Top 5 Myths and Facts About Digital Accessibility

People have become increasingly dependent on the internet and the convenience of digital solutions. With essential services, such as banking and healthcare, as well as other things, like online shopping, social networking, entertainment, and even education, available online—ensuring digital accessibility is more important than ever. 

Now, imagine someone being unable to access and use these necessities just because of their disability. It’s not very fair or inclusive, is it? That’s where digital accessibility comes in. It plays a big role in ensuring everyone, regardless of ability, can use digital services easily. In this article, we’ll explore what digital accessibility is, why it is important, bust some myths, and reveal some facts about digital accessibility.

What is digital accessibility?

Digital accessibility is the practice of making digital environments, such as websites and applications, accessible and usable equally by everyone, regardless of their abilities or disabilities. It addresses various disabilities, including auditory, cognitive, neurological, physical, speech, and visual impairments that can affect access to digital content. 

To be able to access and use digital solutions, people rely on different assistive technologies, such as screen readers, speech recognition software, adaptive switches, magnifiers, and braille displays. Therefore, for a website or product to be considered accessible, it must be compatible with assistive technologies and comply with relevant accessibility standards and requirements.

Why is digital accessibility important?

According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), over 1 billion people, or more than 15% of the world's population, have a disability. And while digital accessibility is essential to these individuals, it is actually useful to all. Specifically, we can all find ourselves in a situation where it is difficult for us to use a digital product. For example, a broken arm or sun glare also counts as a temporary disability and can affect the way we interact with digital environments.

Another reason why digital accessibility is important is legal compliance. There are numerous accessibility laws and regulations that apply to different countries and regions. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a set of internationally recognized guidelines, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), that serve as a foundation for most accessibility regulations. WCAG provides designers and developers with a framework to create content that is perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.

Other accessibility laws include the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Failure to comply with these accessibility laws can result in costly fines, lawsuits, and a damaged reputation, which can even lead to a total crash of the business. To avoid such issues and ensure legal compliance, it is important that you integrate accessibility early in development.  

However, there are numerous myths surrounding digital accessibility that can lead to misunderstandings and poor implementation practices. Let’s expose some of these myths and share essential facts that highlight the importance of creating an accessible and inclusive digital environment.

Top 5 myths about digital accessibility

Myth #1: Digital accessibility assists only people with permanent disabilities

One of the most common myths is that digital accessibility benefits only people with permanent visual, hearing, cognitive, and mobility disabilities. Although its primary goal is to minimize the issues and disadvantages faced by people with disabilities, its benefits extend far beyond this group.

Digital accessibility enhances overall user experience and usability for everyone. For example, temporary disabilities—like a broken arm or an eye injury—can make navigating digital platforms challenging. Accessibility features such as voice commands, screen readers, or captions can be invaluable in these situations, proving that digital accessibility is beneficial for all.

Myth #2: Accessibility widgets are a magic fix

Another common misconception is that adding accessibility widgets will magically fix all your accessibility issues and make sure you comply with standards. While great in theory, in practice, these widgets and web accessibility tools often create more issues than they solve.

Namely, while they may offer features like text resizing or color adjustments, widgets often fall short in critical areas, such as providing accurate alt text for images or ensuring seamless keyboard navigation. Additionally, they rely heavily on automation, which can’t fully address complex, context-dependent issues. For instance, a widget might flag a missing alt text but can’t generate a meaningful description that screen reader users need to understand the content. To achieve accessibility, thorough testing is the way to go—not a one-size-fits-all widget.

You may be interested in: Web Accessibility Tools: Helping or Hurting Digital Inclusion?

Myth #3: You should focus on accessibility after development

Digital accessibility is not just a checkbox to check after development—it should be integrated from the very beginning. By integrating accessibility early in software development, you not only improve usability for all users, but avoid costly redesigns and delays later. Essentially, accessibility-driven design improves overall usability of the final product and streamlines the development process.

Myth #4: Accessible websites means boring design

The prevailing myth is that by making a website accessible you will make it less attractive and sacrifice creativity or UX design. This is false. Digital accessibility does not compromise aesthetic design—it improves functionality and usability. Accessible design elements, like high-contrast color, clear typography, and intuitive navigation can enhance both visual presentation and usability.

Myth #5: Automated testing for digital accessibility is enough to ensure compliance

Automated accessibility testing is a quick, cost-effective, and efficient approach  to detecting major accessibility issues like missing alternative texts for images, color contrast issues, incorrect heading structure, missing landmarks, roles, ARIA attributes, empty links and buttons. However, they are not enough to ensure compliance with accessibility standards. Automated tests, as well as tools and browser extensions like WAVE and Squidler, only cover certain parts of accessibility testing, and cannot catch every problem in a website. There are many complex and context-dependent issues which can be detected only by comprehensive manual testing. Manual accessibility testing should be your top priority, which can be complemented by automated accessibility testing, to ensure that no critical issues are left unnoticed.

Top 5 facts about digital accessibility

Fact #1: Digital accessibility improves usability 

Digital accessibility primarily aims to ensure assistance for users with disabilities. However, as mentioned earlier, good accessibility practices can improve website usability for aging populations and people with temporary impairments. As a result, by making digital content accessible, you’re not only promoting inclusivity but also potentially increasing the reach and engagement of your platforms. 

Fact #2: Digital accessibility encompasses all elements of digital content

Digital accessibility extends to all types of media and interactive elements. For example, to make videos accessible, it's required to provide captions, audio descriptions, and transcriptions to ensure that users with visual or hearing impairments can fully engage with the content. Furthermore, for users with visual impairments who rely on screen readers, it is important to provide properly labeled controls, input fields, and accessible names to navigate interactive elements effectively.

Fact #3: Digital accessibility is a continuous process

As technology evolves and develops, so do accessibility standards and guidelines.  That means that the digital environment is dynamic, with updates, audits, new features and content constantly being implemented. As a result, ongoing accessibility testing and monitoring is critical to maintaining compliance and improving user experience. 

You may be interested in: 5 Tips to Improve Web Accessibility. 

Fact #4 - Digital accessibility features have become everyday essentials

Many digital accessibility features that were originally created for people with disabilities are now used by the general public every day. Features like closed captions, dark mode, and voice recognition software, such as Apple's Siri, are just a few examples. Think about watching a muted video in a public space—closed captions are quite useful. Accessibility features are not just inclusive, they’re practical tools that enhance everyday convenience for all users.

Fact #5: Manual accessibility testing requires an in-depth understanding of accessibility 

Manual accessibility testing requires having a deep understanding of compliance standards, different kinds of disabilities, and assistive technologies. Also, manual accessibility testers need to be empathetic to users with disabilities. Unlike automated tools, which can identify technical issues, manual testers evaluate how meaningful and accessible the content is for users with disabilities.

Conclusion

With many people benefiting from accessibility features—whether due to disability or for practical reasons—it’s clear that ensuring accessible and inclusive digital interactions is essential. 

By debunking common myths and highlighting important facts about digital accessibility, we encourage business owners, developers, and designers to integrate accessibility from the start. By prioritizing accessibility you can reach a wider audience, enhance customer satisfaction, increase user engagement, and build lasting loyalty. However, it’s important to remember that digital accessibility is more than just complying with standards. It's about fostering respect and dignity and enabling everyone to participate equally in the digital world. 

Want to make sure your website or app is accessible to all users and follows best practices? Reach out to learn how our accessibility testing and audit services can help you build inclusive websites and apps.