Access and the ADA
Among July’s highlights is the marking of the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed into law in the U.S. on June 26, 1990.
The ADA resulted in many improvements for people with disabilities, from buildings that are easier to access to employment protections that enable a much more diverse workforce than ever before. These dramatic changes have had an expansive impact, broadening opportunities for those of all abilities.
We were able to catch up with Bruce Howell, Digital Accessibility Advisor and Board Member at Carroll Center for the Blind, to learn about his experiences as a visually-impaired professional.
As a seeing-impaired person, what is your experience like in the digital world?
As someone who gradually lost vision due to a progressive retinal eye disease, it has meant adjusting to my declining vision throughout my entire adult life. Today’s electronic devices, from phones to tablets to computers include more and more helpful accessibility features that can improve the ability of persons with vision challenges to better see their screens.
However, as vision becomes more significantly impaired, it becomes necessary to rely upon additional software or applications that can enhance colors, heighten contrast, reverse images so you can read white letters on a dark background, and increase font size while you are still able to see sufficiently to use your eyes to navigate and interact with digital content.
But, ultimately, when it is no longer possible or practical to see well enough with even those enhancements, many will need to learn to use screenreading programs to interact with digital content once deteriorating vision makes that no longer possible.
Screenreaders literally read aloud what is on the screen, so you do not need to see it for you to navigate and interact with digital content.
What about the digital framework of today's Internet would you most like to see changed to be inclusive of everyone?
Despite what I just said about how wonderful screenreaders can be, the greatest challenge that persons who are visually impaired or blind face is that a screenreader’s accuracy and functionality depends on how well websites or applications are designed and developed.
In order to enable them to function properly, there are techniques outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) that determine how well a screen reader or any other type of assistive technology will be able to interpret content and allow the end user to navigate and interact with its elements. Unless those responsible for designing, developing, and testing web content, software, or mobile applications are aware of these techniques and implement them properly, the end result may prevent certain populations from accessing and using their content.
What actions should businesses take to comply with 508 compliance & WCAG 2.2 standards?
WCAG2.2 standards have been established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and are a set of guidelines that try to explain and provide recommendations for creating digital content that can be understood and used by persons of all abilities.
They incorporate four principles – Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust, and address a wide range of physical and cognitive challenges in order to ensure that people of all abilities can access and interact with all digital content. This includes websites, software applications, mobile applications, and digital documents like PDFs.
It is not a stagnant set of guidelines, so as technologies evolve, WCAG tries to provide an evolving roadmap for what must be considered and implemented to be sure nobody is left behind. Section 508 is a set of standards designed for the Federal Government, and is structured to parallel the WCAG2.0 guidelines.
It lags behind WCAG2.2, because it has not been updated since it was initially established based upon the earlier WCAG2.0 guidelines. But, it generally tries to ensure that all digital products produced by the Government or purchased by the Federal Government from other commercial vendors, will emphasize accessibility to avoid discrimination in employment, education, and public access to materials.
What are the key things individuals should know to be effective allies?
I think one of the most critical things is that including accessibility considerations in all stages of digital product development is essential. Accessibility should never be “tacked on afterwards” as an afterthought because that is inefficient, more costly to implement, and likely to be less effective than when accessibility is incorporated into the process right from the start of a new product project.
Including persons with disabilities is essential for getting real user perspectives. This should start with the early concept ideas, initial design, and then throughout the entire development and Quality Control testing lifecycle.
Very often, efforts to ensure great accessibility and usability for persons with disabilities ends up benefiting all users.
For example, using adequate color contrast between background and foreground elements on a mobile application will allow persons with full vision to better see their phone screens in a bright beach location.
We sometimes call this as accommodating a “situational disability” that provides an unexpected benefit for someone who might otherwise not think that high color contrast was particularly important to them.
What do people need to learn in order to best support people who are sight-impaired?
I think the most important thing for people to understand is that vision impairment or blindness comes in a very wide range of visual abilities. Even those who identify as blind may still have some limited visual abilities in certain situations.
So, speaking with persons who have visual limitations is critical for knowing how best to support them. Some are fiercely independent and may not want a great deal of assistance in any situation. Others are more interactive and see the value in accepting help or interdependence as being their best approach.
Try to avoid having unconscious biases about persons who are blind.
Generally, I believe people who are blind or visually impaired are pretty much like any other people – they simply can’t see or see well. Building a digital world that is inclusive enables everyone to participate equally in education, employment, and daily activities such as online shopping, conducting financial transactions, or interacting with their medical professionals with the same kind of independence and privacy that everyone else enjoys. These should be basic rights for everyone.
You are the first person to transition from client to manager to board member at the Carroll Center for the Blind. What have you learned, both about yourself and the organization, from those changes?
For me personally, the training I received at The Carroll Center for the Blind was instrumental in me learning to accept my blindness and learn the skills I would need to feel productive and independent. Everyone from the administration, to the instructors, to my fellow visually-impaired and blind clients helped me to realize that life without sight could still be fun, meaningful, and exciting.
I even learned to sail so I could be a part of a competitive blind sailing team. That combined skills I needed to learn as someone who was blind that I could do on my own, plus a clear understanding about where interdependence with someone sighted was critical for the team’s success.
When I was later employed at The Carroll Center, I managed a web accessibility service department where we helped clients from a wide range of industry sectors to understand why making their digital content was important, and what they needed to do in order to achieve WCAG compliance.
It expanded the reach of what The Carroll Center was doing for persons with visual impairment by helping to ensure more equity in employment and educational opportunities throughout New England and the rest of the nation. These business relationships also established valuable corporate connections for The Carroll Center which continue to flourish today.
As a member of the Board of Directors now, I am thrilled to be a part of overseeing the entire scope of operations there, plus having the opportunity to establish new directions for the future so the organization remains visionary for those who will need support.
With an ever-aging population, more and more seniors will face vision loss, and we want to be sure we have the programs and products they will need to live their best lives.
But vision loss or blindness can affect children and persons of all ages, so we also need to tweak and develop new trainings for persons in all stages of their lives.
Finally, we will continually assess advancements in technology so we can leverage those new possibilities in ways that maximize their benefits for the clients we serve.
Find out more.
If you’re interested in coaching, strategic inclusive organizational development or planning for accessible resources, reach out to Ibis today to learn about our support and training for diverse, inclusive and accessible work environments.
