Why digital accessibility is important
Digital accessibility is about creating an inclusive world for everyone. It means every person, no matter the ability or environment, can access the same information as everyone else.
For people with disabilities, it means they have equal opportunities to healthcare, education, employment and e-commerce. During the pandemic, it meant being able to keep in contact with friends and family.
People with disabilities should be able to access websites and digital services with a level of independence, not having to rely on support staff or family to help.
Who is digital accessibility for?
There is a huge number of people with disabilities in the UK. From visual impairments, such as colour blindness or cataracts, to learning disabilities, such as autism or dyslexia.
14 million people have a disability, 2 million people have sight loss and 1.5 million people have a learning disability in the UK.
People with visual impairments may use screen readers to read website content out loud. If a website is not designed with accessibility in mind, it may not be compatible with screen readers, making it difficult for people with visual impairments to access the information they need.
Similarly, people with hearing impairments may rely on captions or transcripts to understand videos or audio content. Without these, they may miss important information or be excluded from the conversation altogether.
Physical disabilities can also impact how people interact with websites. For example, people with mobility impairments may use assistive technologies like mouth sticks or eye-tracking software to navigate websites. If a website is not designed with accessibility in mind, it may not be compatible with these technologies, making it difficult or impossible for people with physical disabilities to use.
Cognitive impairments can impact how people process and understand information. For example, people with dyslexia may have difficulty reading long blocks of text, while people with ADHD may have difficulty focusing on complex information. By designing websites and documents with accessibility in mind, we can make sure that everyone has equal access to information, regardless of their cognitive abilities.
However, accessibility isn’t just for people with disabilities. Think about if you’ve ever turned on captions during a movie because you can’t understand what someone is saying, or if you’ve forgotten your headphones. Easy-to-understand content and clear design benefits everyone.
Why does it matter?
The world is becoming more and more digital. From shopping and ordering food to university courses or staying in touch with family; the internet is constantly evolving and becoming an integral part of our lives. While this is an exciting transition in the world as we know it, because of digital accessibility some people are at risk of being left behind.
The pandemic helped showed us just how important digital accessibility is. As so many of us were forced to work from home, we relied heavily on technology to support us. For some people, it was the only way to stay in touch with friends and family. The UK Government Covid19 advice was primarily posted online and on TV - without this information being accessible to people with disabilities, they would have been at risk.
With such a huge percentage of the UK population having a disability, it is extremely important that all digital offerings are accessible.
What can you do to help?
It’s important that any website, apps or documents produced are accessible. For you personally, there are small changes you can make that will make a huge difference to people with disabilities:
When creating any content, including social media, make sure you are using alt text to explain what images are
Use plain English and avoid jargon so everyone can understand what you are saying. You should be aiming for a reading age of 9
Always use captions or subtitles on any videos you produce, including on Instagram and TikTok. Thankfully there are now built-in tools to make this as easy as possible
Don’t use ‘click here’ when writing links - explain where the link is going in a few words
Make sure any colours you use have enough contrast, so people with vision impairments can see them clearly
To find out more about how you can help, contact us.
