Types of Disabilities + Usecases

Question 1

What does WCAG stand for?

Answer 1

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

Question 2

Who created the WCAG standard?

Answer 2

W3C - World Wide Web Consortium

Question 3

What year was the first vision of WCAG (1.0) established?

Answer 3

1999

Question 4

What is the most recent version of WCAG?

Answer 4

WCAG 2.2, published Oct 2023

Question 5

List the 11 types of disabilities you need to consider when designing for websites.

Answer 5

1. Blind
2. Low Vision
3. Color Blind
4. Deaf
5. Deafblind
6. Motor
7. Speech
8. Cognitive
9. Reading
10. Seizures
11. Multiple

Question 6

Why should images have alt text?

Blind Users

Answer 6

Screen readers cannot read non-text content (images) directly, but they can read alt text.

Question 7

Why should information on a webpage not be conveyed by visual attributes alone? (color, spacing, text boldness)

Blind Users

Answer 7

Not all visual information is available to screen readers. Even the visual attributes which are available to some screen readers, such as text color, are typically not announced by default.

Question 8

Why is markup and heading semantics so important in web design?

Blind Users

Answer 8

Screen readers pull lists of headings and other semantic elements to help the user understand and navigate what is on the page.

Question 9

Why must custom controls (expand/collapse buttons, media players, dialogs) have the correct name/label, role and value? (ex: aria-expanded=”false” changes to aria-expanded=”true” after activating the button).

Blind Users

Answer 9

Unlike native HTML elements, custom controls have no semantic parts natively, so screen readers can’t tell users what the widget is and can’t update users on the properties of the widget unless you supply that information via ARIA names, roles, states, and properties.

Question 10

Why must screen reader users receive immediate feedback after all actions?

Blind Users

Answer 10

Silence after activating a feature is bad, also users need confirmation of a successful/unsuccessful change on a control.

Question 11

Why must videos require audio descriptions?

Blind Users

Answer 11

Users who are blind can hear the dialog, narration, and other sounds in videos, but they can’t see the visual parts of a video. So, if the visual parts convey important information, those parts will need to be described out loud for blind users to understand them.

Question 12

Why on a mobile device will custom swipe actions not work when screen reader is turned on?

Blind Users

Answer 12

When a blind screen reader user is on a mobile device, swipe actions are used by the screen reading software.

Question 13

When designing for mobile why must all features require a click action?

Blind Users

Answer 13

When a blind screen reader user is on a mobile device, all features (controls, widgets) on a mobile web page require a click action to work at all.

Question 14

What tools do blind users to navigate the web?

Blind users

Answer 14

screen readers and keyboard navigation

Question 15

Name some common screen readers

Blind users

Answer 15

• JAWS (Microsoft native)
• NVDA (open source for Microsoft)
• VoiceOver (Mac native)

Question 16

What tools do users with low vision use to navigate webpages?

Low vision users

Answer 16

• screen magnification software
• inverting/customizing colors
• larger cursors or focus
• keyboard short cuts
• screen reader

Question 17

Why must a pinch-to-zoom feature always be enabled?

avoid < meta name= “ viewport “ content=” user-scalable=no “ >

Low vision users

Answer 17

When zooming is disabled on a web page, low vision users who use screen magnifiers may be unable to see information on a web page.

Question 18

Why must all text on a webpage pass contrast guidelines against the background?

Low vision users

Answer 18

Some users who have low vision may see in low contrast. So, text, borders, and other elements may appear as the same or similar shades of brightness to them. Textual elements that are too close in brightness to background colors may be extremely difficult to read for these users.

Question 19

Low vision users

Question 20

Why should links, buttons and controls have a visible focus and hover state?

Low vision users

Answer 20

Some low vision or users with motor disabilities may user keyboard, mouse or other assertive technologies as input methods. Having visible focus and hover states helps the user to know where the keyboard/mouse focus is on a webpage.

The default browser focus is acceptable per the WCAG but users benefit from enhanced CSS focus/hover

Question 21

Why should UI provide a clear visual distinction between content (text) and controls (buttons, links, etc)

Low vision users

Answer 21

Users who may see in low contrast have difficulty distingyuishing whether controls are actionable. Due to elements blending together with surrounding text and background.

Question 22

What are the two most common forms of colorblindness?

Answer 22

Deuteranopia and Protanopia (two common sub-types of red-green color-blindness)

Question 23

Why should you not use color alone to convey importance?

Answer 23

Color alone is not sufficient to communicate important information on a web page. Text and symbols in addition to color can convey meaning with more clarity.

Question 24

What tools do deaf users use to accessn web content?

Answer 24

Video captioning, video/audio transcripts and sign language interperters.

Question 25

What tool does a deafblind users use to access web content?

Answer 25

refreshable braille displays in combination with a screen reader

Question 26

Why are transcripts important to include for any audio/video content online?

Answer 26

• For deaf users, transcripts are helpful to understand audio content they otherwise could not access.
• For deafblind users transcripts are the only way they can access any information that is audio/video based.

Question 27

When building a website why must all functionality be available using only a keyboard?

Answer 27

Everything that can be done with a mouse should be able to be done with a keyboard. This is important to users who are blind, blinddeaf, low vision and those with motor disabilities as a mouse is not always an option for them.

Question 28

Why should UI warn a user before a time out session expires, and give them an option to extend the session?

Answer 28

People who have motor disabilities need more time to enter information into a web page. So, it is important that they are given sufficient time and options to extend time limits.

Question 29

What the benefits of a large click target?

Answer 29

People who may have tremors or spasms need to be able to activate targets on a web page. Increasing the target area for these users can help maximize their chances of accurately selecting the target on the web page.

Question 30

Why can you not depend on voice input when designing for web/mobile/games?

Answer 30

People with speech disabilities have difficulty with producing voice sounds and using muscles in their mouths, so it is critical that alternative means of communication are provided such as chats, forms, email, etc.

Question 31

How can you design for users with lower comprehension and cognitive disabilities?

Answer 31

• Simplify the interface as much as possible.
• Simplify the content as much as possible.
• Keep videos and audio as short as possible.
• Limit the number of choices on the screen.
• Provide help features.
• Design for ease of use.
• Test the usability of the interface with actual users, preferably including users with cognitive disabilities

Too many options and complex information may be difficult for them to process.

Question 32

How can you design for users with memory loss and cognitive disabilities?

Answer 32

A website that has predictability across all its pages (same navigation, same structure, etc.) is deal. Sites that are too complicated may fatigue users with memory loss.

• Retain information across screens, and within a path.
• Provide help features.

Question 33

How can you design for users with cognitive disabilities with distractibility?

Answer 33

Simplify UI, too many distrations can cause people to miss important information. It can also cause them to lose focus or overwhelm them enough where they leave the webpage.

Question 34

How can you design for users with reading disabilities?

Answer 34

• Supplement text with illustrations, videos, audio, etc.
• Avoid the highest level of contrast for text against background (e.g., black on white) BUT be sure to stay within the contrast range that people with low vision need.

Question 35

How can you design in a way that consideres seizure disorders?

Answer 35

Don’t include videos, animations, or transitions with flashing light sequences of 3 times or more per second.

Anything that lasts for more then 3 secords has the possibility to trigger photo-epileptic seizures in users.

Question 36

How can you design in a way that accounts for users with multiple disabilities?

Answer 36

As a designer you cannot discern what an individual with multiple disabilities may need. But ensuring you wold in a way that supports augmentative and alternative communication and assistive technologies, and follow accessibility standards, are key for making physical and technological environments more accessible.