How Net GDE Martine Dowden approaches net design from an accessibility perspective — Google for Builders Weblog

Posted by Kevin Hernandez, Developer Relations Neighborhood Supervisor

To have fun International Accessibility Consciousness Day, we interviewed Martine Dowden, Net GDE.

In the present day’s web sites observe sure ideas for good net design. A few of these ideas embody simplicity, F-shaped patterned layouts (how we learn content material on a web page), nice content material, loading occasions, coloration palettes, and extra. One precept which may not be high of thoughts when our favourite websites is accessibility and when making use of it to net design, its objective is to make websites out there to everybody. In accordance with the World Well being Group (WHO), about 16% of the inhabitants lives with some sort of incapacity. In net design, accessibility is about ensuring you’ve gotten sufficient coloration distinction, a decrease decision display screen, totally different button sizes, alt textual content, navigation that may be accessed along with your keyboard, descriptive textual content, and so forth. For Net GDE, Martine Dowden, that is one thing she thinks about on a regular basis. Martine is the CTO of Andromeda Galactic Options the place she builds websites for her shoppers with an accessibility strategy. Martine can be the co-author of Approachable Accessibility: Planning for Success, which landed her on E-book Authority’s 20 Finest Accessibility Books of All Time record, and has given quite a few talks on the topic.

When requested about why accessibility is essential to her, Martine shares, “It impacts all people. I need to guarantee that after I’m creating one thing, it would not matter who you might be, what gadget you are on, or what your wants are, you are gonna have the ability to entry it. I do not need to exclude individuals.” To realize accessibility, Martine urges designers and builders to consider accessibility ideas as early as attainable. She goes on to say that in case your mockups are already inaccessible, you’re setting your self up for failure. She compares accessibility to safety and explains, “I wish to parallel it to safety as a result of you’ll be able to’t by chance do safety accurately. Accessibility is similar manner. You need to truly give it some thought and take a look at for it.” For testing accessibility early on, Martine recommends utilizing automated instruments resembling Lighthouse, which has an accessibility checker. Nevertheless, whereas automated instruments are useful, it solely catches a small subset of what’s accessible in your web site. Martine explains that automated instruments don’t actually perceive context. “The automated tooling will inform me if I’ve alt textual content or not but it surely will not inform me if that alt textual content is related or useful. If I am displaying an image of cats and my alt textual content says it is a image of canines, the automated tooling will say it’s good to go,” she factors out. Whereas it’s useful to have this automation, Martine recommends coupling these instruments with a handbook overview with a view to be thorough whereas testing for accessibility.

Martine additionally recommends Net Content material Accessibility Pointers (WCAG), which is the worldwide customary. This useful resource gives specs and loads of supporting documentation that explains why the specs exist, however it’s an exhaustive useful resource that Martine doesn’t suggest studying from starting to finish. As an alternative, Martine suggests utilizing it when you’ve gotten a sure query and looking out up the particular specs. One other expertise that assists her in her work is Angular because the UI library contains the accessibility notes.

The significance of accessibility is evident with regards to giving everybody entry to internet sites and with 71% of customers with disabilities clicking away from websites resulting from inaccessibility, an accessibility strategy is important. Accessibility is perhaps one thing new to you as a designer or developer however as with every little thing else, Martine suggests, “It is identical to studying every other ability, take it little by little and you may ultimately get there. Everyone has to start out someplace.”

You could find Martine on-line on her private web site.

The Google Developer Consultants (GDE) program is a world community of extremely skilled expertise specialists, influencers, and thought leaders who actively help builders, corporations, and tech communities by talking at occasions and publishing content material.