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Welcome to our November issue of the Accessibility Minute Newsletter! This newsletter is produced by the ���񱦵� Digital Accessibility Office and covers one accessibility skill or topic per month. Please visit the DAO website to access past newsletters. As always, thank you for taking a minute (or two!) to read.

Announcement

We want to inform you that we will transition to a new newsletter platform in December 2024. Please note that if you use a screen reader and access this newsletter in Outlook, we recommend utilizing the online version as some content in the new newsletter platform may not be optimally displayed in the Outlook desktop application. If you subscribe to the Accessibility Minute Newsletter and don't receive a December newsletter by the end of the year, please check your spam folder and let us know so we can resolve this issue. Should you have any questions regarding this transition, please do not hesitate to contact us at DigitalAccessibility@Colorado.EDU.

Common Misconceptions About Digital Accessibility

Misconceptions regarding digital accessibility can hinder organizations and individuals from prioritizing this important work. Although there is an increasing awareness of digital accessibility, many misconceptions continue to persist in discussions and organizational decision-making. In this month's newsletter, we will highlight some prevalent misconceptions about digital accessibility and clarify why these are incorrect.

Accessibility is only for people with disabilities

Accessibility is about centering access for those with disabilities but by ensuring your content, platforms, etc., are accessible, it will have benefits for all end users. Alongside this common misconception, many people believe digital accessibility’s only purpose is to increase access for individuals who are blind, have low vision, or who use screen readers to access content. Some examples of how digital accessibility is beneficial to all include:

• on your mobile device or laptop. Dark mode can increase access to individuals with low vision, color blindness, or those who have experienced a concussion, as well as individuals experiencing glare from bright environments or eye strain from staring at a screen for extended periods of time.
• Closed captions on videos. Access to captions impacts a wide variety of people, including (but not limited to) individuals who are or hard of hearing, learn most efficiently by reading, are not fluent in the videos language, are unaccustomed to the speaker's accent, watch videos in noisy environments, and those experiencing short-term medical conditions or injuries.

Accessibility is a one-time task

Accessibility is an ongoing process that requires regular training and checks for updates. Also, technology and user needs evolve, so regular updates and maintenance are necessary to ensure continued accessibility.

Accessibility is an add-on

Accessibility should be considered from the beginning of your work or project rather than being an afterthought. Designing for accessibility from the start can prevent the need for costly and time-consuming retrofits or creating a separate, "accessible" layer or application. Also, proactively addressing accessibility ensures time can be allotted for incorporating and checking for accessibility while managing large workloads and tight timelines.

This product/company is a market leader and has a VPAT, so it must be accessible, right?

Products evolve and update along with other digital infrastructure. With the implementation of integrations, branding updates, and company-specific needs, things may unintentionally break. The only way to know that something is accessible is to have it manually tested. While a VPAT may be helpful, it is vital to remember that the “V” in VPAT stands for voluntary – a company is volunteering to share information about their product, so they can choose to share or withhold any information. Learn more about VPATs and the reliability of a product’s / company’s accessibility findings.

If it's accessible, then it's boring and uncreative

First and foremost, many digital accessibility practices are behind the scenes. For example, alternate text for images, correctly tagged elements such as labels, table headings, and correct languages do not alter the visual design. Some accessibility practices do alter the visual appearance, such as sufficient color contrast; however, those accessible design practices should not be used as an excuse for “boring” design, as they can remain as stunning or as simple as desired. If you think you need to limit the creativity of your design, consider what your design is trying to accomplish and determine if there are other ways to convey that (hint – there are!).

If people with disabilities use assistive technology, then they will be able to access digital content

If digital content is not created accessibly, it will not be accessible to individuals with disabilities, regardless of whether the end user is using assistive technology (screen reading software, text-to-speech, etc.) or not. Assistive technology is not a "magic pill" that makes all digital content accessible to end users.

I used an automated accessibility checker, so that means my website or document is now accessible

Accessibility checkers can be helpful learning tools and a potential supplement to manual testing, but they do not guarantee accessibility and should not be solely relied on to ensure the accessibility of your digital content. Automated checkers do not check for all potential errors or usability, which is why it is best practice to manually check for accessibility alongside an automated checker if needed. Sure, an automated checker may tell whether or not an image has alt text. However, it cannot assess nuance and context, so it can’t tell you whether that alt text describes an image sufficiently. Staying current on accessibility best practice standards will lessen the need for and reliance on automated checkers.

DAO News

We are excited to welcome Steven Yi, our new Digital Accessibility Services Coordinator. Steven joins us from Arapahoe Community College, where he worked as an assistive technologist. We are very excited to have him join our team!

Follow the DAO on LinkedIn! By following us, you'll get access to behind-the-scenes insight into our office, information about our services, applicable accessibility tips posted every Tuesday, resources, upcoming event information, and more.