When building my portfolio website, I was most concerned with how it looked to me. As I created a few simple pages, I wondered:
Is this informative?
Easy to navigate?
Cute and fun?
Note, I am not a web designer, so “cute and fun” are the about the extent of my tech jargon!
This where I made my First Big Mistake -- (besides dropping the navigation bar directly on my face).
It's Not About ME ME ME
I was focusing on Cat! I write things and play the drums!
I was not thinking about those who may have disabilities. While it’s nice to focus on cute, fun stuff, we must take disabilities into account so a wide variety of users can benefit from our content.
For example, users may have low vision, or no vision, and must rely on alt text to “see” an image.
What is Alt Text?
Alt text describes images to people who can’t see them.
Example: “Woman playing drums” would be effective alt text. “Weirdo with sticks” would not would not be as descriptive! (Though it may apply in this case).
To check my own website, I ran a report using WAVE Accessibility. This free browser tool detects website "errors" that can hinder users with hearing, vision, and mobility issues.
The Startling Results
I had no errors!
However, my little site is far from perfect.
See those 3 Alerts? It isn't good news. While I didn't have gigantic errors, the WAVE tool found instances where my text is too small. Small text can be a problem for the vision impaired.
But that's not all! I have "suspicious" alt text -- my descriptions do not match the image or they are completely missing.
What To Do
This is the advice straight from WAVE:
Increase the text to a more readable size
Ensure that the alternative text for the image or image input provides a succinct, yet equivalent alternative to the content and function of the image
Wrapping it Up
Great content should be accessible to all, but according to the ADA, 98% of the world's top one million websites do not offer adequate accessibility!
With accessibility checks, we can help visitors with disabilities enjoy our content. Cynics would say, "Sure, Cat - you just want to market to them." I say it's about being mindful and providing a good experience that is accessible to as many people as possible. (Stop being so cynical, cynics!)
Let's give everyone access to good information, weird stuff, and infinite cuteness!
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