skip to main content

Introduction to Web Accessibility

WebAIM Training

Considering the User Perspective
A Summary of Design Issues

You are here: Home > Articles > Considering the User Perspective: A Summary of Design Issues

Blindness

Challenges	Solutions
Images and graphics cannot be perceived.	Provide alternative text and, if necessary, longer explanations. Use proper headings and regions.
Visual relationships and structure cannot be perceived.	Use proper headings and regions. Provide column and row headers (`<th>`) for data tables.
Content is often accessed linearly.	Ensure that the reading and navigation order of CSS or table layouts is logical and intuitive. Create skip links that allow users to jump over navigational menus, long lists of items, and other things that might be difficult or tedious to listen to.
Users often navigate from link to link, or view a list of links.	Make sure that the link text makes sense out of context ("click here" is problematic). Ensure that links and buttons contain descriptive text.
Users generally do not use a mouse.	Don't require mouse or touch interactions. Ensure content is accessible with the keyboard.
Colors are not perceivable.	Do not rely on color alone to convey meaning.
Visual content in multimedia is not perceivable.	Provide audio descriptions of content in videos that is not presented via audio.

Low Vision

Challenges	Solutions
Users may not be able to distinguish colors of similar contrast.	Make sure that there is sufficient contrast between text and background, and for icons and graphics. Don't use color alone to convey meaning (supplement the color with text, for example).
Content may not enlarge or zoom appropriately.	Limit or eliminate text within graphics. Ensure content is readable and minimizes horizontal scrolling when zoomed Test for loss of content when text sizes are increased by the end user

Auditory Disabilities

Challenges	Solutions
Users may be unable to hear with audio content.	Provide captioning for video clips. Provide real-time captioning for live events. Provide transcripts for audio clips.
Users may have difficulty filtering noises.	Avoid having too many noises playing at the same time. Eliminate as much background noise as possible from audio.

Motor Disabilities

Challenges	Solutions
Users may not be able to use the mouse.	Make sure that all functions are available from the keyboard (try tabbing through interactive elements). Make sure that the navigation order is logical.
Users may become fatigued when navigating numerous items.	Provide a method for skipping over long lists of redundant links or other lengthy content.

Cognitive Disabilities

Challenges	Solutions
Users may become confused at complex layouts or inconsistent navigational schemes.	Simplify the layout as much as possible. Keep the navigational schemes as consistent as possible.
Users may have difficulty focusing on or comprehending lengthy sections of text.	Where appropriate, group textual information under logical headings. Organize information in manageable "chunks."
Users may struggle to interact with some types of content or input.	Where appropriate, supplement text with illustrations or other media, and vice versa.