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When websites and web tools are properly designed and coded, people with disabilities can use them. However, currently many sites and tools are developed with accessibility barriers that make them difficult or impossible for some people to use. Making the web accessible benefits individuals, businesses, and society. International web standards define what is needed for accessibility. The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect. The Web is fundamentally designed to work for all people, whatever their hardware, software, language, location, or ability. When the Web meets this goal, it is accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive ability. Thus the impact of disability is radically changed on the Web because the Web removes barriers to communication and interaction that many people face in the physical world. However, when websites, applications, technologies, or tools are badly designed, they can create barriers that exclude people from using the Web.
Accessibility is essential for developers and organizations that want to create high-quality websites and web tools, and not exclude people from using their products and services. Web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. When you want to learn more about how different disabilities affect Web use, and read about scenarios of people with disabilities using the Web, see How People with Disabilities Use the Web. If you want more examples of benefits for others, see the multimedia resource Used by People With and Without Disabilities, the archived resource Web Accessibility Benefits People With and Without Disabilities and the archived mobile resource Shared Web Experiences: Barriers Common to Mobile Device Users and People with Disabilities. The Web is an increasingly important resource in many aspects of life: education, employment, government, commerce, health care, recreation, and more. It is essential that the Web be accessible in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with diverse abilities.
Access to information and communications technologies, including the Web, is defined as a basic human right in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD). The Web offers the possibility of unprecedented access to information and interaction for many people with disabilities. That is, the accessibility barriers to print, audio, and visual media can be much more easily overcome through web technologies. There is also a strong business case for accessibility. As shown in the previous section, accessible design improves overall user experience and satisfaction, especially in a variety of situations, across different devices, and for older users. Accessibility can enhance your brand, drive innovation, and extend your market reach. Web accessibility is required by law in many situations. General information on business benefits is in The Business Case for Digital Accessibility. Examples of the benefits of making audio and video media accessible is in the section Benefits to Organizations.
Web accessibility depends on several components working together, including web technologies, web browsers and other "user agents", authoring tools, and websites. The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) develops technical specifications, guidelines, techniques, and supporting resources that describe accessibility solutions. More about these aspects of accessibility working together is in Essential Components of Web Accessibility. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG), ARIA for Accessible Rich Internet Applications, and other important resources are introduced in W3C Accessibility Standards Overview. To learn more about how W3C WAI develops material through multi-stakeholder, international participation and how you can contribute, see About W3C WAI and Participating in WAI. Many aspects of accessibility are fairly easy to understand and implement. Some accessibility solutions are more complex and take more knowledge to implement. It is most efficient and effective to incorporate accessibility from the very beginning of projects, so you don’t need go back and to re-do work. For an introduction to accessibility requirements and international standards, see Accessibility Principles.
To understand some common accessibility barriers from the perspective of testing, see Easy Checks - A First Review of Web Accessibility. For some basic considerations on designing, writing, and developing for accessibility, see Tips for Getting Started. When developing or redesigning a website, evaluate accessibility early and throughout the development process to identify accessibility problems early, when it is easier to address them. Simple steps, such as changing settings in a browser, can help you evaluate some aspects of accessibility. Comprehensive evaluation to determine if a website meets all accessibility guidelines takes more effort. There are evaluation tools that help with evaluation. However, no tool alone can determine if a site meets accessibility guidelines. Knowledgeable human evaluation is required to determine if a site is accessible. Resources to help with accessibility evaluation are described in Evaluating Web Accessibility Overview. Images should include equivalent alternative text (alt text) in the markup/code.
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