The U.S. General Services Administration recently released its Equity Action Plan, specifying a focus on accessibility beyond the bare minimum for all digital government services. This move from a federal agency signals to businesses that they’ll need to follow suit and strive for accessibility that exceeds basic inclusive changes.
3 Strategies for Developing More-Accessible Software
Developers must avoid falling back on outdated guidelines and keep up with the shifting threshold for accessibility.
June 01, 2022
Illustration: Aaron Marin
Summary.
There is no single accessibility expert. It’s a shared responsibility, and all developers have to leverage others’ knowledge to grow their understanding and manifestation of accessibility. By that same token, the main accessible frameworks that developers use can’t be taken as all encompassing. In the same way that developers wouldn’t create a new feature using only one tool, they should have multiple inputs to guide them through accessibility. The more robust developers’ accessibility checkers are, the better they’ll serve people with diverse needs. The author presents three ways for developers to avoid falling back on inadequate accessibility tools and guidelines and keep up with the shifting threshold for accessibility.