{"id":8640,"date":"2020-11-16T15:26:23","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T20:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?p=8640"},"modified":"2021-03-30T10:39:48","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T14:39:48","slug":"accessibility-ceros-release-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/accessibility-ceros-release-7\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Accessibility, and Why Does It Matter?"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\">4<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>\n<p>Businesses all over the world need to ensure that people of all abilities can enjoy their products, devices, and services, and accessibility is simply removing those barriers that might prevent people with disabilities from doing so. One in four American adults has a disability\u2014that\u2019s 61 million people in the US alone. It\u2019s estimated that businesses that fail to make their websites fully accessible lose $500 million a year in potential revenue.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Accessibility-related legislation continues to expand, and with it grows the risk of legal action against companies for non-compliance. But ensuring the content you create is accessible isn\u2019t just a legal requirement\u2014it\u2019s a way to expand your audience and improve the end user experience for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to digital content, we designers, marketers, and content creators have an opportunity to foster true, demonstrable inclusivity.<em> <\/em>At its core, accessibility is about usability. While designers commonly strive to improve usability for the masses, it also pays to focus on the unique challenges faced by those dealing with various vision, hearing, or motor impairments\u2014as well as the assistive technologies used to minimize them. After all, it\u2019s ultimately beneficial for everyone to have text legibility, color contrast, and ease of navigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style='position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 73.86%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none' id=\"experience-5fb3ec4a2ce1e\" data-aspectRatio=\"1.35382956\"><iframe allowfullscreen src='\/\/view.ceros.com\/ceros-marketing\/test-pull-quote-2-2-2-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-3-2-1-1-1-2-2-2-3-1-1-2?heightOverride=927' style='position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%' frameborder='0' class='ceros-experience' title='Accessibility PQ1' scrolling='no'><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you\u2019re reading this article directly on a computer screen, that\u2019s great. If you\u2019re not sighted, and you\u2019re using a screen reader to listen to this article, that\u2019s great, too! Let\u2019s dive deeper into the accessibility issue and what you can do to address it.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Disabilities vary across four main categories\u2014and sometimes people face multiple disabilities.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Visual<\/strong>: When you think of designing web content for accessibility, this is the first disability you might think of. Visual impairments include complete blindness, partial blindness, low vision, and color blindness.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Hearing<\/strong>: Hearing impairments include deafness, hardness of hearing, and hyper-sensitivity to certain sound frequencies and volume ranges of sound.<\/li><li><strong>Motor<\/strong>: Mobility challenges include things like paralysis, seropausly, carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive strain, and dyspraxia. These conditions affect the brain\u2019s planning and movement coordination\u2014you might not be able to use a mouse, for example. One in seven people in the US have a motor disability.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Cognitive: <\/strong>These<strong> <\/strong>conditions alter your mental function. Head injuries can cause cognitive disabilities. Other cognitive disabilities include autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and ADHD. These impairments can cause distraction and an inability to remember large amounts of information. Cognitive disabilities aren\u2019t always top-of-mind for designers, but they are just as important to consider.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>All of the people managing these disabilities use technology to do so. <\/strong>Get familiar with some of them here:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Screen readers: <\/strong>These tools<strong> <\/strong>don\u2019t just read the text on a website to the user\u2014they also tell the user information about the site\u2019s structure. For example, a screen reader tells you that this button opens up this menu, and this is a link that will navigate you to this place.<\/li><li><strong>Speech recognition<\/strong>: These tools function similarly to Apple\u2019s Siri or Amazon\u2019s Alexa\u2014completing actions by taking verbal commands.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Closed captions<\/strong>: Tools can transcribe audio into written captions for those with hearing impairments.<\/li><li><strong>Sip and puff: <\/strong>This is a method by which an individual uses air pressure\u2014either blowing out or breathing into a mouthpiece\u2014to make commands.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Headmouse or head button system:<\/strong> This technology allows a user to move their head in a way that makes commands.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2>How creating accessible content helps businesses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A UX designer wouldn\u2019t create an experience that doesn&#8217;t work on 25 percent of browsers. So why design a website that doesn\u2019t work for 25 percent of Americans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Accessibility improves the lives of people with disabilities. Every consumer company has an ethical duty to help all people who use what we create, and that should be reason enough to ensure accessibility.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But additionally, ensuring accessibility is the law\u2014America\u2019s anti-discrimination law is called the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Businesses should have a plan to avoid lawsuits and bad press. Last year, for example, a court case in which a blind man sued Domino\u2019s for website inaccessibility <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2019\/10\/07\/dominos-supreme-court.html\">nearly made it to the Supreme Court<\/a>. SCOTUS denied a petition to hear the case, leaving in place a lower court\u2019s decision in favor of the man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, designing your products or services in an accessible way helps everyone\u2014even those without disabilities. The different categories of disabilities require different accommodations, but most of the time, those accommodations benefit everybody. For example, a curb cut helps an individual who needs a wheelchair, but it might also help a person pushing a cart. Changes like this help everyone.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recognizing this need, we\u2019ve been developing support for accessibility-enablement tools in Ceros. With the features we\u2019ve developed, we can help companies build better experiences for all audiences.<em> <\/em>We\u2019ve been working in close partnership with Accessible360, a top accessibility consultancy, to develop these enablement tools in the Ceros studio. By using these tools and designer guidelines, creators can build WCAG 2.0 AA-compliant content.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>How designers can build accessible content in Ceros<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3>Create Hierarchy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style='position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 66.67%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none' id=\"experience-5fa41c65eef67\" data-aspectRatio=\"1.5\"><iframe allowfullscreen src='\/\/view.ceros.com\/editorial-content\/office-experince-2-1-1' style='position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%' frameborder='0' class='ceros-experience' title='Adding Hierarchy' scrolling='no'><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those without vision impairment, it\u2019s easy to understand the hierarchy of visual content, thanks to a range of visual cues. However, these cues don\u2019t translate for those using screen readers. To solve this problem, designers can communicate hierarchy through non-visual means, using tools like Header Tags and Landmarks. Screen readers and keyboard navigators traverse these page elements, so it\u2019s important to establish order.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Improve Navigation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style='position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 66.67%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none' id=\"experience-5fa9acf7129ac\" data-aspectRatio=\"1.5\"><iframe allowfullscreen src='\/\/view.ceros.com\/editorial-content\/office-experince-2-1-1-1' style='position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%' frameborder='0' class='ceros-experience' title='Adding Navigation' scrolling='no'><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People who face motor or vision barriers often need to rely on their keyboard to navigate, jumping back and forth from element to element to reach what they\u2019re looking for. Thankfully, many of the improvements outlined above in the section on hierarchy greatly enhance navigation. But a few extra considerations really ensure a smooth user experience\u2014for example, adding a \u201cSkip to Main Content\u201d button, or designating clear and unique page names.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Translate Visual Elements<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Within a Ceros experience, visual elements tend to hold some of the most important information. So make sure those who can\u2019t experience those visual elements get to digest the information, too! While this task goes beyond just adding alt tags to your images\u2014after all, interactive buttons and animated charts also convey key info\u2014translating visual info into a format that screen readers can understand is very straightforward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Reduce Motion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style='position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 66.67%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none' id=\"experience-5fa9bdb4d3061\" data-aspectRatio=\"1.5\"><iframe allowfullscreen src='\/\/view.ceros.com\/editorial-content\/office-experince-2-1-1-1-1' style='position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%' frameborder='0' class='ceros-experience' title='Reduce Motion' scrolling='no'><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Motion can help tell a story, but too much movement can be overwhelming for those with visual sensitivity. If you give the audience the option to reduce motion on the page, it allows everyone to experience the webpage in the best way for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>At Ceros, we may not be experts in accessibility, but we\u2019re working hard to give our customers the right tools to create accessible content for all audiences. We\u2019re providing one-on-one training, educational materials, designer guidelines, and resources to ensure we\u2019ve set our clients up for success.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style='position: relative;width: auto;padding: 0 0 62.5%;height: 0;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;border: 0 none' id=\"experience-5ee1313c103da\" data-aspectRatio=\"1.6\"><iframe allowfullscreen src='\/\/view.ceros.com\/editorial-content\/landing-page-1-2-1-1-2-1-1' style='position: absolute;top: 0;left: 0;bottom: 0;right: 0;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: 0 none;height: 1px;width: 1px;min-height: 100%;min-width: 100%' frameborder='0' class='ceros-experience' title='Inspire Curious Sign-up Embed' scrolling='no'><\/iframe><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/view.ceros.com\/scroll-proxy.min.js\" data-ceros-origin-domains=\"view.ceros.com\"><\/script>\n\n\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"myclass\">All businesses need to achieve accessibility, for both ethical and legal reasons. Here&#8217;s what we&#8217;ve done to be more accessible\u2014are you on the right path?<\/div>\n<p><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":8680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Accessibility: What Is It, and Why Does It Matter? - Ceros Inspire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"All businesses need to achieve accessibility, for both ethical and legal reasons. 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Here&#039;s what we&#039;ve done to be more accessible\u2014are you on the right path?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/accessibility-ceros-release-7\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ceros Inspire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-16T20:26:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-30T14:39:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/11\/2020-11_Ceros_Release-7-Accessability_960x557.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2068\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melanie O'Donnell\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/\",\"name\":\"Ceros Inspire\",\"description\":\"Just another Ceros Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/accessibility-ceros-release-7\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/11\/2020-11_Ceros_Release-7-Accessability_960x557.jpg\",\"width\":2068,\"height\":1200},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/accessibility-ceros-release-7\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/accessibility-ceros-release-7\/\",\"name\":\"Accessibility: What Is It, and Why Does It Matter? - Ceros Inspire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/originals\/accessibility-ceros-release-7\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-16T20:26:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-30T14:39:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ceros.com\/inspire\/#\/schema\/person\/c7df3ca404799075b378c7f083642971\"},\"description\":\"All businesses need to achieve accessibility, for both ethical and legal reasons. 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