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Accessibility is misunderstood — let’s fix that
If we can think about accessibility the right way, maybe we can stop dreading it.
The synecdoche of accessibility
I probably shouldn’t start off an article with $4 words, but here it is. A synecdoche (si-NEK-di-kee) is when part of something is used to represent the whole (the reverse is also true).
For example, if you think only of the infantry when you use the word “army”, that’s a synecdoche. It is true the infantry is a vital part of any army; but there are certainly more types of soldiers in an army (engineers, medics, quartermasters, etc.).
If the first thing you think about when you think of “accessibility” is developing for people with disabilities — well, you have a synecdoche on your hands! But it’s ok — that’s what I used to think and it’s a hard mindset to break; but together, we’ll get there!
How we got here
What is accessibility really?
Making content accessible is just that — creating content that can be accessed by the maximum number of people possible. Therefore, accessibility is the degree to which content is available to all.
Notice this statement didn’t include anything about disabilities, standards, or compliance.
Accessibility vs. compliance
We may think of users with disabilities when we think of accessibility because they have been some of the most vocal advocates for access, including lobbying governments to pass laws requiring compliance to various standards.
The problem is you can’t legislate accessibility; you can only legislate compliance. The reason is obvious: accessibility is an idea; compliance is the conformance to standards — meaning it can be measured.
The unfortunate result is companies aim for compliance and not for accessibility because compliance is the legal requirement. Furthermore, accessibility as an idea gets lost in legal obligations…
