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Re: Usability vs. Accessibility

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From: Chagnon | PubCom.com
Date: Mar 21, 2016 1:49PM

-----Original Message-----
Quick reply. I shall consider more deeply is that a webpage may be totally accessible (ie it has semantic mark up, colour contrast etc) but is so badly designed it is unusable. Both users of accessible tech and mainstream users find it difficult/confusing to carry out the task. [End of quote]

Agree.

There's a common saying: Usability and Accessibility are twins separated at birth!

There are some vague references to "usability" in WCAG, such as make content understandable by all users (see "Understandable" of POUR). And many US federal government agencies mandate the government's Plain Language law into their accessibility compliance requirements. Plain language is a part of usability, too.

Most of our guidelines are/have been written by programmers, so naturally the guidelines tend to focus on the technical issues rather than the user experience. But for those of us in education and communication (communicating messages and ideas, not sending electrons over wires or waves of data over the air) have practiced usability for eons.

Personally, I think it's impossible to separate accessibility from usability. One without the other is complete failure to communicate.

--Bevi Chagnon

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Bevi Chagnon | www.PubCom.com | <EMAIL REMOVED>
Technologists, Consultants, Trainers, Designers, and Developers
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