(Re)designing for Accessibility

As we move forward with our responsive design efforts, and the notion of making our site accessible everywhere, we would be remiss (not to mention irresponsible) to not also focus our efforts on making our content accessible for everyone.

Earlier this year, the Computer Accommodations Program conducted a scan of our current site, using a combination of HiSoftware Compliance Sheriff, the WAVE 5 web accessibility service, and their own expertise in the field. One result of this scan was the identification of the top three accessibility issues found across our site:

1. Control has no LABEL and no TITLE attribute

   Our forms weren't constructed in a manner that allowed them to be easily navigated or used by users reliant on screen readers or text to speech applications. This is something we addressed from the very beginning of our redesign efforts, and have continued to fine-tune for not just the inclusion of labels, but the creation of more meaningful labels for patrons using alternative means of accessing the site. 

   
2. Page does not use headers according to specification

   Our pages primarily used headers (aka, the htags, h1, h2, etc.) as design elements, rather than as structural elements for page content, creating problems for screen readers and screen magnification, as well as text to speech applications. This is something we continue to fine-tune as we go. The h tags should ideally be used almost like an outline. Early iterations of the design were incomplete in this regard, but we have since focused greater attention on this. We will also be including guidelines to help content creators do the same as we move forward in documenting our pattern libraries.

   
3. Low contrast on some page elements

   Users with low vision or color deficient users would encounter issues on some areas of the site, particularly in the account sign in section. To address this, we've completely revamped the sign in area, and to make sure our style choices provide the necessary levels of contrast for ease of legibility.

We are dedicated to working closely with both the Computer Accommodations Program and directly with our users throughout our iterations to make sure we're continuing down the right path for a presentation that gets users the content they need, no matter where or how they access it. At the outset of the original scan, our homepage was scored by the Compliance Sheriff at 63. Our current prototype ranks at 81. This is just the beginning.