Web accessibility isn’t the job of one person; it’s a whole team effort. Although the coding is done by developers, the responsibility for accessibility is not on their shoulders alone. In fact, accessibility isn’t the sole responsibility of an agency either. It’s a collaboration between us and you.
Who needs to think about accessibility?
Accessibility is not a one-off task that you just add on at the end of your website project and then forget about. It’s an ongoing process. Some of the ways different people get involved with thinking about website accessibility are outlined below. However, it’s important not to get stuck in siloes; having connected conversations across different roles is key to a successful accessibility strategy.
Project owner
You might start looking at the accessibility of your website following a review with some automated tools. If you’re planning a website redesign, make the case for accessibility right from the start – get the message out so that it’s understood accessibility is a priority. Deadlines bring pressure, and trying to raise accessibility part way through a project will impact time and budget.
Project manager
In addition to making sure there is enough time and budget, project managers can help keep accessibility on the radar by asking questions of the wider team: are user stories inclusive of people with different needs? Are common brand colours visually accessible? Does the ‘Definition of Done’ for each project phase include passing accessibility requirements, so that it’s part of how success is defined? Is there time for accessibility testing as part of quality assurance?
Designer
Design is much more than just look and feel. User experience (UX) design is critical to a successful website, and will consider things like user journeys, information architecture and content hierarchy. 91% of WCAG 2.1 guidelines relate to design (UX and/or visual design).
Developer
Developers are responsible for converting design decisions into functional templates that people can access and interact with using technologies such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Many of the decisions made by a developer will determine how accessible the end result is, with 46% of WCAG 2.1 guidelines involving front end development.
Content editor
Whoever authors website content is responsible for making sure it is accessible to people with disabilities. There is much to consider, from making sure you use proper headings for sectioning content (rather than just using bold styling) to writing link text that is clear and informative (not just ‘click here’). Videos need accurate captions, podcasts need accurate transcripts, and images that are not decorative need text alternatives.
Marketer
Social media, emails, newsletters, presentations, PDFs… every method of digital communication needs to be accessible. Marketing may find themselves involved in the planning and production of audio and video media. It may start with scripts and storyboarding, but there are decisions around the presentation of onscreen text, making sure animations do not trigger seizures, whether to include a sign language alternative for live streams, and so on.
How can you start to build a culture of accessibility?
If you have reached this point then you clearly value accessibility. Could you start to drive change in your organisation? It will take time to build a culture of accessibility; here are some tips:
- Become the voice for accessibility within your organisation and help your team to learn and adapt.
- Sign up for the Accessibility Weekly email newsletter for curated articles and advice from a broad range of accessibility professionals.
- Share the business case for accessibility with key decision makers and managers.
- Run a lunch and learn session on accessibility for your team. Use our Everyday digital: website accessibility webinar as a starting point.
- Invite your team to take W3C’s free Digital Accessibility Foundations online course, so they get a better understanding of how people with disabilities use the web and why accessibility matters.
- Perform some accessibility tests on your website so you can get an idea of what accessibility issues you might have – or book our single page accessibility review to give you a starting point.
- Write an accessibility statement for your website to show visitors that accessibility is important to you.
- If you are commissioning a new website, include accessibility as a must-have requirement, stating WCAG 2.2 (AA). Ask for evidence of how suppliers tackle accessibility and include users with diverse abilities in your brief.
- Train your team to produce content in an accessible way – use our guide to accessible content to get started.
- If you have an in-house development team, they can use our accessible front-end starter kit, Amplify, as the starting point for website projects.
- Put processes in place so work can be peer-reviewed and checked for accessibility.
Set aside a budget for ongoing accessibility reviews and website maintenance.