😂 I appreciate the notice that this wasn't necessarily about the article. You're right - it's time consuming and complicated and expensive and a lot for one person to do. Maybe @colabottles or @inhuofficial will have some advice.
Accessibility First DevRel. I focus on ensuring content created, events held and company assets are as accessible as possible, for as many people as possible.
Change their mindset. Small businesses that are “we need compliance” thinking will never be able to afford to be compliant.
Instead what I like to do is to slowly guide them the realisation that a11y is the path to profits (size of the market, spending power etc. Are the tools at your disposal here).
It takes some effort, but once they realise that full buy-in and “a11y first” thinking benefits the business your whole approach can change and it becomes affordable.
They focus on long term improvement plans, rather than a VPAT and minimal fixes. They change their development and procurement processes to build a11y in from day 1 and so it adds very little cost.
These are all achievable for a small business, making sure that everything they do going forward is accessible and that they have a plan to slowly fix old mistakes does not add an undue burden. In fact, if you can help them shout about their improvements (without it being virtue signalling) and their commitment to improvement it will add to their bottom line and be a major differentiator for them.
So to answer the question, sadly there are no cheap fixes in the short term I am afraid. But if you can get long term buy-in then it is no longer a cost, it is a growth strategy and your job becomes 100 times easier (you are advising on a11y before they take action, so you can find accessible libraries, components etc. early and save tech debt (a11y debt) being a barrier.
Hope that helps a little, not sure if it made sense as it is hard to write long comments on my phone! ❤️
P.s. thanks for the shout out / for tagging me in Abbey ❤️
I wrote about it here and along with the advice given here, I have to say that accessibility isn't a checklist or a group of features. I've told that to former clients. It is a process and more so if accessibility wasn't factored in from the very start.
Clients need to be educated in a way so that they can understand this isn't a quick fix that will be done in a day or two. Clients know what they want, but they don't. They don't know what they want because what they want is usually inaccessible.
Another thing I would tell clients is, "There is no such thing as your site being ADA compliant (if it isn't a government entity or fall under Section 508 here in the States), there is no such thing as a quick fix, and if you don't want to get sued, you'll let me handle the accessibility side of things and let this be done so that it protects you and your visitors."
Small businesses can get sued too.
One last thing, if you do have clients you're doing work for and they're paying you, you factor in that time doing accessibility before contracts are signed and you just do it. I did that for the final two years I freelanced. Jobs were completed and accessibility was done from the beginning. It also helped that in my contract, there was a section that spoke to accessibility and how it was going to be WCAG AA compliant or even go for AAA in areas where it was feasible.
You'd be surprised how many business owners, stakeholders, or CEOs don't read a contract.
Thanks for the tag, @abbeyperini This is a great conversation to have. Good stuff also from @inhuofficial
Accessibility First DevRel. I focus on ensuring content created, events held and company assets are as accessible as possible, for as many people as possible.
😂 I appreciate the notice that this wasn't necessarily about the article. You're right - it's time consuming and complicated and expensive and a lot for one person to do. Maybe @colabottles or @inhuofficial will have some advice.
Change their mindset. Small businesses that are “we need compliance” thinking will never be able to afford to be compliant.
Instead what I like to do is to slowly guide them the realisation that a11y is the path to profits (size of the market, spending power etc. Are the tools at your disposal here).
It takes some effort, but once they realise that full buy-in and “a11y first” thinking benefits the business your whole approach can change and it becomes affordable.
They focus on long term improvement plans, rather than a VPAT and minimal fixes. They change their development and procurement processes to build a11y in from day 1 and so it adds very little cost.
These are all achievable for a small business, making sure that everything they do going forward is accessible and that they have a plan to slowly fix old mistakes does not add an undue burden. In fact, if you can help them shout about their improvements (without it being virtue signalling) and their commitment to improvement it will add to their bottom line and be a major differentiator for them.
So to answer the question, sadly there are no cheap fixes in the short term I am afraid. But if you can get long term buy-in then it is no longer a cost, it is a growth strategy and your job becomes 100 times easier (you are advising on a11y before they take action, so you can find accessible libraries, components etc. early and save tech debt (a11y debt) being a barrier.
Hope that helps a little, not sure if it made sense as it is hard to write long comments on my phone! ❤️
P.s. thanks for the shout out / for tagging me in Abbey ❤️
Excellent answer, especially on mobile!
😅 Not gonna lie - I was like "I just develop. My company has whole departments for this. Who do I know who is brave enough to do this on their own?"
I wrote about it here and along with the advice given here, I have to say that accessibility isn't a checklist or a group of features. I've told that to former clients. It is a process and more so if accessibility wasn't factored in from the very start.
Clients need to be educated in a way so that they can understand this isn't a quick fix that will be done in a day or two. Clients know what they want, but they don't. They don't know what they want because what they want is usually inaccessible.
Another thing I would tell clients is, "There is no such thing as your site being ADA compliant (if it isn't a government entity or fall under Section 508 here in the States), there is no such thing as a quick fix, and if you don't want to get sued, you'll let me handle the accessibility side of things and let this be done so that it protects you and your visitors."
Small businesses can get sued too.
One last thing, if you do have clients you're doing work for and they're paying you, you factor in that time doing accessibility before contracts are signed and you just do it. I did that for the final two years I freelanced. Jobs were completed and accessibility was done from the beginning. It also helped that in my contract, there was a section that spoke to accessibility and how it was going to be WCAG AA compliant or even go for AAA in areas where it was feasible.
You'd be surprised how many business owners, stakeholders, or CEOs don't read a contract.
Thanks for the tag, @abbeyperini This is a great conversation to have. Good stuff also from @inhuofficial
Awesome tips in here and, (not to infringe on a trademark or anything) but when it comes to accessibility Todd made a great point…”Just Do It” 🔥💪