Global Accessibility Day
May 19th was Global Accessibility Day
In honor of that, I'm here to provide a few Accessibility Fun Facts. Did you know…
26% of the general U.S. population has a disability
Almost 20% of American college students identify as having a disability
98% of websites are completely inaccessible
Dark mode can be great assistance to those who have visual conditions like astigmatism, cataracts, and migraines triggered by blue light and eye fatigue. ➝ Peering into the accessibility of Dark Mode | by Dora Cee | May, 2022 | UX Collective (uxdesign.cc)
"Good accessibility is about compliance, great accessibility is about empathy."
The W3C Group is currently drafting a new and improved version of the W3C Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 3.0). Here's a snippet of the improvements the group is making in this new version: "The goal of WCAG 3.0 is to provide information that can be used to improve the accessibility of products on a variety of platforms. WCAG 3.0 uses a model that allows it to address more disability needs than WCAG 2.X, as well as address publishing requirements and emerging technologies such as web XR (augmented, virtual and mixed reality) and voice input. It will also provide non-normative (informative) information about the ways web technologies need to work with authoring tools, user agents, and assistive technologies. The WCAG 3.0 model is designed to support better coverage across disabilities and be easier to maintain, so that the new model will be more enduring over time as technologies evolve. ➝ W3C Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 3.0
And finally…if nothing else, Andrew Tompkins, a blind musician wants app and web developers to know this:
"If anyone comes across this video, app developers in particular I want you guys to know that I totally get that it will be extra work to make them accessible. Any one making the apps, developing, engineering them the accessibility aspect is a lot of work. And I totally understand that it will not happen overnight. If it takes years, I understand it but I really do sincerely wish more effort was being made to make them accessible for everyone, including visually impaired people like myself."
I highly recommend watching the whole video. He specifically critiques an app he was using to make music but his statements ring true for all apps and websites. He says, "Ravenscroft and along with a lot of other apps are truly…they sound amazing. Absolutely wonderful, great piano samples, everything in between but yet if the accessibility isn't there then what's the point of using it?"
It appears that Ravenscroft, like many others, are accessible but its only good accessibility. Even if it does take a lot of time, effort, research, and testing we should all be aiming for great!