How to make your site accessible?

The world wide web is becoming increasingly accessible for people with disabilities. New technologies enable developers and publishers to realize the potential of the site among people with disabilities and to give them equal access to the content of the sites. This is a very large population in the world. As a society that supports equality, our moral duty is to allow people with disabilities to access our services.

So you made a decision to make your site accessible. But what is an accessible site and how do you realize it?
We present you a number of recommendations, by which you can make your site more accessible and convenient to use.

Site structure

When it comes to site structure, it is important to note that there are a lot of parameters to put emphasis on. At the top of the parameters, regardless of the design or function of the site, lying the part of the logical order in which the site is built. The order in which the content is presented affects its meaning. Maintaining the logical order and the consistency of content in the site's structure will enable, for example, users of the reader program to receive the information as necessary and navigate to it using the keyboard in the correct order.

Also, another parameter to pay attention to is the process of building the site. It is necessary to use elements correctly and in accordance with their role and purpose. Today, HTML5 offers a wide range of options for defining the site's needs in any structure. For example, there is no valid reason for a link to perform an additional role beyond its primary function and to redirect to another destination, or a button will redirect to another destination instead of performing a particular event.

Another important parameter links to training and understanding and activating content. It is useful to build the site so that the user interface will not rely solely on the sensory properties of components, such as shape, size, visual location, direction or sound. It should be understood that a large percentage of people with disabilities will not be able to identify these components due to their limitations.

Also, avoid using as many different keyboard events as possible. Many of the keyboard events that are in use can create traps and break navigation and / or alter the content of the site, which can cause confusion among users who use reading software. It is important that there is no requirement for a specific typing rate. When navigating, we recommend that you highlight the focus so that users can recognize where they are. Please note that the focus does not change the content of the site.

In addition, it is important to emphasize that there will be no time limits on the site, unless it is synchronized media that is not interactive or real-time events.

Make sure that the structure of the site is presented in the correct logical order, with a beginning and end, simple and clear, and built from elements according to their purpose. It is highly recommended to maintain a relative structure of the site.

Site Content

Once the site structure is correct, focus should also be placed on the content displayed. Generally, the content of the site is composed of texts, videos, audio, pictures, forms of filling details and more. The content of the site is sensitive and important, since it is the skeleton on which the site is based. Content should be simple, available, and easy to understand.

Each site page should be given a title so users can easily identify which page they are on.

It is important that any content other than textual (video, audio and images) be a textual alternative, which will convey a clear message about this content. The picture will have an explanatory text on what the picture shows, but it is recommended that you avoid text messages using images. If this is a video, general text explaining the video content will be associated with video subtitles. For an audio section, it is recommended to attach textual content that will reflect what is said in the section. In addition, it is recommended to attach a text explaining each element of the site to its function.

Textual content will be written correctly and clearly, maintaining spacing between letters and rows and without horizontal scrolling. It is recommended to have a mechanism that explains concepts, acronyms and full expression that they represent or mean.

The user will be able to control the content at the basic level. Users must be given the ability to control playback and stop in videos and audio. It is recommended that you do not play audio or video clips in the background of the site, so as not to interfere with users who use reading software. The user can also increase the font size in the textual content without disrupting the structure of the site or hiding snippets due to magnification.
Information, structure, and connections transmitted to the user through design will be available as explanatory text.

Colors

The color theme of the site takes up a considerable part of the design and construction of the site. This issue is important both in terms of design and site accessibility. The colors of the site should be accessible so that visually impaired users can identify the content of the site in a convenient and effortless manner.

Visualizing a text font against a background will have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5: 1. This is a prominence of the text in favor of comfortable and effortless reading by users.

It is important to note that color in general will not be used as a single visual means to convey information, mark action, request a response, or highlight a visual object.

It is recommended to give the user different options for controlling the colors of the site. In fact, it is recommended to develop a mechanism for the use of users that will change the colors of the site in general to simple colors, for example: black on white, yellow on black, full contrast of the colors of the site etc., while preserving the content of the site.

Animations

Today, most websites have animations that are an important part of the site and contribute to the user experience. However, there are many animations that interfere with people with attention deficit disorder. These are flickering, scrolling, or auto-update information.

Allow user to defer or suspend these disorders by stopping them, break or concealment them. Web pages should not include anything that creates more than three flashes in one second - it might cause epileptic seizures.

User friendly interface

Friendly and simple interface, allows the site to be easy to use by users. There are different ways to create a site with a friendly interface. However, a number of points must be emphasized in order for a site to be easily accessible to users with disabilities (and not just to them).

First, the source code of the page should specify the language of the site. This will allow the reading program to recognize the natural language by default.

In addition, it is necessary to identify the purpose of a link (considering the context). The purpose of each link will be clear from the accompanying text only, or from the accompanying text and the context in which it is given, if it is a context that can be identified by a reading program. Exceptional cases where the purpose of the link is ambiguous to all users. In general, it is recommended to transfer as much information as name, function, value, etc. to the various elements of the site through various development options, for example by attributes of HTML elements.

A friendly interface is a simple. The intrface needs to know how to communicate with the user and vice versa. This communication is expressed in providing information to the user about his actions on the site.

Changing a page element through any user interface element such as entering text or selecting a form option will not automatically change the context, unless the user receives an alert.

Site pages that require the user to provide information will allow the user to perform actions that are reversible and can be restored, updated or deleted. Labels or instructions must also be provided when the content requires input from the user. The data entered by the user will be checked for input errors, and the user will have an opportunity to correct the errors with an appropriate error message that includes suggestions for correction (but not in cases where the suggestions could pose a security risk or compromise the content). If an input error is detected automatically, you must point to the component of the error and describe the error to the user by text. When a data is approved, a mechanism will be set up to allow the user to review, confirm, and correct the information that has been entered, if necessary, before completion of the operation.

Simple and fast access to content

Each site includes references to internal and external pages or to different parts of the site. An accessible site includes quick and simple access to important content both on and off the site.
Multiple ways must be created to have more than one way of finding a web page within a series of pages, unless the page is a result or step in the process. It is also recommended to include assistive links that allow the user to bypass sections of content that are repeated over and over again on multiple web pages on the site as a separate mechanism.
In addition, information about the user's location within a series of pages should be presented and highlighted.

In conclusion

It is immensely important for site owners to make their site accessible, both in terms of following local goverments' laws which requires accessibility, and moral commitment to the population that needs accessibility.
An accessible site, usually, is a well-built website that maintains its logical order and communicates as much as possible with users in a simple or convenient way.
As far as accessibility is concerned, we will be happy to help you through the "Nagish Plus" service that we provide to web sites publishers and web applications owners who are interested in making their site accessible.