Designing for Accessibility: Beyond Compliance
Understanding Diverse Needs
Disabilities exist on a spectrum and can be permanent, temporary, or situational. Someone with low vision, someone with a broken arm, and someone in bright sunlight all benefit from high contrast. Consider cognitive disabilities, motor impairments, hearing loss, and neurodiversity. Each presents unique challenges. Design with flexibility: allow users to adjust text size, provide multiple ways to complete tasks, and don't rely on a single sense (like color alone) to convey information.
Semantic HTML and ARIA
Semantic HTML is the foundation of accessibility. Use proper heading hierarchy, button and link elements, and form labels. Screen readers rely on this structure to navigate and understand content. ARIA attributes enhance semantics when HTML alone isn't sufficient, but they should supplement, not replace, semantic HTML. Test with actual screen readers—VoiceOver on Mac, NVDA on Windows—to understand how users experience your interface.
Keyboard Navigation and Focus Management
Many users navigate entirely by keyboard. Ensure all interactive elements are keyboard accessible with logical tab order. Provide visible focus indicators—not just the browser default, but clear, high-contrast outlines. Manage focus when content changes: when opening modals, focus should move to the modal; when closing, return to the trigger. Skip links allow keyboard users to bypass repetitive navigation. These patterns make your interface usable for everyone.
Testing with Real Users
Automated tools catch only 30-40% of accessibility issues. Manual testing is essential, but the gold standard is testing with people who have disabilities. They'll reveal issues you never considered and provide insights that transform your understanding of accessibility. If formal user testing isn't possible, at minimum test with keyboard only, screen readers, and browser zoom. Better yet, hire accessibility consultants or include people with disabilities on your team.
Accessibility is not a feature or a nice-to-have—it's a fundamental aspect of good design. By going beyond compliance and truly considering diverse user needs, you create better experiences for everyone. Accessible design is good design, and it's the right thing to do.
Rachel Green
Software developer and writer sharing insights on modern web development.