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Nope. It is deeply misunderstood across the 'industry'. Blank stares ensue. There is opportunity in this as SEO (a 'service' that can be sold) really depends o

Nope. It is deeply misunderstood across the 'industry'. Blank stares ensue. There is opportunity in this as SEO (a 'service' that can be sold) really depends on accessibility. I find people still concerned with 'keyword frequency' and whether they have their H1 tags in the right place when it comes to 'SEO'. Nobody is talking about making the web better for everyone (which includes the customers with no accessibility problems) and that being the central plank of better sales. A further problem is that web 'design' agencies do not have the sales staff to sell accessibility. The pitch should not be that hard given that the baby boomer generation have all the money and need spectacles to read anything closer than arms-length away. I also have yet to see anyone offering accessibility audit services where a genuine, registered partially sighted person does the auditing and testing. This could be end to end, i.e. ordering the product and returning it, with all emails checked along the way, complete with physical packaging. We assume 'we know best' and that we know what a screen-reader user would want rather than reach out to anyone who is practically blind and ask them what they think. Patronising!!!

robin_reala 8y ago
Those services definitely exist. I’ve used the DAC[1] in Cardiff before for indepth review from expert users of assistive tech, but I’ve also taken part in standard user research with people with accessibility needs (ranging from blindness to motor problems to severe dyslexia). One thing to bear in mind when doing user research like that is that bringing people into your lab won’t work: people who use assistive tech setups tend to customise them to fit their needs, so you need to get out and observe ‘in the field’ if possible. [1] http://digitalaccessibilitycentre.org/ http://digitalaccessibilitycentre.org/
- Theodores 8y ago
  The http://digitalaccessibilitycentre.org/ http://digitalaccessibilitycentre.org/ website is awful. Efforts like this give accessibility a bad name. Accessibility isn't about designing websites that are exclusively for special needs people. It is about making websites work for everyone, whatever device they are on. Part of that ethos is sticking to convention. So what is so awful? The navigation is awful. It changes from the homepage to one of the other pages. Their use of mini-font sizes is also a bit silly. Even the URL structure is a bit silly, nobody needs to have index.php in a URL to make it mysteriously more accessible. Their headings have line heights that mean 2-line headings are mangled together. If you run a outline on their pages the content does not reflect what is shown. I would be embarrassed if I worked with these so-called accessibility experts, their efforts sideline what accessibility is about. Cringeworthy and awful!!!
  - robin_reala 8y ago
    No comment on their site, but their employees helped me discover and resolve problems I never would have, for example a breaking problem in Windows 10 high contrast mode, or a problem with a specific version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking that was earlier than the one I had been testing on.

robin_reala 8y ago

Those services definitely exist. I’ve used the DAC[1] in Cardiff before for indepth review from expert users of assistive tech, but I’ve also taken part in standard user research with people with accessibility needs (ranging from blindness to motor problems to severe dyslexia). One thing to bear in mind when doing user research like that is that bringing people into your lab won’t work: people who use assistive tech setups tend to customise them to fit their needs, so you need to get out and observe ‘in the field’ if possible. [1] http://digitalaccessibilitycentre.org/ http://digitalaccessibilitycentre.org/

Theodores 8y ago
The http://digitalaccessibilitycentre.org/ http://digitalaccessibilitycentre.org/ website is awful. Efforts like this give accessibility a bad name. Accessibility isn't about designing websites that are exclusively for special needs people. It is about making websites work for everyone, whatever device they are on. Part of that ethos is sticking to convention. So what is so awful? The navigation is awful. It changes from the homepage to one of the other pages. Their use of mini-font sizes is also a bit silly. Even the URL structure is a bit silly, nobody needs to have index.php in a URL to make it mysteriously more accessible. Their headings have line heights that mean 2-line headings are mangled together. If you run a outline on their pages the content does not reflect what is shown. I would be embarrassed if I worked with these so-called accessibility experts, their efforts sideline what accessibility is about. Cringeworthy and awful!!!
- robin_reala 8y ago
  No comment on their site, but their employees helped me discover and resolve problems I never would have, for example a breaking problem in Windows 10 high contrast mode, or a problem with a specific version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking that was earlier than the one I had been testing on.