Accessibility

Accessibility is not a compliance requirement to be checked at the end of a project. It is a design constraint that, applied from the start, produces better interfaces for everyone — not just users with disabilities.

The Scope of the Problem

Roughly 15% of the global population lives with some form of disability. Visual impairments, motor limitations, cognitive differences, and situational constraints (a bright screen outdoors, a broken mouse, a slow connection) all affect how people use interfaces. Accessible design serves all of them.

Semantic HTML Is the Foundation

Most accessibility problems can be traced back to the same root cause: markup that describes appearance rather than meaning. A <div> that looks like a button is invisible to a screen reader. An <img> without an alt attribute is a black box to someone who cannot see it. Correct semantics fix these problems at the source.

"Accessibility is not a feature. It is a measure of how well a product works for the people using it."

Keyboard Navigation

Every interactive element must be reachable and operable with a keyboard alone. This means logical tab order, visible focus states, and escape hatches for complex components like modals and dropdowns. Keyboard accessibility also benefits power users who prefer not to use a mouse.

Colour and Contrast

WCAG AA requires a 4.5:1 contrast ratio for body text and 3:1 for large text and UI components. These numbers exist because contrast affects readability for everyone — in different lighting conditions, on different screens, and for users with colour vision deficiencies.

Testing for Real

Automated tools catch around 30% of accessibility issues. The rest require manual testing: navigating with a keyboard, testing with a screen reader, and checking that error messages are actually announced. Real users with disabilities provide the most valuable feedback of all.

Conclusion

An accessible product is a more robust product. The discipline of accessibility — clear semantics, predictable interactions, sufficient contrast — produces interfaces that work better for everyone.