Why accessibility matters
Accessibility means people with disabilities can use what you design. That includes people who are blind or have low vision, are colour blind, are deaf or hard of hearing, have limited hand movement, or have conditions that affect memory and attention. Many older people have some of these difficulties too. Ghana's Persons with Disability Act, 2006 (Act 715) recognises the rights of persons with disability, and accessibility is named in many design adverts, often with WCAG.
WCAG in plain words
WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, published free by the W3C. They are organised around four principles, often remembered as POUR:
- Perceivable. People can see or hear the content. Text has enough contrast, images have text alternatives, videos have captions.
- Operable. People can use every control, including with a keyboard, a switch or a screen reader, and touch targets are big enough.
- Understandable. Words are clear, behaviour is predictable and errors are explained.
- Robust. It works with different devices and assistive technologies.
Most teams aim for WCAG level AA, the middle of three levels.
Practical checks for designers
- Contrast. At least 4.5 to 1 for normal text and 3 to 1 for large text.