After being diagnosed with dyslexia in the final semester of my undergraduate degree nearly 40 years ago, the issue of accessibility has always been on my mind. I think of all the issues I have faced when it came to correctly reading various materials — including advertising.
I was thrilled to be present 25 years ago when Sir Tim Berners-Lee first announced the Web Accessibility Initiative back in April 1997. But while awareness of accessibility issues may have increased and various government legislations have mandated it (for some), anyone involved in the field of accessibility knows that digital campaigns as a whole are lacking.
Many people don’t think about accessibility beyond seeing ramps added to buildings. When they find themselves on crutches or using a wheelchair, only then do they become concerned with physical accessibility.
Accessible design — when combined with advances in technology that may hinder accessibility and an aging population who can no longer read small print — is becoming (and should be) front-of-mind for everyone in the marketing community.
I interviewed three accessibility authorities on the subject to find out the current state of things and the best way to ensure that accessibility becomes part of all digital projects.
Our experts are:
Meryl K. Evans, CPACC, Speaker and Accessibility Marketing Consultant.Lea Scudamore, Lead SEO, Aimclear.Kim Krause Berg, CPACC, QA Analyst, Accessibility and Human Experience Design, BMTX.
What percentage of digital campaigns do you feel involve any level of accessibility thought and or testing?
The experts responded in an almost unanimous response of “none to almost none”. Evans was the most optimistic, estimating no more than 10% while Scudamore estimated 5%. She went on to expand:
“I am still seeing light grey fonts, red fonts, and other colors of fonts that do not have the high contrast that makes it easy for everyone to see. Many ads have very small fonts that also make them hard to read. Inaccessible content is still far too common. Many landing pages pop up over the website, and many pop-ups, landing pages and shopping carts are not reachable without a mouse, which makes them inaccessible.”
What is the most common aspect of accessibility that digital marketers forget?
Berg stressed:
“It’s more of a lack of…
By: Alan K’necht
Title: How to make web accessibility a part of digital marketing efforts
Sourced From: martech.org/how-to-make-web-accessibility-a-part-of-digital-marketing-efforts/
Published Date: 10/24/22
