For a lot of people, the Web is an integral part of everyday life at work, on the road, at school, and at home. Given that roughly 1/5 of the world’s population is disabled, Web accessibility exists so that people with disabilities can access the Web equally, and that is why we have Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (W3C).
For example, someone who cannot use their arms and uses a mouth stick for typing would be someone who falls under W3C guidelines. Likewise, someone who is deaf and uses captions when watching videos, or someone is blind and uses a screen reader are examples of people who fall under W3C Guidelines.
What are the Benefits of W3C?
Accessibility has many benefits for everybody, not only people with disabilities! Just think; closed captions can be great for anybody watching videos in a quiet place or a loud one. Good color contrast works better for anyone when there is a glare on your screen. Individuals who suffer from age-related limitations, such as reduced dexterity, will benefit from W3C. Everybody has a better experience with enhanced Web layout and design.
How Do I Incorporate W3C into My Web Content?
Much of the user accessibility experience can be integrated into the code of your website or app. Web technology from W3C, such as HTML, give us the ability to incorporate many accessibility features easily. One example would be alt text for images that can be read aloud by screen readers and indexed by search engines.
aria-labelledby= “inaccessible-triangles-title” role= “img”>.
Also, heading labels and other code supports accessibility and supports quality overall.
h3>Example: Using color to convey mearning
Good authoring tools, such as Wikis, content management systems, and code editors, help create accessibility code, which can be added manually or automatically by the webmaster. Plus, Web browsers, media players, and applications must integrate W3C features. W3C provides standards that help make the Internet accessible to everybody.
What are the Core Principles of WCAG?
WCAG is also ISO standard 40500 and adopted by the European standard EN 301 549. It is built around four core principles:
- Perceivable- For example, people can see the content or hear it.
- Approval- For example, people can use their computer by typing or by voice.
- Understandable- For example, users get clear and simple language.
- Robust- So people can use different assistive technology.
Besides WCAG, W3C also provides the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG), which defines requirements for content management systems (CMS), code editors, and other software. Also, W3C provides the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG), which defines requirements for Web browsers and media players.
Did you know that there are roughly a billion people on this planet with disabilities ranging from mild to severe? The United Nations Convention of Right for Persons with Disabilities defines the ability to access information a human right, and this includes