What is Web Accessibility?
Accessibility involves two key issues:
- how users with disabilities access electronic information and
- how web content designers and developers enable web pages to function with assistive devices used by individuals with disabilities.
For the user with a disability, the challenge is to identify tools that provide the most convenient access to web-based and other electronic information. For the web content designer/developer, the challenge is to remove the obstacles that prevent accessibility tools from functioning effectively. In many cases, these challenges are relatively simple to overcome, but sometimes the solutions require some additional thought and effort. (1)
Why is it important?
It is important that the Web be accessible to everyone in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with disabilities. An accessible Web can help people with disabilities participate more actively in society. An accessible website gives the access to information and interaction for many people with disabilities. That is, the accessibility barriers to print, audio, and visual media can be much more easily overcome through Web technologies. (2)
Harvard Requirements and Resources
While there are certain built-in accessibility features in the platform, all site builders and content managers are required to publish accessible content on their websites. Please see Harvard's digital accessibility policy for more information. The Digital Accessibility Service team provides a variety of resources to assist the Harvard community.
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1. https://www.adobe.com/accessibility/gettingstarted.html
2. https://medium.com/fbdevclagos/why-web-accessibility-is-important-and-ho...
Updated: 23Oct23