Accessibility (a11y)

What is Web Accessibility (a11y)?

Web accessibility (abbreviated as a11y — the 'a', 11 letters, 'y') refers to the design and development practice of making websites usable by everyone, including people with visual, auditory, motor, cognitive, or situational disabilities.

Accessibility is not a niche concern. The WHO estimates that over 1.3 billion people worldwide live with some form of disability. Situational disabilities — using a phone in bright sunlight, watching a video without headphones, or browsing with one hand — affect nearly everyone at some point.

Core Areas of Web Accessibility

Core areas of web accessibility include: Visual accessibility (sufficient color contrast — WCAG requires 4.5:1 for normal text — alt text for all meaningful images, and scalable text that doesn't break at 200% zoom), Motor accessibility (all interactive elements must be reachable and operable via keyboard), Auditory accessibility (captions for all video content, transcripts for audio content), and Cognitive accessibility (clear consistent navigation, plain language, and error messages).

The technical standard for web accessibility is WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), currently at version 2.2. Compliance levels are A (minimum), AA (standard), and AAA (enhanced). In many countries including the US, UK, and EU member states, web accessibility is a legal requirement for public-facing websites.

At Appsrow, accessibility is designed in from the start — never retrofitted as an afterthought.