Web Accessibility

What is accessibility?

Accessibility is the practice of making your websites usable by as many people as possible. We traditionally think of this as being about people with disabilities. Still, the practice of making sites accessible also benefits other groups such as those using mobile devices or those with slow network connections.

According to Google, 15% of the world’s population experience some form of disability. People with disabilities, on average as a group, are more likely to experience adverse socioeconomic outcomes than People without disabilities.

Sixty-one million adults in the United States live with a disability. 26 percent (one in 4) of adults in the United States have some type of disability.

What is the WCAG?

WCAG stands for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1 guidelines) are arguably the most influential protocols shaping web accessibility policy.

There’s a spectrum of permanent, temporary, and situational mismatches that people experience based on their abilities and disabilities.

To understand why the WCAG matters so much, you need to know who is behind them. The WCAG was created by the World Wide Web Consortium New Window, known as the W3C.

W3C initially focused on standardizing web protocols so that websites and web tools would be compatible. Every W3C standard is reviewed several times, tested, and analyzed before it’s approved by members. Usually, W3C standards have 3 levels of compliance, from A to AAA.

What is Section 508?

Strictly speaking, Section 508 is a set of rules for government entities, although it includes any organizations New Window that receive federal funding.

That means that government-supported institutions like museums or universities, medical centers that accept Medicaid or Medicare, and programs run by organizations that are partially federally funded all have to abide by Section 508.

Section 508’s accessibility rules also affect contractors or third-party workers that provide services for government bodies or organizations that receive federal funds. That means that any digital platform or website that’s in any way connected with a body that receives federal funds and is used by the public, has to comply with Section 508.

Small businesses should keep this in mind if they want to go after government grants or contract work with federal agencies.