In Germany alone, about 10% of the population (around 7.9 million people) have a recognized severe disability. They use the Internet more often than average because there are fewer obstacles on the Internet than in "normal" life. Accessible websites are essential for this group of people.
About 30% of the population suffers from visual impairment, motor impairments, lack of concentration, or they are non-native speakers of a language. Accessible websites are necessary for this group of people.
For all other people, accessible websites are extremely helpful because they are easy to use, easier to understand and more likely to be found by search engines than non-accessible sites. (Source: Aktion Mensch)
The percentage of people in the overall population who rely on accessible websites is probably also more or less reflected in the number of people who use your portal. Making your portal accessible is therefore certainly worthwhile.
In addition to the above advantages of accessible websites, there are also legal requirements for implementing accessibility. Most recently, the BFSG (German Accessibility Strengthening Act) was promulgated in the process. This will enter into force on 28. June 2025 in force. For the first time, private economic actors will be required to comply with accessibility requirements if their products or services fall within the scope of this law.
In a general sense, accessibility is easy to define: Websites are accessible if they can be used equally by people with and without disabilities. Or to put it more precisely: "A website is accessible if limitations in seeing, hearing, moving or processing information do not have a negative impact on how we use the web." (Source: Aktion Mensch)
As easy as it is to determine general accessibility, the details can be more complex. It is obvious that the use of legible fonts, sufficient contrast and adequately large buttons is helpful and at the same time relatively easy to implement. But it can be more difficult when using (complex) tables, to ensure easy navigation, or that they can be read out loud correctly by screen readers. The use of ARIA roles and attributes, for example to assign landmarks on a page, can be even more complex because they can only be identified by screen readers.
WCAG has written suggestions and guidelines for virtually every conceivable obstacle on the web, so that web authors can help people with disabilities overcome such barriers. From section
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