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What is Accessibility?

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Summary

Section titled “Summary”

Accessibility means designing and maintaining spaces, technologies, and experiences that people with and without disabilities can use. It ensures that people with a wide range of abilities can navigate, understand, and interact with environments and content with equal ease. Accessibility applies to digital products, physical spaces, communication, and more.

Overview

Section titled “Overview”

Accessibility ensures that people with disabilities can participate fully and independently in work, school, community, and daily life. This includes people who are blind or have low vision, deaf or hard of hearing, have limited mobility, cognitive disabilities, chronic illnesses, or mental health conditions.

Accessibility efforts usually focus on removing barriers and design that accommodates a broad range of needs. In digital contexts, this often means following standards like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which outline best practices for making websites, apps, and other digital tools usable by everyone. In physical contexts, designers often follow local, national, and international standards that ensure that spaces, places, and things are accessible to everyone.

Accessibility is not the same as usability. Something can be easy to use but still inaccessible to people with disabilities. Similarly, something can be accessible but not very usable. Examples of accessibility include:

  • Ensuring keyboard navigation on websites for people who cannot use a mouse
  • Providing text alternatives (Ta11y) for images and multimedia in software
  • Using sufficient color contrast for readability on websites and documents
  • Captioning videos for deaf or hard-of-hearing users
  • Providing step-free access to and from spaces for people using mobility aids
  • Adding tactile warnings on stairs for people who are blind or low-vision
  • Using text and icons on signs to help people with cognitive disabilities get around
  • Products that people can use more than one way, with different motions
  • Processes that allow people to complete a task in multiple ways, for example, by email, phone, or text

Accessibility is often required by law, such as under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). But more than a legal standard, accessibility is a human right, and a core part of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Who is Helped

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Designing for accessibility benefits everyone, not just people with disabilities:

  • People with disabilities: Accessibility enables independence and full participation. Example: alt text lets a person who is blind use a screen reader to understand images. Learn more from Writing Alternative Text.
  • Older adults: Accessible features support changes in vision, hearing, memory, or mobility. Example: larger text options on phones help people with age-related vision loss. See Text Size and Spacing and Use Plain Language.
  • Caretakers: Parents and care partners can more easily provide care in accessible environments. Example: step-free entrances allow someone to push a stroller or wheelchair without lifting. Learn more from Physical Accessibility (Ta11y).
  • People with temporary disabilities: Accessibility helps people recovering from injury or surgery. Example: automatic doors support someone on crutches after knee surgery. See Signs and Parking.
  • People using different devices or contexts: Accessibility supports people in varied situations. Example: captions help when watching videos in noisy cafés or on a phone. Learn more from Captions and Visual Organization.
  • Organizations and businesses: Accessibility improves customer experience and reach. Example: accessible online forms include people who rely on screen readers, expanding the customer base. See Forms (Ta11y) and Disability Inclusion Statements.
  • Anyone: Accessible design makes spaces safer and easier to use. Example: clear, well-lit stairs prevent accidents for everyone. Learn more from What is Accessibility.

Guidelines

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To make your content, products, and spaces accessible, focus on these key areas:

1) Follow standards and laws

Section titled “1) Follow standards and laws”
  • Refer to WCAG for digital accessibility and use local standards for physical and service accessibility.
  • Standards include requirements like alternative access for sight- and sound-based media, color contrast, keyboard access, step-free routes, signage, and restroom design.
  • Check the legal requirements that apply to your organization.
  • See Standards & Laws (Ta11y)

2) Plan for accessibility from the start

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3) Test and improve

Section titled “3) Test and improve”
  • Involve people with disabilities in usability testing.
  • Use both automated tools and human testing for digital products.
  • Audit spaces, products, and processes regularly.
  • Gather feedback and act on reported barriers.
  • See Digital Accessibility Testing (Ta11y)
  • See Screen Reader Verification (Ta11y)
  • See Test Tools (Ta11y)

4) Communicate clearly

Section titled “4) Communicate clearly”

5) Build accessibility into daily practice

Section titled “5) Build accessibility into daily practice”
  • Train staff on accessibility.
  • Add accessibility checks to daily workflows (for example, confirm obstacle-free routes).
  • Offer multiple ways to contact your organization.
  • Make your accessibility statement easy to find.
  • See Disability Inclusion (Ta11y)
  • See Providing Help (Ta11y)
  • See Site Navigation (Ta11y)

Resources

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