as a web developer you should try to ensure that everyone can access and enjoy the internet almost like an architect that needs to design a building with ramps and rails so that it is accessible by all. You need to build a website in a certain way to improve accessibility.
When the Web accessibility Initiative or W. A. I. was launched in 1997. Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web said:
The power of the Web is in its universality.
Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.>
So what does Web accessibility means?
web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. More specifically, people can:
• perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web
• contribute to the Web
A common misunderstanding of web accessibility is that it refers to visual disabilities but in fact it includes all disabilities that affect interaction with websites such as audio and visual disabilities, cognitive and neurological disabilities and physical and speech disabilities.
So can we say that web accessibility is a requirement for developing websites?
Well actually yes, in 2016 web accessibility is becoming a need in many industries.
The European Union approved the web accessibility directive which requires websites and mobile applications of public section bodies to be accessible to those with disabilities.
So let's see how accessibility is provided to those with different disabilities:
web screen reader:
People living with disabilities often use assistive technologies to aid them in browsing the web screen reader software can read the content of websites ad everything that is happening on the device.
Screen readers are used not only by blind and vision impaired users but also by those with reading or learning difficulties.
Speech recognition software:
A tool that can turn spoken words into computer commands or dictate inputting text.
This is useful for people who may not be able to use a mouse or keyboard due to physical or neurological disabilities, subtitles and video scripts and videos provide assistance to those with audio and visual disabilities.
And there are many different tools to provide and help with making the web more accessible.
It is good practice to think of accessibility from the beginning of a project, it is a lot harder to rework the project to be accessible later on.
If you use the correct html structure and appropriate elements as a foundation, it will greatly improve accessibility.
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