NavX Design Studio

Accessibility Proposal
Prepared for: AllTheHomes.com
Prepared by: Frank Navarrette, UX Design
December 11, 2021

 An Overview of Accessibility
In the modern age, websites and applications on any platform are essential to navigate the
world. Millions of people with disabilities including physical/mobility impairments, blindness/low
vision, deafness/hearing loss, and cognitive/learning, among many others, require
accommodations to accomplish the same goals as those without disabilities (National Center
on Disability and Journalism, 2015). Sadly, the majority of the web is rife with barriers
preventing interaction with, or access to content — in other words, they’re not accessible.
Fortunately, designers and developers can progress towards centering accessibility by utilizing
the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) created by the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), 2019). These guidelines are grounded in the four
principles of perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust, and are testable using three
levels of success criteria: A— minimal compliance, AA—above average compliance, and AAA
—maximum compliance (W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, 2021). Furthermore, by using
Universal Design, where products are created to be “accessed, understood and used to the
greatest extent possible by all people…” (National Disability Authority , 2020), designers can
ensure inclusion of all persons, regardless of ability status.

Justi cation for Accessible Web Content

Inclusion of accessible content presents not only a moral imperative, but also a business and
legal one. While government agencies are required to meet these guidelines, most for-pro t
organizations are not. Ensuring that a company meets or exceeds accessibility guidelines can
be useful for four main reasons: it guides innovation, improves brand perception, expands
market reach, and reduces legal risks Some of the most widely used technologies today were
originally developed to assist people with disabilities and were later adapted to meet the needs
of all users. This is just one example of how accessibility inclusion can drive innovation. Studies
show that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be a critical aspect of brand reputation,
and ensuring a commitment to accessibility may increase sales and customer loyalty. The
population of people with disabilities is continuing to increase, and as such, so is the impact of
their spending in the global market which is currently estimated at $7 Trillion. Including this
market is an essential aspect of effective business planning. In order to secure the protection of
both assets and reputation, it is essential for companies to understand the legal risk inherent in
ignoring the needs of people with disabilities. Many laws already exist, such as the ADA
(Americans with Disables Act) that ensure people with disabilities have the legal right to demand
accessibility. The best way to minimize this risk: create accessible products that meet the
needs of all constituents (Rush, 2018).
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 Critical Aspects of Accessibility
In order to ensure a minimum level of compliance to the WCAG guidelines, the accessibility
principles listed below should be incorporated into web and mobile content.
1. Perceivable information and user interface
2. Operable user interface and navigation
3. Understandable information and user interface
4. Robust content and reliable interpretation
For a more in depth exposition on these principles, visit: www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/
accessibility-principles (Zahra, 2019).

Evaluating Accessibility
Many tools are available to evaluate the extent to which web content meets these standards on
a code-based level. While these tools are extremely useful, they are not adequate when it
comes to real world scenarios. For any website or application to exhibit true accessibility, it is
not suf cient to merely satisfy the above principles. People with disabilities must actually be
able to use and enjoy the content, and there is no better way to evaluate accessibility than to
implore usability testing. Recruiting participants with disabilities, who would ideally use their
own assistive technology to test your site or application. These tests or longitudinal studies
would be conducted similarly to any other usability test. They would use task based scenarios
speci cally focused on the accessible side of usability with participants who have disabilities
related to the focus of the study. Ideally, a mixture of code-checking tools and usability tests are
combined to maximize the evaluation of accessibility (Sherman, 2017).
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 REFERENCES

Henry, S. L. (2021, December 6). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview |
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C. Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). https://
www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/

National Center on Disability and Journalism. (2015, September 12). Terms to Avoid When
Writing About Disability | National Center on Disability and Journalism. National Center on
Disability and Journalism | Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
at Arizona State University. https://ncdj.org/2015/09/terms-to-avoid-when-writing-about-
disability/

National Disability Authority . (2020). What is Universal Design | Centre for Excellence in
Universal Design. The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design | Centre for Excellence in
Universal Design. https://universaldesign.ie/what-is-universal-design/

Rush, S. (2018, November 9). The Business Case for Digital Accessibility | Web Accessibility
Initiative (WAI) | W3C. Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). https://www.w3.org/WAI/business-
case/

Sherman, P. (2017). Lecture: An Accessibility Primer. In Sign In. Kent State University .
Retrieved December 11, 2021, from https://kent.instructure.com/courses/1983/pages/
lecture-s-universal-design-and-accessibility-testing?module_item_id=634829

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. (2021, December 6). WCAG 2 FAQ | Web Accessibility
Initiative (WAI) | W3C. Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). https://www.w3.org/WAI/
standards-guidelines/wcag/faq/#start

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) . (2019, May 10). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG) 2.1. World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/

Zahra, S. (2019, May 10). Accessibility Principles | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C. Web
Accessibility Initiative (WAI). https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-principles/