Accessibility
Accessibility means designing things so people can use them, even when they have different abilities, needs, or circumstances.
Level 1
Lesson 01
What Is Accessibility?
Learn what accessibility means, what digital accessibility is, and why removing barriers matters.
- About 6 min
- No experience needed
Learning goal
By the end of this lesson you will understand:
- 1.What accessibility means.
- 2.What digital accessibility means.
- 3.What an accessibility barrier is.
- 4.That people can experience technology differently.
- 5.What “A11y” means.
Lesson 1 of 10
Section 1
Have you ever been unable to use something that everyone else seemed to use easily?
- You can see a button, but you cannot reach it with your keyboard.
- Text is too small to read.
- A video has no captions.
- Important information exists only inside an image.
- Instructions are confusing.
The technology may be working.
But you may still be facing a barrier.
Accessibility starts by asking
What could make this difficult or impossible for someone to use?
Section 2
What is accessibility?
Digital accessibility
Digital accessibility means making websites, apps, documents, videos, and other digital experiences usable by people with disabilities.
JustA11y takeaway
Accessibility = removing unnecessary barriers.
Not this
Creating a separate experience only for disabled people.
This
Designing experiences so more people can use them.
Section 3
Where does digital accessibility apply?
Almost everywhere you create something digital. Open a card to see the question worth asking. There are 7 to explore.
Can people navigate and understand the information?
Can people operate the controls?
Can people read and navigate the content?
Can people access the information if they cannot hear or see it?
Can people read, navigate and understand it?
Can people interact with them?
Section 4
What is an accessibility barrier?
An accessibility barrier is something that makes it difficult or impossible for someone to access or use digital content or functionality.
Example: a video
Problem: no captions
Someone who cannot hear the audio may miss important information.
Captions also help
People watching in a noisy environment, somewhere quiet, or without headphones.
One accessibility improvement can help many different people.
Section 5
Technology doesn’t have a “typical user.”
People interact with technology in different ways.
People may see differently.
People may hear differently.
People may move differently.
People may process information differently.
People may communicate differently.
People also use different devices and technologies to reach the same information — a phone, a laptop, a keyboard only, a magnifier, or software that reads the page aloud. We will meet those in later lessons.
Section 6
Accessibility isn’t “extra”
Harder way
“We’ll add accessibility later.”
Easier way
“We’ll consider accessibility while creating.”
Accessibility can influence every step of making something:
- 1Content
- 2Design
- 3Development
- 4Testing
Section 7
What does A11y mean?
A11y
A11y is a common abbreviation for accessibility.
A + 11 letters + y = Accessibility
There are 11 letters between the A and the y in “accessibility”.
Section 8
Accessibility vs usability
Usability
How easy is something to use?
Accessibility
Can people with different abilities access and use it?
They overlap, but they are not exactly the same.
Section 9 · The big idea
Accessibility is about removing barriers.
It is about making digital experiences usable by people with different abilities, needs and circumstances.
Good accessibility can make experiences better for everyone.
Section 10
Knowledge check
Three short questions. You can retry any question — this is for understanding, not for scoring.
Section 11 · Lesson takeaways
By now, you should know:
- Accessibility means removing barriers.
- Digital accessibility applies to websites, apps, documents, videos, social media and more.
- Accessibility barriers can make digital experiences difficult or impossible to use.
- Different people can experience different barriers.
- A11y is a common abbreviation for accessibility.
Section 12
Explore the sources
This lesson is written in our own plain language, based on the concepts explained by these resources.
- W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)(opens in a new tab)
- W3C Accessibility Fundamentals(opens in a new tab)
- W3C WCAG 2.2(opens in a new tab)
- W3C WCAG 2.2 Quick Reference(opens in a new tab)
- WebAIM(opens in a new tab)
- WebAIM: Introduction to Web Accessibility(opens in a new tab)
- Deque: Web Accessibility Beginner’s Guide(opens in a new tab)
- NCADEMI: Accessibility Basics(opens in a new tab)
- Kiddle: Web accessibility(opens in a new tab)
- Kiddle: Accessibility(opens in a new tab)
- W3Cx WAI0.1x: Introduction to Web Accessibility(opens in a new tab)