Digital accessibility is the practice of creating equal access to digital content by removing barriers whenever possible. At UTMB we strive to continually improve our content availability for our patients, staff, students, and others that consume our content.
Digital accessibility (a11y) is the practice of creating equal access to digital content
for our patients, staff, students, and others that consume our
content. The first step in the a11y process is to
understand what's needed and the methodologies
for meeting those goals.
Maybe you've heard about web accessibility
-- that's just a portion of the content that needs to be accessible.
Digital content and applications are in continuous flux as technologies
push new boundaries. We strive
to continually improve our content availability from documents to
email to video, to social media to whatever technologies come next. This
site provides a central location for accessing the necessary guidelines, training, and tools enabling us to create accessible and inclusive digital content.
What does a11y mean?
A11y
is a special type of abbreviation called a numeronym for the word
accessibility. Using a11y is a way to simplify the word and keep the
meaning (and it is much easier to type!)
There are 11 letters between the A and the y, so Accessibility becomes A11y.
It
can be pronounced as "accessibility," "a-eleven-ty" or even sometimes
"a11y" depending on the context and is commonly used in the context of
digital accessibility. Generally we will use the direct pronunciation of
"accessibility."
Another example of a numeronym is i18n for internationalization (there are 18 letters between the i and the n!)
CDC statistics show that "27% of adults in the U.S. (affecting 1/3 of U.S. households) have some type of disability."
Access
can be affected by permanent disability (vision loss), temporary
disability (broken arm), or situational challenges (a loud environment)
Auditory
- would someone need to hear to process your content if they were
hearing-impaired or in a loud environment? Are captions available?
Visual
- is your content accessible to people with blindness, color blindness,
or low vision? Is text large enough and does it have enough contrast?
Speech
- does your app rely on voice recognition? Will this work with slower
speech, are there alternatives for those who can't speak or who might be in a loud environment?
Physical
- if someone can't use a mouse, because of a permanent or temporary
disability can they navigate through your content
with just the keyboard? Do you rely on dragging (which can be difficult
for some, or do you also have methods for manually selecting values?
Cognitive -
is all of the content reliant on technical jargon? Are steps clear and
easy to follow for someone who is completing them for the first time or
may have trouble remembering multiple steps?
We want to make our content available to everyone. People with disabilities may need alternative design or specific formats so they can have equal access. Anything created or consumed electronically (like email and Word documents) can be made accessible.
Listen to your instincts
If you notice, "this seems a little hard to read or understand..." take actions like improving color contrast or simplifying the language when possible. One you start paying attention, you'll start to notice a lot more!