Code
Let’s talk about accessibility practices and code.
First off, WCAG conformance is a typical objective for organizations. There are some key benefits to this kind of approach.
Conformance to WCAG standards helps meet local legislated requirements such as AODA in Canada and ADA in the United States and de-risks related penalties and suits that can stem from not adhering to such legislation.
However, this kind of legislation and even WCAG conformance does not ensure that a website or app is easy to use or accessible to all users.
Most importantly, it does not ensure that all users can effectively and enjoyably engage in a product or service.
For consideration
Development and quality assurance goes beyond strictly meeting W3C conformance objectives to ensure that we validate access, engagement, ease of use, and enjoyment for users who interact with Total Mental Health in various ways.
Supporting a variety of interaction models
To ensure accessibility, we go beyond conformance to validate the following methods of interaction across Total Mental Health interfaces:
- Mouse/touch
- Keyboard
- Screen reader
- Zooming
- Voice navigation
- Accommodating different screen sizes
- Ideally, we further validate by testing with users who use these different interaction methods daily to gain new insights into improving user experience, access, and engagement.
Let’s review key code considerations that help enable these modes of interaction.