Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day! It’s a great occasion for web professionals to rally together to highlight the continued need for accessibility support.
You’ve probably heard the saying “accessibility is maintained, not attained.” This is true because any changes in content, code, or software updates can create new accessibility barriers.
Accessibility is much like car maintenance. Your car might roll off the factory floor fully tested and ready to go, but over time, you’ll need to perform regular service to maintain its overall health.
In the same way, your website may have been built using accessibility best practices, but over time, it will evolve through content, code, or software updates. These changes require regular testing to ensure the website is usable for people with disabilities.
So what can your organization do?
A sustainable accessibility approach should include these key components:
- Technology: Your website should have baseline support for WCAG accessibility features. This also includes design support.
- People: A culture of accessibility is the key to sustainability. Training your team on digital accessibility best practices will help individuals make decisions with accessibility in mind.
- Process: Your organization should have processes in place that answer questions like “how often do we audit our website?”, “what steps do we take for incoming accessibility issues?” and other high-level questions.
I have written about this in depth here: Three-part strategy: technology, people, process.
The Challenge
I want to encourage you to identify one area where you can start thinking about accessibility within your organization.
If you have specific questions, feel free to reach out on LinkedIn or by email.
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