A website or application is technically accessible when it takes into account that users may use the product in a different way, maybe through assistive technologies. This can be due to a disability, temporary barrier, older age or any other personal preference. Assistive technology can be all kinds of hardware and software that allow people to operate computers, smartphones, tablets or other devices and helps overcome their disability or barriers.
The standard for digital accessibility is WCAG2.0 level AA (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). This standard is developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and also known as ISO/IEC 40500. The standard is written to be technology neutral and consists of guidelines and success criteria. A list of techniques describes ways to meet the standard. The standard can be applied to websites, apps, electronic mails and newsletters, digital documents and so on.
Useful links are:
- Techniques for WCAG 2.0
- Accessible Digital Office Documents
- Android accessibility
- Accessibility Programming Guide for iOS
- BBC Mobile Accessibility Standards and Guidelines
We recommend you include accessibility requirements in your software procurement or third party development contract such as an authentication tool or a PDF-document generator.
It is important to evaluate accessibility during development. There are numerous tools that can help you do that or you can contact an expert. Be careful with tools that claim they test your product for accessibility. It is not possible to test everything automatically and it is important to know how to interpret the outcomes.
In the following chapters, you can find the main requirements to considered for an accessible design of your application: