For the Digital Design + Development Website
This week, it has been put in my hands to determine if the Digital Design + Development homepage and contact form pages are meeting accessibility standards. It was a mind expanding lesson. Behind the obvious range of abilities and disabilities we as humans have, there’s another less visible but essential group of people who need to be seen in the development of a website. I learned a lot, sifting through the pages of requirements for an accessible site, and it has changed the way I will build sites in the future.
As I suspected, the learndigital.dev homepage is well set up, and I will give it a 4 out of 5 for Accessibility for the following reasons:
The site is easily perceivable. The colours used for text and background are high contrast, dark blue and white, so words are easy to see even when squinting my eyes. Where action is required a red accent colour is used. I am able to zoom in on my phone with no problem. Photos have simple descriptions written beneath them as alternative text for the visually impaired, who might need the descriptions to be read to them. By holding the ctrl key and scrolling the mouse, I can effortlessly increase font size on the webpage!! I was today years old when I learned this. Letterforms are distinguishable, and text is at least 16pts or more. Typography has good spacing, open apertures, and line spacing.
The layout also appears cognitively friendly, and understandable. On the contact form, there are examples of what’s needed in each part, for example it has a “e.g. Marie” in the “First Name” field. On the homepage, text is broken up into smaller more manageable groups with headings, and in a grid format. Buttons are large with clear labels saying what they do. The hierarchy is clear and predictable, starting with the header, working its way through the different actions necessary to learn what’s available in the program, ending with the footer and a link to the contact form. Some text is in centered groups adding variety, while other sections are aligned left with a jagged right edges which is the best for understanding and predictability, for languages reading left to right. The language is clear, not too wordy, concise and to the point.
Buttons are large, outlined or highlighted with red making them easily identifiable and operable for those with mobility challenges or vision impairments. I can move through the elements and buttons on the homepage, and within the contact form by using the tab button on the keyboard.
Learndigital.dev is also robust because all these fine qualities I’ve listed are consistent on different browsers. I was able to view it on Firefox, Chrome and Microsoft Edge, with no problems. I also visited the site from my old Mac laptop, ThinkPad laptop, iPad, and my Samsung Android phone. The responsive web design seamlessly converts the site on any device I view it on.
If I must find some shortcomings, there is some text that is light blue on dark blue which isn’t as high contrast. The photo slider has a title, but doesn’t appear to have alt descriptions for the images within it. That’s all I’ve got for complaints.
I feel confident that as I age and continue to explore the college as a forever student, I will be able to access this site with my deteriorating vision, and I will be able to maneuver through the site as my cognitive and physical abilities flounder (which I suspect they already are).
I would give the Digital Design + Development homepage and contact form pages a 5 out of 5 for accessibility, but as an able bodied and minded person without any known cognitive or physical challenges, I shouldn’t really be the one judging the site. There is no way I could understand all the complexity and range of challenges people face in the digital world. For this reason it makes sense to only give the site a 4 out of 5.
This week has opened my eyes yet again to how privileged I am in this society. There are so many challenges people face that are not visible, but are exceptionally valid. Here we have another reason to be kind to strangers, for who knows what is going on behind the scenes. May we all try to think of others when creating something to serve our communities. With this knowledge, over time we can make the world a better place, instead of a more confusing and alienating one.