A brief overview about web accessibility

Recently I realize that a11y is a numeronym for the "accessibility" word, representing the count of letters between the letter a and y. The same goes for l10n, which stands for localization, g11n for globalization, i18n for internationalization, and on and on.

I believe it's normal to think about people with special needs when we talk about web accessibility - like using screen readers, text-to-speech, and stuff. But how much do we consider how accessibility also improves the user experience for those without special needs?

Making a web application accessible is not just about helping users with special needs. It actually makes things more user-friendly for everyone and brings other benefits to the app itself.

🔬 Some research were made:
Good accessibility practices benefit your application with clearer and more consistent navigation, as well as better-labeled forms and instructions.

It also ensures compatibility across different devices and optimizes search engines (improving your ranking in search results).

That's said, I believe it's interesting to look at accessibility as something ordinary, without the special requirements lenses.

Okay cool, where do I start?

I think the a11y project is a fantastic starting point to delve deeper into the topic, especially because of its awesome organization of WCAG COMPLIANCE in a checklist format.

If you, like me, use React daily, this egghead.io course can be a great technical starting point.

And how to understand the tools behind a11y?

The W3C itself offers this great page with tools and techniques for accessibility. There, you can find examples of technologies used to adapt different strategies, such as voice browsers, volume control, eye tracking, and more.

From there, you'll discover a whole new world that will make you start thinking more about how to improve your applications to remove barriers and enhance the experience for everyone, whether they have special needs or not. Embracing accessibility becomes a way to create a more inclusive and user-friendly experience for all.

See you next time! 👋🏾