Heads up! To view this whole video, sign in with your Courses account or enroll in your free 7-day trial. Sign In Enroll
Preview
Start a free Courses trial
to watch this video
Accessibility is a process that specifically considers the needs of people with disabilities. Having empathy for your users means remembering that not everyone uses the web in the same way. Some users rely on assistive technology to help them access the web.
Further reading
Common Assistive Technologies
Screen reader: software that reads web content aloud to assist visually impaired users
Screen magnifier: used to enlarge content for users with sight impairments
Switch controls: a switch allows users with motor impairments to control your site without the use of a touchscreen, mouse, or keyboard
Closed captioning: used to make videos accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing users, as well as users with Auditory Processing Disorder
Vocabulary
Accessible design: a design process in which the needs of people with disabilities are specifically considered
Curb-cut effect: the idea that accessibility has benefits beyond allowing people with disabilities to use your product
Related Discussions
Have questions about this video? Start a discussion with the community and Treehouse staff.
Sign upRelated Discussions
Have questions about this video? Start a discussion with the community and Treehouse staff.
Sign up
[MUSIC]
0:00
Hi, my name is Anwar.
0:09
I'm a designer, a developer, and a teacher at Treehouse.
0:10
In this course, we'll cover a vital part of web development that can
0:14
be easily overlooked: developing with accessibility in mind.
0:19
Accessibility is a process that specifically considers the needs of
0:25
people with disabilities.
0:29
Having empathy for your users
0:32
means remembering that not everyone uses the web in the same way.
0:33
Some users rely on assistive technology to help them access the web.
0:39
Common examples include screen readers, or software that
0:47
reads web content aloud to assist visually impaired users.
0:52
MARC SUTTON: What a screen reader does is for example,
0:57
I'm gonna start to read this page.
1:00
SCREEN READER: Navigation 1 item, link, University of California, San Francisco, link,
1:02
About UCSF, link, Search UCSF.
1:05
MARC SUTTON: And what I will now do is slow down the speech rate.
1:06
SCREEN READER: Rate 75%, 70, 65, 60% 55%, 50%,
1:11
45%, 40%, link, UCSF Medical Center.
1:16
MARC SUTTON: So as I was about to say,
1:20
a screen reader converts what's on a computer screen into information
1:21
that can be displayed through synthetic speech or Braille output.
1:27
And it does that by allowing you to use
1:32
a computer keyboard instead of a mouse.
1:36
ANWAR: Screen magnifiers, used to enlarge content for
1:41
users with sight impairments.
1:46
Switch controls, which allow users with motor impairments to control
2:08
your site without the use of a touch screen, mouse, or keyboard.
2:13
TODD STABELFELDT: All right, starting from my left to right, I have buttons.
2:18
I'm gonna use my tongue, and now you all just gotta handle it.
2:24
Button number one, it's called Move Back, Move Previous.
2:30
Okay.
2:37
Middle button or second button, Select, All right?
2:40
Third button, Move Next.
2:47
ANWAR: And closed captioning, used to make videos accessible to deaf and
2:55
hard of hearing users, as well as users with auditory processing disorder, which
3:00
refers to challenges not with hearing, but how the brain understands speech.
3:06
I've included an article in the Teacher's Notes on the subject.
3:12
[MUSIC]
3:17
POE DAMERON: We are not alone.
3:22
Good people will fight if we lead them.
3:23
[MUSIC]
3:27
ANWAR: Making your content accessible to all users is not just the right thing to do,
3:29
it's required by law.
3:34
In America, Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act has been applied
3:37
to digital content, like websites and apps, as places of public accommodation.
3:42
In other words, creating inaccessible online content
3:49
is like designing a new building without wheelchair ramps or elevators.
3:53
It's considered discriminatory against people with disabilities and
3:58
could leave your product subject to a costly lawsuit.
4:02
Unfortunately, accessibility is often given a lower
4:07
priority than other steps in the development process or even forgotten.
4:11
To avoid this, let's dispel some of the myths surrounding accessibility.
4:16
Starting with the idea that accessibility benefits only those
4:24
with a permanent physical or cognitive disability.
4:28
Microsoft is one company with a firm commitment to accessibility.
4:34
I'm looking at Inclusive 101,
4:39
a manual downloaded from Microsoft's inclusive design toolkit.
4:41
The PDF illustrates various types of disabilities, including reasons
4:45
a user might only be able to operate their mobile device with one hand.
4:50
Some of your audience might have a permanent disability,
4:56
such as having only one arm.
4:59
However, Microsoft notes there are also temporary disabilities,
5:02
such as a broken arm that will eventually heal, and situational disabilities,
5:06
like using a smartphone one handed while holding a baby.
5:12
These temporary and situational disabilities can impact your entire
5:16
audience, not just those with permanent conditions impacting their ability to see,
5:21
hear, move, think, or communicate.
5:27
Accessibility makes things better for users with all types of disabilities,
5:34
whether permanent, temporary, or situational.
5:39
But is that the only benefit?
5:43
Actually, eliminating barriers between your audience and
5:47
your product results in better overall usability.
5:51
The notion that accessibility has benefits beyond allowing people with
5:56
disabilities to use your product is termed the curb-cut effect.
6:01
While cuts in elevated sidewalks were originally developed to
6:06
benefit wheelchair users, they also make life easier for
6:10
pedestrians pushing strollers or bicycles, wheeling luggage,
6:15
using crutches, or even distracted by a mobile device.
6:20
Similarly, while video captions are critical for deaf users,
6:25
other viewers might use them while in a noisy room to understand
6:30
difficult vocabulary, or to help them focus and retain information.
6:35
If you say to yourself, you know what,
6:45
my product isn't really usable until everyone can use it,
6:48
you'll never omit accessibility concerns from writing and testing your code.
6:52
But that's not all.
6:57
Accessible products are good for business,
6:59
since they expand audience reach to include users of varying capabilities.
7:02
According to the 2011 World Report on Disability,
7:08
over 1 billion people in the world, or
7:13
about 15% of the earth's population, have some form of disability.
7:16
Excluding them just doesn't make sense from a business perspective.
7:22
And websites that are coded to accessibility standards
7:28
have greater prominence on search engines, making your product easier to find.
7:31
One final myth is that accessibility stands in the way
7:38
of the creation of innovative products.
7:41
In truth, innovation is frequently driven by people with disabilities.
7:45
The first typewriters appeared in early 19th century Italy as
7:51
a letter writing tool for the blind.
7:55
Vint Cerf, a deaf American computer scientist frustrated with
7:58
communicating over the telephone, co-invented the communication
8:03
protocol that makes the Internet possible in 1973.
8:09
Even universally popular features in today's mobile apps,
8:13
such as auto completion and voice control,
8:18
were initially developed to assist users with physical impairments.
8:22
So if we're going to make better products by making more accessible products,
8:27
we'll need a set of rules to guide us.
8:33
We'll take a look at an internationally recognized set of
8:36
guidelines in our next video.
8:40
You need to sign up for Treehouse in order to download course files.
Sign upYou need to sign up for Treehouse in order to set up Workspace
Sign up