You need to make sure your digital products and services meets level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) as a minimum. If the websites and apps do not meet WCAG 2.1 AA, you may be breaking the laws such as:
- ADA
- Section 508
- EN 301549
- AODA
You’ll also need to:
- Make sure your website or app works with the most common assistive technologies such as screen readers and/or speech recognition software,.
- Test the service with disabled users and with older users
The best way to meet accessibility requirements is to:
- Think about accessibility from the start
- Run your own accessibility tests regularly throughout development
- Get a formal accessibility audit before you go into production
The Shift Left Approach
Think about accessibility from the start. Consider accessibility at every stage like user stories, design, development, QA testing, communication and more.
Start thinking about technical accessibility from alpha. When you’re discussing ideas and developing concepts, consider:
- Incorporating and meeting the Inclusive and WCAG design principles
- How people with disabilities might use it
It is important to review your designs with your sketches, wireframes, and mock-ups.
Annotating with appropriate design accessibility comments considerably reduces the mistakes during the development phase and testing phase. Consider the following while design review:
- Applying semantic codes where applicable
Semantic HTML: Improving Accessibility, SEO, [...]