, ranging from ad-hoc live testing to accessibility audits.
We are happy to support and advise you on the design of accessibility tests.
Tip 5: Use the resources of the big players
Almost all Big Tech companies have products and guides that can help you implement accessibility.
- Google: Accessibility Here, for example, the subtitle function of YouTube is described: Add subtitles - YouTube Help .
- Microsoft: Accessibility Technology & Tools | Microsoft Accessibility
- Apple: Accessibility (apply) Accessibility - Apple Developer (develop)
- Meta: Meta Accessibility
Bonus tip
Start with what you are currently doing and agree on a process of continuous improvement.
These wise words from Kanban should also guide us in the area of accessibility. The sooner we integrate accessibility into our development process (from adhering to standards to implementing automated tests), the more cost-effective the implementation will be.
The later I want or need to implement accessibility in a productive service, the more expensive it becomes. But here, too, there are approaches such as consistent refactoring and adherence to the boy/girl scout rule.
Therefore, now is the best time to start with accessibility:<heute> .
Together
Use these tips to experiment and discuss within your team, and let's shape the digital world for everyone .
I welcome any input, exchange, and experience reports. See you soon!
Your
Beni
