What challenges do people with disabilities face in the digital spaces of smart cities? In this post, we explore these hurdles, the standards designed to help, and innovative assistive technologies that are making a difference.
Our communities are striving to achieve the status of “Smart & Sustainable.” Today, this largely involves focusing on the digital aspects of our lives by integrating smart technologies, providing remote access to services, and enhancing communication between citizens and city administrations.
But does becoming Smart automatically equal becoming Accessible? In this post, we’re set to answer this question. We’ll explore the unique challenges faced by people with disabilities in the digital spaces of smart cities, look at the standards designed to overcome these hurdles, and highlight innovative solutions like assistive technologies.
Our overarching goal? Help you understand why you should care about making the web accessible to everyone.
Apart from using technologies to make our everyday life more convenient, the concept of “Smart & Sustainable” emphasizes inclusivity, ensuring no one is left behind or feels excluded.
ISO TC 159 defines accessibility as “the extent to which products, systems, services, environments and facilities can be used by people from a population with the widest range of characteristics and capabilities to achieve a specified goal in a specified context of use.”
Meanwhile, cities in developed countries are aging. According to the World Health Organization, around 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the global population, currently experience significant disabilities.
That being said, 60% of experts worldwide believe that today’s Smart Cities fall short for people with disabilities. Research shows that 23% of Americans with disabilities never go online, compared to 8% of the general U.S. population. This disparity is even greater in less prosperous countries.
People with special needs have their own methods of navigating the web space depending on their abilities. Those are broadly grouped into:
In 2023, AudioEye conducted extensive research, examining nearly 40,000 enterprise websites and incorporating insights from manual audits of leading sites in key industries such as retail, media, and travel.
The study encompassed 2 million pages, uncovering an average of 37 accessibility errors per page. These errors were identified in unique elements like images or links that failed to meet accessibility standards.
These issues might seem irrelevant to users without disabilities, but let’s consider scenarios illustrating how services can be disrupted for those with special needs.
When a person with low vision or color blindness submits a form on a website, missing or incorrectly formatted information can cause issues. Without a clear error indication—whether through color, symbol, note, or an audible announcement—the user may remain unaware that the form submission has failed.
On some websites, poorly implemented pop-up promo windows can be impossible to close using a keyboard, preventing keyboard users from navigating and consuming the rest of the site content.
The presence of numerous animations and autoplay videos on a website without pause or exit options may cause distracting and painful experiences for people with disabilities.
When navigating a website using a screen reader, users often encounter generic link text such as “Learn More,” “Click Here,” or “Shop More,” which fails to provide context about the link’s destination.
Not providing images as links with relevant descriptions is another example. For instance, a chat icon should be labeled “Contact Support” instead of “Headsets.”
Making digital space accessible isn’t only beneficial for people with disabilities. It makes life easier for everyone, especially in disadvantaged environments, such as a noisy location or a place with poor Internet connectivity.
Here’s an example. A person is in a room with a sleeping baby and wants to listen to a video without waking them up, but no headsets are available. In such cases, subtitles or transcripts can be very helpful.
Ignoring these and other accessibility issues could have some severe consequences. Let’s discuss those next.
Poorly implemented accessibility standards can lead to lost profits for businesses and hinder cities from effectively communicating and meeting the needs of their citizens.
According to McKinsey, consumer companies lose $6.9 billion annually due to inaccessible websites, as consumers with disabilities turn to competitors.
On the other hand, well-implemented accessibility benefits not only individuals with disabilities but also enhances user-friendliness for everyone. It makes web spaces more accommodating for diverse audiences and environments such as brightly lit rooms.
So, how can we create a more inclusive digital world? By strictly adhering to the key accessibility standards.
Standards are essential tools for ensuring that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is designed and developed to accommodate the needs of all users, regardless of how they experience the world. Crafted in collaboration with real users, they offer clear guidance to designers and developers on building accessible solutions.
Today, these standards are also legally mandated in many countries. The most critical standard currently in place is the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, published in 2023.
Since its first iteration in 1999, the guidelines have evolved alongside the web, aiming to make websites accessible for users with diverse abilities by providing specific instructions.
The guidelines are structured around four principles and 13 guidelines, categorized into three levels: A, AA, and AAA. The levels range from A (the lowest) to AAA (the highest), with higher accessibility levels requiring compliance with more guidelines.
Sadly, as of 2023, fewer than 20 countries outside the United States adopted WCAG 2.0 as their national standard for web accessibility, including Australia, Canada, France, Spain, Germany, India, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Let’s briefly overview some of those regulations.
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It’s crucial to understand that no automated evaluation tool can guarantee your product is 100% accessible. For really comprehensive analysis, human testing is essential.
However, to assess whether your website meets key web accessibility standards, you can use the following evaluation tools and methods.
Wave is available as a Google Chrome extension. You can also enter a URL directly on their website without any installation required.
When activated, Wave adds a details window and error pins to highlight problematic elements. By clicking on a pin, you’ll receive recommendations on the detected accessibility issues, such as links to HTML, issues with color contrast, how these problems affect different user types, and which WCAG guidelines are violated.
This is another free tool, which you can access directly from the inspector mode of your Chrome browser. After analysis, Google Lighthouse will generate a report detailing issues and possible solutions.
In addition to these two tools, various services offer partially free checks and reports.
This is essential software for visually impaired users, allowing them to read text on a screen using a speech synthesizer or braille display. Depending on the operating system, you can use the following screen readers:
Many users with motor disabilities rely on a keyboard. You can find a list of standard keystrokes for interaction here.
But, of course, creating a website with accessibility in mind from the outset is crucial. Follow the WCAG checklist from the beginning and throughout the development process.
Product owners must ensure the team focuses on accessibility, designers need to produce accessible layouts, content editors handle text and non-text content, and QA engineers must guarantee compliance with standards using a mix of evaluation tools and manual testing.
Ultimately, it’s not just about accommodating diverse abilities, but about designing websites that enable everyone to engage fully. Here are the most common recommendations on how to make web solutions accessible:
Ensure all interactive elements, such as buttons and navigation items, have a sufficient clickable area. The recommended touch target size for interactive elements is at least 44 x 44 pixels.
Additionally, make sure you consistently use clear headings, lists, paragraphs, data tables, and form labels throughout projects by default.
To learn how GetDevDone builds accessible websites in line with W3C’s standards and recommendations, visit these posts:
W3C offers a great example by comparing accessibility in the digital world with curb ramps in real life. It’s a must-have for people in wheelchairs to navigate the city, but it’s also a good-to-have for mothers with strollers, people with suitcases, kids riding bicycles, etc.
Thus, accessibility should not be considered a feature for only some members of the community, since, at the end of the day, it benefits everyone. For more accessibility regulations and recommendations, explore the following resources:
Looking to make your website accessible to all? We’re here to help. Reach out to us today, and let’s create an inclusive online space together, so that everyone can navigate and enjoy your content seamlessly!
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