A significant part of the human global population has some physical disability or cognitive/learning disability. This makes it difficult for them to comprehend information and understand simple tasks that are needed to interact with a digital device like a smartphone or a computer. Expecting such people to use websites and mobile apps with the same speed as able-bodied individuals is wrong. This is where web accessibility guidelines play a major role in the design of websites and apps. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines or WCAG is a set of international standards that recommends ideal design principles to give easy access for the disabled. The WCAG technical documents are developed by the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AG WG) (formerly the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group), which is part of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
Why Adherence to Accessibility Standards Matters?
In the last decade there has been significant progress in making digital content more accessible for people with disabilities. Governments across the world have attempted to formulate laws and regulations to make it easier for the disabled to access information with ease. Some such key laws and regulations are listed below.
United States: Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates accessibility for websites.
Canada: The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) includes provisions for digital accessibility.
European Union: The Web Accessibility Directive requires public sector websites and mobile applications to be accessible.
Digital Content – How to Make it More Accessible?
Content goes beyond plain text. Modern digital content can be a video, an audio-clip, a picture, a presentation, or an infographic. AI can be used to generate Alt-Text for images. This is one of the most useful things that can help the visually challenged interpret images that are displayed on a webpage. Integration of on-screen reader software like JAWS makes it easier for visually challenged people to follow the text being displayed on screen. The presence of audio recordings helps them too. Sub-titles for videos are useful for people who cannot hear. Using balanced colors on the website, lesser scrolls and clicks to access a service, and responsive design ensure that no one struggles to access content irrespective of their abilities or disabilities.
AI – An Enabler for Accessible Content
Several AI-powered tools are available in the market that make the transcription of content, generation of sub-titles, alt-text for images, and text summaries from loner audio and video files an easy task. Real-time captions that are generated during live interviews or broadcasts can be of big help to entertainment channels and television broadcasters. This is also something that AI can simplify for media houses. S4Carlisle offers NINJA as a comprehensive Generative AI-ecosystem that helps traditional and digital publishers bring their content faster to the market. Learn more about NINJA here.
Benefits of Accessible Content
Research by the American Foundation for the Blind indicates that organizations hesitate to hire visually challenged people for intensive job-roles. A majority of the disabled employees in the American workforce are doing part-time jobs without access to major benefits. As lawmakers attempt to bring more equity in the employment market, it is important for organizations to provide accessible training content and web content. Be it from the perspective of a future employee or a customer, a poorly designed and inaccessible website is a huge red-flag.
Accessible design, accessible apps and digital services, and accessible training content all boost inclusivity and show that an organization is serious in its efforts to provide everyone an equal opportunity.
There are benefits from an SEO stand-point too. Imagine if your website has all the relevant tags, alt-text, is responsive, and accessible with good quality content, it will rank higher on search-results and your users/customers will also love the experience of your website. Investing in the digital assets of your business will help you reap rich rewards in the long run. Many countries have strict compliance regulations based on industry-type that mandate the need for accessible design. Hence businesses should ensure that their websites are truly accessible for all and meet all legal requirements.
S4Carlisle – Your Trusted Partner for Accessible Design and Content
With our rich three-decade long experience in publishing, we are aptly placed to provide accessible web content, design services, and training content. S4Carlisle is a Certified Vendor of Benetech GCA and also a NIMAS Conversion Vendor of National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) providing Alt Text solutions to various clients across the world. To learn more about our accessibility-related services, digital learning solutions, or to experience a demo of our capabilities with NINJA, please write to jayashree@s4carlisle.com. Let’s work together to develop successful, informative, and accessible websites and training content.
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