Accessibility and Universal Design
Summary
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to hear the experience of a blind PhD candidate at a major public university in the United States share about how difficult it was for him to fill out the online application form for a graduate program. He struggled through the application process and at one point remarked: “it was as if the university was saying to me, ‘if you are blind, don’t bother applying.’” Accessibility matters because people who have disabilities or impairments also deserve to be able to use a system. It allows the user to maintain a neutral body position and minimizes repetitive actions and sustained effort. Certain individuals may rely on the use of a screen reader to consume and input content so include alternative text in any HTML image tags, transcripts for videos, and allow for navigation by keyboard only. Finally, if the product is a mobile application, consider how it would be used in that form factor as well Auditory disabilities include hard of hearing or deafness in one or both ears.