Week 8

Accessibility, this is a really big topic. This is topic that is gaining steam moving forward. Basically, it means creating a product so that people with a diverse range range of hearing, movement, sight and cognitive ability. In product design that isn't web based, this gets to be a complex , yet very importatnt, topic with many different aspects to consider. 

In web design, you mostly have to consider three things: 

1. Mobility Impairment: some users have limited motor control which makes a mouse difficult to use and rely heavily on the keyboard to navigate. Others may not have any ability to use their hands and rely on voice control. 

2. Visual Impairment: This covers everything from colorblindness to fully blind individuals.  is it read-able (in regards to size and color), can it be easily read by a screen reader for those who struggle with vision impairment like with blindness, and is it simple to understand. There are website like c

3. Cognitive Impairment: Users with learning disabilities may need more guidance while navigating websites and they'll need time enough to complete forms and other information.

Luckily, there are lots of resources out there to add you in creating a design that works for everyone equally. WCAG (Web content accessibility guide) is the standard for accessibility. There are three different ratings of compliance: A, AA, AAA. The ideal is to strive for the highest level of compliance. But the actual level needs to be able to be supported by the app you're building and the business goals. 

Here are some tips you can do to be more compliant:

1. Provide text alternatives for not text content

2. Select colors with a significant color contrast ratio

3. Ensure pages are accessibly by keyboard

4. Give users enough time to use your product

5. Provide a clear and expected interface.

But how can you test to make sure that you were successful in your attempts at accessibility? Luckily, there are lots of resources out there. If you have a Macbook, you need only press "command - F5" to activate your screen reader. There are also many websites out there to help with contrast checking, simply google "contrast checker". Sketch has a plugin called 'Stark" that also checks the contrast. There are chrome extensions that allow you to view your site as if you had different colorblindnesses and other visual impairments. Basically, the world is your oyster. There are many good resources out there you should use to help aid you in designing accessible products.