Glen+Farrelly+-+Questions+on+Usability+and+Accessibilty

 **How would you describe web accessibility? ** Internet is a medium that can present the user with an unprecedented amount of information and this information is delivered directly to the Internet user’s home. This capability of the Internet can also be known as ‘web accessibility’ and can be especially beneficial for the Internet users who have disabilities. According to WebAIM, the four “major categories of disability types are: **visual** (blindness, low vision, color-blindness), **hearing** (deafness), **motor** (inability to use a mouse, slow response time, limited fine motor control), and **cognitive** (learning disabilities, distractibility, inability to rember or focus on large amounts of information)” [1]. To create websites that would cater to different peoples’ specific needs was the intention of the Internet; however, there are still many barriers founded in many websites that hinder a disabled user from using or viewing it properly. Web accessibility seeks to eliminate these “barriers so that people with disabilities can use and contribute to the Web” [2]. Web accessibility can be implemented and created by adhering to a list of guiding principles, such as the principles of the **User-Centered Design (UCD) process**. The guiding principles of UCD process adhere to two parts: “ **Part I: The Basics ** (is for anyone wanting to include people with disabilities in their design process, even at an informal level) and ** Part II: Accessibility in the User-Centered Design Process ** (focuses on helping usability professionals incorporate accessible design practices into a User-Centered Design process) [2]. Web accessibility can also be achieved by adhering to the “**Principles of Accessible Design**” [2]. Some these principles include: “provid[ing] appropriate alternative text, ensur[ing] users can complete and submit all forms, [or] design[ing] to standards” [1].   **Who do you think benefits from accessible websites and how?** The people who have disabilities will benefit the more from accessible websites because the Internet allows them to access a world that may be otherwise partially denied to them. For the people with disabilities have accessible websites allows them to “do ordinary things: children can learn, teenagers can flirt, adults can make a living, [and] seniors can reader about their grandchildren…” [2]. Accessible websites allows the disabled to be independent with less reliance on those around them and also allows them to obtain information, or goods, through one convenient medium catered to meet their specific needs. Examples of such benefits include “people with quadriplegia, who cannot move their arms or legs, can shop online to get groceries, gadgets and gifts delivered… [or people] who cannot speak can participate in online discussion, such as through blog comments” [2].  **Do you think your website/blog should be accessible? Should all Canadian websites?** Yes, I think my website/blog should be accessible and so should all Canadian websites. The reason for this would be because the Internet reaches a global mass audience and we cannot control who reads the information we post online. To make information accessible would also being benefiting the different users’ preferences, such as the disabled. Similarly, Canadian websites should also be accessible because we are a nation that embraces differences in reality so why can’t we embrace the different needs of users in the virtual world? We post information online to share with the public audience therefore we should bear in mind the different audiences and create websites that would be usable and accessible for all users.  ** What do you think is the biggest challenge of making a website accessible? **  I think the biggest challenge of making a website accessible would be the extensive knowledge that is needed to understand all the different types of disabilities that a user may be afflicted with and also how to address each of these disabilities. Each disability has an associated question or problem that would need to be addressed or solved in order to make a website accessible. Some of these questions include: “Why if the internet content is only by using a mouse? What do people do if they’ can’t use a mouse? And what if web developers use graphics instead of text? If screen readers can only read text, how would they read the graphics to people who are blind?” [1]. It would also be challenge to incorporate all of these different types disabilities into an aesthetically pleasing accessible website.

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