External Link
Overlay Fact Sheet
A website dedicated to comprehensive communication on why “accessibility overlays” are not a good fix for inaccessible websites. At best, overlays are redundant; at worst, overlays reduce accessibility.
Making a website accessible and beautiful is within reach.
How many times have you used the web today?
Make a start
If you’re like us, the answer is too many times to count. Imagine if most of the sites you used today had confusing navigation, were impossible to read, or had sections obscured. That’s the reality for many people who have temporary or permanent disabilities and are trying to access the web. If you create websites, we hope you will join us in addressing access equality.
As designers, we don’t often think about a more equalized web. We’ve got bold ideas, and we push boundaries by default. Thinking about accessibility guidelines before designing a site may feel like a hindrance to creativity. But building an accessible site does not mean sacrificing a beautiful look and feel. We’ve learned a lot on our design studio’s accessibility journey, and this site shares a few hard-won lessons and learnings.
15% of people worldwide experience disability.
World Health Organization 202196.8% of the web’s top 1M sites are not fully accessible.
WebAim 202269% of disabled website users click-away from sites with accessibility problems.
Click-Away Pound 2019Everyone in the creative process has a role in improving website accessibility.
-
Many organizations must make their websites accessible by law. It’s critically important that we support our clients in ensuring that we match the letter and spirit of this regulation. People with disabilities are also consumers of billions of dollars in goods and services. When they can’t access the sites we design, we have failed both them and our clients.
-
Designing a truly accessible website requires thinking about features and how visitors will use those features across devices and assistive technologies. Like most constraints we face as designers (such as page load speed), accessibility standards can inspire and fuel our work. It is possible to craft a site that is both beautiful and accessible.
Design -
Effective writers strive to make web pages easy to read and understand. Making writing more accessible to people with disabilities involves a number of considerations, mostly around how screen reader technology encounters text.
Content -
Providing flexibility by constructing alternative ways for visitors to get information is critical to building an accessible website. Developers also need to keep accessibility standards top of mind for content management processes so that sites are easy to maintain. Creating a library of common design patterns makes each next build easier.
Development
Creating websites that are accessible to everyone starts with sharing resources.
External Link
AccessAbility 2: A Practical Handbook on Accessible Graphic Design
A guide on how to plan and execute a graphic design project to help ensure it is as accessible as possible.
External Link
Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion
The Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) is a made-in-Canada solution designed to help employers, diversity and inclusion/human rights/equity, and human resources practitioners effectively address the full picture of diversity, equity and inclusion within the workplace.