The Web Should Just Work for Everyone
A presentation at Automattic Speaker Series by Aaron Gustafson
The Web Should Just Work for Everyone Aaron Gustafson @AaronGustafson slideshare.net/AaronGustafson
Accessibility
Opportunity
WHO (c. 1980) “In the context of health experience, a disability is any restriction or lack of ability (resulting from an impairment) to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being.”
WHO (c. TODAY) “Disability is not just a health problem. It is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives.”
Disabilities are Designed
excluded included population designer user ability
John Rawls 1921-2002
“special needs” (we’ve all got ’em)
Photo Credit: Dylan Passmore
wheelchairs strollers bicycles skateboards
one arm arm injury new parent permanent situational
one arm arm injury new parent permanent situational 26K 13M 8M + + 21 Million People
Progressive Enhancement
BEN HOH “[Progressive enhancement] keeps the design open to the possibilities of sexiness in opportune contexts, rather than starting with the ‘whole’ experience that must be compromised.”
This is What Design is All About
JEFFREY VEEN “I’ve been amazed at how often those outside the discipline of design assume that what designers do is decoration— likely because so much bad design simply is decoration. Good design isn’t. Good design is problem solving. ”
Photo Credit: To m M a g l i e r y
A ccessible
R
ich
I
nternet A pplication
A RIA Landmarks
Every Interface is a Conversation
West of House You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here.
open mailbox
This is a small room with passages to the east and south and a forbidding hole leading west. Bloodstains and deep scratches (perhaps made by an axe) mar the walls. A nasty-looking troll, brandishing a bloody axe, blocks all passages out of the room. Your sword has begun to glow very brightly.
kill troll
This is a small room with passages to the east and south and a forbidding hole leading west. Bloodstains and deep scratches (perhaps made by an axe) mar the walls. A nasty-looking troll, brandishing a bloody axe, blocks all passages out of the room. Your sword has begun to glow very brightly.
hit the troll with the Elvish sword
How does this photo make you feel? Embarrassing Upsetting Saddening Bad Photo Other
How does this photo make you feel? Embarrassing Upsetting Saddening Bad Photo ⦿ Other it’s embarrassing
Please describe the photo It’s embarrassing It’s a bad photo of me It makes me sad
Talk to your users like they talk to one another.
Write for People
๏ Be clear. ๏ Be concise. ๏ Be honest. ๏ Be considerate. ๏ Write how you speak.
Avoid Technical and Legal Jargon
When Requesting Feedback, Make It Clear That the User Needs to Respond
<label for="first_name">What’s your first name?</label> <input name="first_name" id="first_name"
aria-describedby="first_name-error"
<em id="first_name-error"
Without your first name, I won’t know how to address you.
Could you please provide it?
When Asking a User to Choose, Clearly Present the Options
<input type="radio" name="agree" id="agree_yes" value="yes"> <label for="agree_yes"
Yes</label>
aria-label="main navigation"
…
Prompts Should be Short, While Still Being Clear
ALBERT EINSTEIN It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make the irreducible basic elements as simple and as few as possible without having to surrender the adequate representation of a single datum of experience.
ALBERT EINSTEIN (VIA ROBERT SESSIONS) Everything should be as simple as it can be but not simpler.
THIS IS REAL COPY Heavy rains throughout most of the State have given an optimistic outlook for lessened fire danger for the rest of the season. However, an abundance of lightning maintains a certain amount of hazard in isolated areas that have not received an excessive amount of rain.
IT COULD BE SO MUCH BETTER Heavy rains throughout most of the State have lessened fire danger for the rest of the season. However, lightning threatens isolated dry areas.
Ask Only Necessary Questions
Phone Number:
Present Information in Consumable Pieces
The top seller in the garden department is Repel Lemon Eucalyptus Natural Insect Repellent, 4-Ounce Pump Spray Would you like to hear the rest?
Demystifying Accessibility
Accessibility is not About Disabilities It’s About People
Thank you! @AaronGustafson aaron-gustafson.com slideshare.net/AaronGustafson
In this session, Aaron Gustafson will talk about what it means to be accessible, where disabilities occur, and how addressing those disabilities creates opportunities for our work to reach and empower more people.
