Making Digital Accessibility More Than Just High Contrast: Building Truly Inclusive Software

Introduction and Accessibility Fundamentals

• The upcoming CuCon conference in San Francisco will feature tracks on architectures, engineering productivity, and generative AI in production, where senior practicing software developers will share their experiences in adopting emerging trends (37s).
• Sherry Burn, a programmer with a computer science degree, a law degree, and an MBA, has a mobility disability since birth and has led accessibility efforts for McDonald's and VMware (1m28s).
• Most people think they understand what accessibility is, but it's not just about high contrast colors; it's about whether people with disabilities can use a product, service, or digital platform (2m2s).
• Accessibility is not just about physical access, but also about digital access, and it's about more than just high contrast; it's a huge and complex topic (2m55s).

WCAG and Assistive Technology

• When building software, developers need to consider two important things: following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) set by the W3C, and taking an intentional approach to accessibility, as it doesn't happen by accident (3m39s).
• WCAG has 50-60 guidelines, depending on the version, and following them will help ensure that software is accessible to people with disabilities (3m45s).
• Not knowing about or following the WCAG guidelines can result in software that is inaccessible to people with disabilities (4m2s).
• Designing and building software to work with assistive technology is crucial, as people with disabilities use it to interact with computers, with notable examples including Stephen Hawking's use of an eye gaze keyboard and speech interface (4m15s).

Accessible Design Systems and Inclusion

• An accessible design system is essential, and if not implemented from the start, the end accessibility will be poor, with over 960 open-source design systems lacking accessibility features (4m42s).
• Using an accessible design system or implementing accessibility features in a custom design system is necessary to ensure accessibility, and if a design system does not mention accessibility, it may cause trouble in achieving accessibility goals (5m27s).
• Accessibility should be the end goal, but it's even better to aim for inclusion by involving people with disabilities in the process and making the entire experience accessible, including conferences, shops, games, customer support, documentation, and training (5m47s).
• Creating an accessible end-to-end experience requires considering all aspects, including customer service, ongoing maintenance, and enhancements, not just the screen with the software (6m35s).

Maturity Modeling and Cultural Change

• Achieving an accessible experience is a multi-stage process, and maturity modeling is a recommended approach to get from no accessibility efforts to a perfect accessible experience (6m58s).
• Accessibility is not just the accessibility team's job, but everybody's job, including QA teams, design, procurement, and more, requiring a cultural overhaul and maturity modeling to perform this change (7m17s).
• Maturity modeling involves identifying areas for improvement and working on them, leading to a cultural change where people are not afraid to raise concerns about accessibility and are willing to discuss both good and bad experiences of people with disabilities (7m39s).
• To create truly inclusive software, it's essential to hire people with disabilities who can provide valuable insights and help implement accessibility features throughout the organization (8m23s).

Accessibility in Code and Common Examples

• One of the simplest examples of accessibility in code is alt text, which is a description of a graphic that will be announced to a screen reader user, allowing them to understand the content (8m55s).
• Alt text depends on the context in which it's being used and should convey the information that the picture is trying to convey; if the picture is just for decoration, the alt text can be set to null (9m26s).
• Another important concept is expand and collapse, where the blind user needs to know the state of an accordion or other interactive element, such as whether it's expanded or collapsed (9m58s).
• The blind user also needs to know when changes occur on the screen, such as when adding items to a shopping cart, to confirm that their actions have taken effect (10m19s).

Considering Various Disabilities

• While many accessibility guidelines focus on people with vision loss, it's essential to consider other disabilities, such as cognitive disabilities, neurodiversity, mobility, and hearing loss (10m54s).
• For people with hearing loss, the primary requirement is that videos must be captioned (11m16s).
• Physical mobility limitations, such as arthritis, require that software can be used with a keyboard, as most assistive technology is based on keyboard interaction or simulation (11m34s).
• Keyboard access is crucial, as it allows people with disabilities, including those who are blind or have mobility issues, to use software (12m4s).
• Other common visual elements that need to be considered include colorblindness, which affects approximately 8% of males, and the use of colors like green and red, which are often problematic for people with color vision deficiency (12m22s).
• Traffic lights use red and green together, but in a way that is accessible, as the colors are always in the same position, and it's just a matter of whether the bulb is lit or not, making it possible to extrapolate this concept to software by using red and green together with an icon, text, or pattern (13m0s).
• The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) emphasize the importance of having something else to go with color, so people who are colorblind can distinguish between different colors, such as using a check mark or an X (13m32s).

Accessible Design and Implementation

• Accessible implementation starts with accessible design, and if an inaccessible design is given to developers, it will not be very good at the end of the day, even if the developers do everything right (14m0s).
• To build accessibility into a product, it's essential to ask if the design has been through a design review and if it meets accessibility guidelines, such as having a stop button for carousels and providing clear error messages (14m30s).
• Design checklists can help ensure accessibility, including checking page titles, heading structures, error messages, and skip links, and specifying a skip link in the beginning of an HTML page (14m53s).

Personalization and Neurodiversity

• Supporting a more neurodiverse user community can be achieved by providing personalization and customization options, such as allowing users to personalize their color choices, which can benefit neurodivergent individuals who may find certain colors distracting or overwhelming (16m7s).
• Personalization options in software can greatly benefit users with various needs, such as neurodivergent individuals who may prefer no motion or countdown clocks, and people with anxiety who may prefer specific color choices (16m36s).
• Providing options for users to select their preferred theming, such as avoiding italics, can be particularly helpful for individuals with dyslexia who struggle to read italics and center-justified text (17m2s).

Remembering User Preferences

• A personal experience with a deaf daughter highlighted the importance of remembering user preferences, such as turning on captions, to avoid microaggressions and frustrations (17m33s).

Accessibility as Part of 'Done'

• Accessibility should be part of the definition of "done" in software development, meaning it should be built in from the beginning rather than added later as an afterthought (18m45s).
• Building accessibility in from the beginning is easier and cheaper than adding it later, which can result in rework and separate release cycles (19m5s).

Accessibility Standards and Legal Requirements

• Following specific accessibility standards, such as WCAG 2.2 or Section 508, can help ensure that software is accessible to users with disabilities (19m42s).
• The European Accessibility Act will soon come into effect, and governments in Europe will stop buying inaccessible software, making it essential for companies with EU customers to prioritize accessibility (20m1s).
• The US government is also increasing its focus on accessibility, conducting surveys to assess the accessibility of software used by government agencies (20m20s).
• Section 508 is the federal accessibility law in the US, and vendors providing software to environments governed by this law must have a roadmap for accessibility or risk being excluded (20m26s).
• The law has existed for 16 years, but it's only been in the last couple of years that it's received more attention, largely due to litigation (20m57s).
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) gives individuals two options if they feel discriminated against: filing a complaint with the Department of Justice or litigation (21m16s).
• There are approximately 10,000 lawsuits a year in the US related to the ADA, with about 4,000 of those specifically about digital accessibility (21m34s).
• Litigation over digital accessibility can be expensive, and it's difficult to prove equal access when not following Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) (21m54s).

Microaggressions and Challenges

• Individuals with mobility limitations face various microaggressions and challenges in their daily lives, such as inaccessible parking spaces (22m19s).
• Inaccessible parking spaces can be a significant issue, with obstacles like cones or vehicles blocking the spaces, forcing individuals to park far away from their destination (22m45s).
• Reflow not working can be aggravating for individuals who use magnification, such as those with glaucoma, and dark mode can be problematic for people with glaucoma or dyslexia (23m31s).
• Providing dark mode as the only option can make a website inaccessible, and the best approach is to offer it as an option and allow personalization (24m2s).

Generative AI and Bias

• There is a concern about the unsupervised use of generative AI, as it can perpetuate biases due to being trained on biased data from the internet (24m39s).
• An example of this bias is when autocaptioning incorrectly labeled a woman's cochlear implant as a "cocaine implant" (25m3s).
• The data used to train AI models is often limited, leading to a lack of representation of diverse groups, such as girls with autism or people from other cultures with autism (25m26s).
• To mitigate this issue, it's essential to use supervised learning and carefully train AI models with unbiased data (25m46s).

Learning More and Spreading Awareness

• Sherry, the guest, has a blog and can be found on LinkedIn, where she shares her thoughts on accessibility and technology (26m9s).
• For those interested in learning more about accessibility, attending an accessibility Meetup or visiting the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) website is recommended (26m38s).
• The IAAP website offers a wealth of information, including webinars and resources, for professionals looking to learn more about accessibility (27m3s).
• Sherry emphasizes the importance of accessibility professionals speaking at design and developer conferences to spread awareness and advocacy for accessibility (27m23s).