Three Ways to Make Your Software More Accessible

The Equity Action Plan released by the U.S. GSA specifies that all digital government services must be accessible beyond the minimum. Because of what a federal agency did, businesses will have to do the same and work toward accessibility that goes beyond just including people with disabilities.

Going beyond the minimum requirements requires a different mentality from developers, however. Because they are forced to use so few tools, those charged with raising the bar for accessibility often get tunnel vision when creating new solutions. Accessibility is built into React, Vue, and Svelte, but developers who only use commercially available tools risk becoming overly specialised. Visual aspects of accessibility are often given top priority because they are the most obvious, but what about users who have problems with their auditory or mobility senses?

A developer should have multiple inputs to guide them through accessibility in the same way they wouldn’t create a new feature using only one tool. People with a wide range of needs will benefit from a more robust set of accessibility checkers from developers.

Use a variety of accessibility tools in conjunction with one another.

There are specific guidelines and requirements for making a platform’s code more accessible for people with disabilities. As an example, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines (HIG), and Android’s own set of guidelines are all examples of accessibility (a11y) standards that are detailed. Web libraries like React and Vue, as well as component-specific libraries like React Select and Vue Select, have sections on best practises for accessibility.

There are certain accessibility gaps that can’t be filled if developers only adhere to the platform’s accessibility parameters. It’s like relying on a book’s table of contents to tell you everything.

To get around this issue, it’s best to use a variety of tools and methods. Google’s Accessibility Tree or Firefox’s Accessibility Inspector can help developers understand how content is exposed to assistive technology. Orca’s screen reader for desktops like MATE, GNOME, and Unity is a good option if your needs are primarily for people with hearing impairments. Using the Sonar GNU/Linux project, people with visual impairments can use the software.

Developers have a plethora of tools at their disposal for ensuring cross-platform accessibility. Linters are great for code checking, while a11y add-ons make it easier to write Storybook components that are accessible to people with disabilities.

The more tools you use in conjunction with the accessibility requirements of your primary platform, the more complete your picture of accessibility will be. Reddit, Stack Overflow, and Slack are just some of the places where you can look for answers to questions about web accessibility that your original guidelines may not have covered, so don’t be afraid to use these resources as well.

Local accessibility legislation can teach us a lot about how to improve our products.

When developing products, developers must adopt a global mindset and recognise that accessibility adherence varies depending on location. Accessibility is a broad term that includes a lot more than just translating text and pasting it into a framework that already exists.

It’s likely that what’s acceptable in one country may not be in another. As an example, Accessibility for Ontario’s Disabilities Act (AODA) does not meet the same standards as the European Standard for Digital Accessibility (ESDA), as an example (EN301 549). Because of this, developers can’t create compliant products solely by referring to popular technical frameworks like React, like the React Native one. For example, biometrics cannot be the sole means of identifying a user, for example, according to EN 301 549. In contrast, the WCAG, one of the most important sets of guidelines in technology, does not mention biometrics.

Even if a country doesn’t explicitly request it, accessibility standards must be applied to all products, even if they don’t explicitly ask for them. If you encounter the most stringent accessibility requirements, then that should be the minimum that you incorporate into your work. It’s not only right, but it’s also a wise business move. Eventually, regulations will change, and what is seen as strict now will be accepted as the norm in the future. It will save companies time and money if they use a variety of tools from the start to ensure that everyone has access to the information they need.

Learn about the ambiguities in stand-alone frameworks by conducting user testing.

Accessibility does not have a certification of completion. There will be more testing and a greater need to go beyond the tools you are currently using to monitor your accessibility, the more products or features you add to the mix. You can always improve, even if you aren’t actively releasing, especially when it comes to things like keyboard usage, focus, and landmarks.

Reviewing accessibility necessitates far more than simply downloading and constructing libraries that one deems accessible. Even if the raw materials are readily available, that doesn’t mean the finished product will be. To ensure the quality of the finished product, developers must conduct thorough testing at every stage of its development. Putting it in context, in the context of one’s own experiences, proves that it is truly accessible.

Developers should test their products and features with a diverse group of users with varying abilities, ages, and backgrounds on a regular basis, whether in person or remotely. As a result, we conduct our testing in-person whenever possible, but we also conduct feedback sessions via Zoom to ensure that the needs of our customers are met. Using Fable as a platform for user research and showcasing testing methods that reveal the grey areas of standalone frameworks is a stroke of genius in our opinion. Using user testing, we discovered that frameworks don’t prevent developers from making mistakes when it comes to keyboard users’ focus order in their applications. We only discovered this by talking to people who navigate websites with their keyboards.

A lone accessibility expert does not exist. It’s a shared responsibility, and everyone in the development community has a role to play in expanding their knowledge of and ability to implement accessibility. To put it another way, the most widely used frameworks for developers aren’t exhaustive. These tools and testing must be used together in order to keep up with accessibility standards and keep pushing for even higher ones.