TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Have you ever encountered “digital accessibility”? Do you think it only applies to websites and individuals with disabilities? Or perhaps you’re already applying WCAG principles in your project?
Year after year, more people are at risk of digital exclusion. This term is often vague, and we might not fully grasp the extent of the issue—or realize that we might have been affected ourselves. It’s also important to highlight the crucial role testers and software testing play in ensuring accessibility.
Let’s pose a question: have you ever faced difficulties with your phone’s navigation while driving? Or found yourself needing to buy a ticket urgently because a ticket inspector boarded, only to discover that the app had frozen? Perhaps you’ve been in a foreign country, relying on a translator app, only for the network to fail?
Digital accessibility (often referred to as “accessibility” or “a11y,” where 11 represents the number of letters between the first and last) is an essential aspect of our everyday lives. With our diverse needs, the array of devices we use, and our varied levels of ability, it’s clear that this diversity is often neglected in development processes, as evidenced by the prevalence of inaccessible websites. It is therefore imperative to develop an understanding of the needs, expectations, and capabilities of the broad spectrum of end users. Embracing digital accessibility not only fosters inclusivity but benefits everyone.
In 1997, Tim Berners-Lee, the creator and director of W3C, uttered a profound statement:
“The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.”
According to W3C WAI’s definition, digital accessibility should enable every person to perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the web, while also contributing to its evolution. This means that digital solutions—such as websites, mobile applications, multimedia, and documents—should be designed universally to be accessible to the widest range of users, including those with various disabilities. Everyone should have equal opportunities to benefit from what the web has to offer.
Moreover, digital accessibility extends beyond websites and their supporting applications. In our daily lives, we interact with various technologies that simplify our routines—such as ATMs, ticket machines, payment terminals, check-in kiosks, information points, and e-book readers. When we need to handle something urgently, the ease of using these solutions becomes crucial.
When we think of accessible websites, we often picture blind users struggling with navigation or deaf individuals needing subtitles for videos.
According to data from the last National Census in 2021, disabled individuals make up just over 14% of the country’s population. Unofficially, there are significantly more in Poland – up to 7 million.
It’s important to recognize that disabilities encompass more than just deafness or blindness. This includes those who are hard of hearing, visually impaired, have mobility challenges, cognitive limitations, or intellectual disabilities.
The circle of people with disabilities is quite large, but they are just one group that may struggle to navigate the virtual world. Those with dyslexia, on the autism spectrum, older adults (nearly 38% of the population is over 50), and foreigners can also face difficulties. Discriminating against anyone due to their equipment or system (older computers or browsers, slower connections) is equally unacceptable.
In summary, the challenges mentioned can affect any of us, at any age, and at any time. You might break an arm, making it difficult to use a mouse, leaving you to navigate with a keyboard. Or you could find yourself in an environment where playing sound isn’t possible, and the multimedia file lacks text alternatives. Numerous situations can lead to temporary digital exclusion, something that certain groups face every day.
To streamline the requirements for creating accessible websites, W3C initiated the first version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) in 1999. While it’s a set of recommendations, these guidelines have been incorporated into both European and Polish law. The Act on Digital Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications for Public Entities mandates that public institutions must have websites or mobile apps that comply with accessibility standards according to European standard EN 301 549, which largely builds on WCAG 2.1.
Under current law, websites of institutions such as:
that are publicly funded must be accessible to everyone. This will change next year when a new law comes into effect, expanding this requirement to a broader range of sectors.
WCAG outlines every aspect of a website that should be accessible, and this can be verified through the criteria defined in the standard. You can implement these guidelines on your own or opt for an external audit to guide you through the entire process. An accessible website must also include a link to an accessibility statement, which informs users whether and how the entity meets the statutory accessibility requirements. This statement specifies, among other things, the level of compliance with WCAG, so any changes to the website should be reviewed accordingly. If a new element does not meet WCAG success criteria, it should not be published, as it could undermine the fundamental level of compliance.
Key functionalities to focus on when creating websites entail:
There are free tools available online that help identify basic accessibility issues, which can be effectively used to enhance the quality of your website or application. However, these tools detect only a portion of the errors, and many WCAG criteria still require manual evaluation—making expertise in this field absolutely vital.
