Accessibility Basics 🌐

Why the web is uncomfortable for so many people (and what we can do about it)

The Reality Check

The web we built works great... if you're exactly like the people who built it. But here's the thing: most people aren't.

Quick examples of what "inaccessible" actually looks like: - Tiny text that disappears when someone tries to make it bigger - Color combinations that give people headaches or look identical to others - Websites that break when someone tries to navigate without a mouse - Videos without captions (useless if you can't hear, annoying if you're in a noisy coffee shop) - Forms that assume everyone thinks the same way about "obvious" things

It's not about "disabled people" vs "nondisabled people." It's about recognizing that people interact with the web in tons of different ways, and right now we mostly design for just one way.

Who Are We Actually Building For?

People who might experience the web differently include:

🔍 Vision differences: - Can't see small text or low contrast - Use screen readers to "hear" websites - See colors differently or not at all - Get overwhelmed by flashing or moving content

🎧 Hearing differences: - Need captions on videos - Can't rely on audio cues - Use sign language as their first language

🖱️ Movement differences: - Can't use a mouse precisely - Navigate entirely with keyboard - Use voice commands or eye tracking - Have tremors that make small targets hard

🧠 Thinking differences: - Need more time to process information - Get confused by complex layouts - Have trouble with memory or attention - Process language differently

⚡ Temporary situations: - Broken arm (suddenly can't use mouse normally) - Noisy environment (need captions) - Bright sunlight (can't see low contrast) - Slow internet (need lightweight pages)

The point: This isn't a small group. It's most of us, at different times, in different situations.

Here's the magic: The most personal needs often overlap with what lots of people need. When we build tools that work for someone with specific challenges, we usually end up helping way more people than we expected. That's where our community comes in—if we all learn to be kinder to ourselves and build for the small circles of people we understand best, together we might just make the whole web more comfortable for everyone.

What "Accessible" Actually Means

Forget compliance checklists for a minute. Accessible just means "more people can actually use your thing."

Instead of thinking: "How do I make this work for disabled people?" Try thinking: "How do I make this work for people in different situations with different needs?"

Good accessibility often means: - Things that are easier for everyone to use - Clearer, simpler interfaces - More ways to get the same information - Designs that work in more situations

Common Myths (That Make This Harder Than It Needs to Be)

❌ "Accessible design is ugly" ✅ Good accessible design is often cleaner and clearer

❌ "It's expensive and complicated" ✅ Many improvements are simple and make things better for everyone

❌ "Only disabled people benefit" ✅ Captions help people in noisy places, good contrast helps people in bright sunlight, clear navigation helps everyone

❌ "I need to learn a ton of technical rules" ✅ Start with empathy and common sense, learn technical stuff as you go

❌ "I'll get it wrong and offend someone" ✅ Trying and improving is better than not trying at all

The Mindset Shift

From: "How do I check this compliance box?" To: "How do I make sure more people can actually use this?"

From: "What do disabled people need?" To: "What different ways might people interact with this?"

From: "Is this accessible?" To: "How comfortable is this for different people in different situations?"

Simple Things You Can Start Doing Today

🔍 Vision: - Use enough contrast between text and background - Make sure text is readable when zoomed to 200% - Don't rely only on color to communicate important info

⌨️ Navigation: - Make sure everything works with just a keyboard - Provide clear focus indicators (show where you are on the page) - Have a logical tab order through the page

📝 Content: - Write clear, simple headings that describe what's in each section - Use plain language when possible - Add alt text to images that describes what they show

🎬 Media: - Add captions to videos - Don't auto-play videos with sound - Provide transcripts for audio content

📱 Overall: - Test with different devices and screen sizes - Make sure important actions are easy to find and trigger - Give people time to read and interact (no rushing)

How to Think About People's Needs

Instead of categories like "blind users" or "disabled people," think about interactions:

Someone who experiences your site through sound instead of sight
Someone who needs to navigate without precise mouse control
Someone who processes information differently than you do
Someone who needs more time or different formats
Someone in a situation that limits their usual capabilities

This helps you design for real people in real situations instead of abstract categories.

Testing Your Own Assumptions

Try these quick experiments:

Navigate your site using only Tab and Enter - no mouse clicking
Turn off images - does the site still make sense?
Zoom to 200% - can you still use everything?
Turn sound off - do you miss important information?
Use it in bright sunlight or a dim room - can you see what you need?

Each experiment shows you how someone might experience your site differently.

When You Need Technical Terms

Screen reader: Software that reads website content aloud Alt text: Description of an image for people who can't see it
Keyboard navigation: Using Tab, Enter, and arrow keys instead of a mouse Focus indicator: Visual highlight showing where you are on a page Color contrast: How easy it is to distinguish text from its background Captions: Text version of spoken audio in videos

Most accessibility work is about understanding people's needs, not memorizing technical terms.

What's Next?

Ready to start contributing? → Back to Getting Started to pick your role and dive in

Want to dig deeper into the research side? → Research Hub to explore what we're learning

Curious about our community ethics? → Ethics Guide to see how we protect everyone

The Bottom Line

Accessibility isn't about perfect compliance or knowing every rule. It's about recognizing that the web should be comfortable and usable for people in all kinds of situations.

You don't need to be an expert to start. You just need to care about making things work better for more people.

The goal isn't perfection - it's progress toward a web that works for everyone 🌟