Types of Disabilities
	Vision	Hearing	Mobility	Cognitive

Why Accessibility? Accessibility often abbreviated to A11y — as in "a" then 11 characters then "y" in Web development. Web accessibility is important because so many people rely on the web to do critical day-to-day life activities. There are about 20% of the population living with a disability and that percentage is only growing. Thus, it is a need of an hour and web accessibility has become a major focus for organizations worldwide.

If we don’t work diligently to make the web accessible, we risk barring in some capacity a quarter of the adult population from participating in the world online. That means people with disabilities won’t be able to do things like make online payments, book movie tickets, take classes online, easily keep up with friends who move far away, or access important information about their business and healthcare.

Not to mention, building an accessible digital content is the moral and just thing to do!

Improve user experience: The goal of accessibility is to make products, services, and environments more usable by people with disabilities with special attention to navigation, ease of use, text clarity, and more, accessibility best practices benefit all users..
Increase sales revenue: Do you know if your digital content isn’t accessible to everyone, you’re excluding 1.3 billion (approximately) potential customers. However, with accessible designs we can target very larger customer base
Legal Ramifications: Lawsuits alleging digital accessibility violations are increasing, and several high-profile companies have had to pay large settlements. Following WCAG guidelines helps organizations stay compliant and avoid costly lawsuits.

• Example of some of the big companies that got Sued over Web Accessibility

Amazon– World’s largest e-commerce company Nike–Multi-national footwear & apparel company Domino’sPizza– Multi-national pizza restaurant chain

• Web Accessibility Laws & Policies - Few references:
• ADA: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) covers the equal accessibility to everyone in Employment, State and Local Government, Public Accommodations, Telecommunications, and Miscellaneous Provisions.
• Section 508: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C § 794 d) requires federal agencies in the United States to ensure that their electronic and information technology - including websites, web applications, software, and digital documents - is accessible to everyone, regardless of whether they are employees or members of the public.

For more details about web accessibility laws & policies refer: https://www.w3.org/WAI/policies/
Building positive PR: By creating an accessible application, you will be able to build the foundation of a positive brand image for your organization. Higher customer retention plus people with disabilities are more likely to recommend you to their friends and family.
Building positive PR: By creating an accessible application, you will be able to build the foundation of a positive brand image for your organization. Higher customer retention plus people with disabilities are more likely to recommend you to their friends and family.
Writing higher-quality code: Websites that are created with accessibility in mind, tend to have a higher-quality code base.

How to Start?

Anyone can make their own corner of the web more accessible. The point is to just keep accessibility in mind and start working on it from the beginning.
Refer to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) which is the international accessibility standard established by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), part of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The WCAG includes technical recommendations on how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities.
The WCAG has gone through several updates since it was first published in 1995.

Each iteration adds new requirements:

• WCAG 2.0 - published 11 December 2008 - had 61 success criteria.
• WCAG 2.1 - published on 5 June 2018 - introduced 17 more success criteria to address mobile accessibility, people with low vision, and people with cognitive and learning disabilities
• WCAG 2.2 - published on 21 May 2021 - expanded 2.1 with nine new success criteria.

The WCAG is categorized according to the four (POUR): perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Each principle has testable success criteria classified by three levels – A, AA, and AAA – with the easiest being A and the most challenging being AAA.

• Perceivable - Text alternatives for non-text elements, captioned and described media, adaptable presentation.
• Operable - Make it keyboard accessible, provide navigation aids, avoid time-outs. Avoid flashing and scrolling content.
• Understandable - Make content readable, predictable, easy to navigate, read and understand. Provide input assistance.
• Robust - Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies.

Whom to Approach?

We are here for you! We at TAAS Technologies help you make your mission-critical business applications & digital contents accessible with our experienced accessibility consultants who has the skills to lead your team for inclusive design & early accessibility. Our services that are tailored to harmonize with the standards of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1/2.2, as well as Section 508, Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), UK - Equality Act 2010 (EQA), India - Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, among many other international standards spanning the globe.
Write to us today to learn more about our comprehensive approach to digital accessibility, including our automated and manual accessibility auditing / testing capabilities.