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AlpStaff

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ago

What are the accessibility features that online spaces should have but often lack?

Online communities can be hugely beneficial for people that often face barriers to socialising or contributing to offline communities. I've seen in some recent discussions that a lot of community platforms don't do enough for people with disabilities.

So, I'm curious about what features platforms could/should implement, to make sure that as many people can have their voices heard as possible.

I'll start:

Alt-text on images that allow the visually impaired to hear what the image shows.

Created at 11:05am, 23rd June, 2023. Page last updated at 2:42pm, 16th May, 2024.

MrTomFTW 6/23/2023, 12:38:57 PM

Alt-text was my first thought too, and high contrast colour options

AlpStaff6/23/2023, 1:25:30 PM

MrTomFTW

I should have picked a less common one. 🤦‍♂️

LukewarmGravity 6/23/2023, 1:39:16 PM

Adherence to wai aria tags is always great, making sure that everything is semantic.

Also testing to ensure that everything runs on screen readers. We have a major focus where I work that accessibility needs to be baked into everything, so it's good to see that other people feel the same way.

AlpStaff6/23/2023, 1:48:13 PM

LukewarmGravity

Wai Aria tags? I haven't heard of them before. I'm reading a 'beginners guide' but I'm afraid it may not be quite beginner enough haha (I'm not very techy!!)

Do I have it right that it's pretty much a universal language for coders to use, to tell other applications how to read the code?

LukewarmGravity 6/23/2023, 5:16:05 PM

Alp

Pretty much, it's covered in the W3C guidelines

TomStaff6/23/2023, 4:09:16 PM

High contrast colours is a good shout @MrTomFTW . Also colours that don't degrade functionality for colour blind users - making sure to use both colour and text or icons to show form validation, for instance.

Tim Painting 6/23/2023, 4:25:37 PM

I work with people with learning disabilities and I think one thing that really helps with the people I have seen access online platforms is a reduction in jargon. Simplifying language to make it understandable for all is a great way to ensure accessibility. If they come across words that they don't understand, it can really hamper their ability to process that information and therefore participate, particularly for those who don't really have the ability or capacity to look up what it means. Obviously what other users put out into the platform wouldn't be party to that, but in terms of menus and navigation around the platform, it would be a huge help.

Demi Klo 6/23/2023, 4:35:43 PM

Auto-captions or ability to add captions in embedded videos.

Mark 6/23/2023, 6:12:16 PM

I’m curious about what features platforms could/should implement, to make sure that as many people can have their voices heard as possible.

👏 Alp 👏

This is a really important topic, it's great to see everyone's ideas.

Philip 6/26/2023, 8:02:14 AM

*Speech to text

*Autocorrect

*Accessibility across devices - including older models (with suitable display settings)

*Fast page load speeds and optimisation for image size to help people on slower connections.

*Legible font and font size, plus recognisable characters (e.g. this 'g' confuses some people)

*Large buttons to tap/

Deleted user 6/28/2023, 12:00:23 PM

Alt Text For Images - Really old features but hardly anyone uses them, but they are super useful for visually impaired people.
Keyboard navigation - Something this site needs, I can't press ALT + ENTER to post for example. I should be able to access most the site without using a mouse, not everyone sadly has the luxury of being able to use one.
Easy to read content - Text should be easy to read and high contrast, I think this site does this well, but consider adding an option to add dsylexic friendly font as a theme.
Don't auto-play videos - It annoys me that most social media sites do this, but its really bad for people with cognitive abilities, if auto-play is default an option to disable it should be present.
Simple Language - The site shouldn't be overwhelming and confusing and should be obvious where you go on the site, language shouldn't be too complex, not loads of complex words as that can be overwhelming.
Layout and design consitency - It should be obvious what everything does without having to explain it, for example if a post button is usually in top right, it should be top right everywhere so its easy for people to understand.
Error prevention and identification - If a user is making an error or doing something wrong, the site should clearly identify this to the end user and then allow them to correct it. An example of this, is if someone is typing a list using * but they should be using something else, it should alert the user. cough post above me, cough, but in all seriousness if the site lets a user make a mistake, the site has failed to be obvious how it should be done.
Adjustable themes - Being able to adjust text size and colours and hide various elements on a page can help people.