Great article. As one who has written an accessibility checklist, I have to say that I can’t agree more with the statement, “Accessibility is NOT a checklist.” That’s not to say that we shouldn’t use check lists, but simply that’s not where our accessibility efforts should begin or end. Checking items off a list should not be our goal. Making our site work for as many people as possible should be our goal.
If you want good accessibility, you can’t just add alt atributes because someone told you you should, or label form fields because it’s on your list. You have to understand why you’re doing what you’re doing, and to understand that, you have to understand the people who need accessibility.
Great article. As one who has written an accessibility checklist, I have to say that I can’t agree more with the statement, “Accessibility is NOT a checklist.” That’s not to say that we shouldn’t use check lists, but simply that’s not where our accessibility efforts should begin or end. Checking items off a list should not be our goal. Making our site work for as many people as possible should be our goal.
If you want good accessibility, you can’t just add alt atributes because someone told you you should, or label form fields because it’s on your list. You have to understand why you’re doing what you’re doing, and to understand that, you have to understand the people who need accessibility.
posted by Aaron Cannon on Monday, Apr 06, 2009