Accessibility and legibility standards: get informed

When it comes to website design, accessibility is something people don’t think about enough. And that’s a problem. Recently, Nyman Ink was honoured by the Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) of Ontario and featured on its Accessibility website, and in its best practices handbook, Access Ability: A Practical Handbook on Accessible Graphic Design for our work on a youth mental health website for Kinark Child and Family Service. So we know our stuff. I mean, not to toot our own horn, but the site is highly accessible and promotes positivity and open communication.

But if you’re new to the idea of accessible design, you might have a couple of questions:

1. Why is accessibility so important?

2. How do you make a website accessible?

The “why” is actually pretty easy to explain. According to RGD, more than 1.85 million people in Ontario (4.4 million in Canada) have a disability. And the number is on the rise as our population ages. Accessibility is no longer an option. It’s a necessity. Accessibility standards are even being mandated by law. According to the Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), which came into effect on Jan. 1, 2010, hospitals, schools, municipalities and other public sector organizations must meet accessibility requirements in all institutions and must consider the way they communicate over the internet.

Nyman Ink develops all websites based on standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Here are just a few of the many criteria we consider when building a site:

• Ability for users to resize page and/or text
• High contrast between text and background colours (for example, dark text against a light background)
• Streamlined coding and search ability
• Availability of information in colour and without colour for those with colour blindness or difficulty distinguishing colours
• Additional text links for image maps/descriptive links
• Streamlined, user-friendly navigation
• Text equivalent for every non-text element
• Clearly visible elements on each page that inform users where they are on the site and allow them to easily navigate to other sections of the site
• Functionality of the back button: the use of pop-ups and new tabs disable the function of the back button, which about 60 percent of web users employ as their primary means of navigation

Adherence to current web standards for accessibility, which can be found at W3.org, Section 508, Standards (in the United States) and WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). In the end, all this comes together and results in sites that are both accessible and legible for users from around the world.

And even if you don’t expect to reach an audience with “disabilities,” an accessible website makes sense. Plus, it’s just the right thing to do. For more information on how to improve accessibility, visit the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services.