To gain an understanding of the topic of accessibility, it is helpful to better understand the limitations that people with disabilities face when using websites.
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Blind people, in particular, face enormous barriers when using websites, since websites are often structured using different color schemes and information is presented or conveyed visually. The distinction between the header or navigation area and the "application area"—which is immediately apparent to sighted users—cannot be visually discerned by a blind user. Even visually highlighting required fields in forms is not helpful. And while the connection between an input field and its corresponding "label" (field title) is obvious to sighted users because of their physical proximity, this is not the case for blind users.
For these reasons, a monitor is not a practical (purely visual) output device for these users. They rely on assistive technologies such as Braille displays and screen readers. The situation is different when it comes to using a keyboard. Unlike a mouse, this can also be used effectively as a navigation tool by blind users.
For users with visual impairments, the situation is somewhat different. Visual impairments can include, for example, (severe) nearsightedness or farsightedness. Such users can certainly use a monitor as an output device if the portal or application meets certain requirements, such as having a sufficiently large font size or sufficient contrast.
Users with color blindness or color perception disorders can also use a monitor as an output device, provided that the application designer uses colors appropriately.
This brief description of the limitations associated with "vision" already suggests all the essential measures for accessibility:
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Listening Instead of Watching
For blind users of your portal, the only way to use the portal is to listen to the information and features displayed on the page.
There are assistive technologies available for this purpose, particularly screen readers, which can read aloud the information on a page.
In order for a screen reader to read the content aloud, the information displayed or conveyed on the page must be made accessible to the screen reader. This is easy to do with text, since screen readers can extract it directly from the source code of the portal page. This can be more difficult in some cases when it comes to text on buttons, if the button consists of an icon or a graphic and the text on it cannot be extracted.
There is a wealth of guidelines and technical measures centered on the concept of "hearing instead of seeing." For a detailed description and instructions on how to implement this in Intrexx, see the " Text Alternatives" section, among others.
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Keyboard Instead of a Mouse
For blind users, using a mouse is practically impossible. Navigating a page or accessing specific sections of a page is only possible using the keyboard.
There are also comprehensive guidelines and technical measures regarding the use of a keyboard instead of a mouse. For a detailed description of this, see, among other places, the section titled " Accessible via the keyboard."
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Using Colors Strategically
For users with visual impairments, the strategic use of colors is crucial. For example, using red and green to highlight certain differences is not effective.
You can find the relevant guidelines and technical measures in the " Use of Color" section, among others.
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Use sufficient contrast
To ensure that people with visual impairments can distinguish between the displayed content, the contrast must be strong enough. The WCAG provides specific guidelines here. You can find these in the " Contrast (Minimum) and " Contrast (increased)" sections.
Listen
Users with hearing impairments do not face as many barriers, since they can perceive and interpret all the visual information that is not available to blind people.
One exception is audio-visual media, such as videos, for which subtitles should be available. The same applies to audio recordings or podcasts, for which transcripts should be made available.
There are also corresponding guidelines for hearing impairments. These are not as relevant when creating portal and application pages as the guidelines related to audio, since audio content is not a native feature of Intrexx.
Motor impairments
Users with motor impairments are usually people who have limited use of their hands. This makes it particularly difficult, if not impossible, to use a mouse.
You can find the guidelines related to motor impairments in the " Accessible via the keyboard" section, among others.
Even in the case of mobility impairments, the steps needed to ensure (greater) accessibility are obvious.
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Keyboard Instead of a Mouse
As is the case with blind users or users with very limited vision, the ability to use the keyboard is crucial for navigating portal and application pages.
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Structure and Order
A clearly structured, logical layout is very helpful for understanding and navigating a website. (This also applies—similar to "keyboard instead of mouse"—to users with very limited vision.) This type of layout makes it easier, for example, to navigate to specific areas of a page or to use control elements.
You can find the relevant guidelines and technical measures in the " Information and Relationships (Structuring Pages and Content)" section , among other places.
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Sufficient space
For users with motor impairments, it is helpful when graphic elements are large enough. Small buttons and graphic elements with small clickable areas should be avoided, as people with limited fine motor skills have difficulty selecting them with a mouse.
You can find the relevant guidelines and technical measures in the " Target value" section, among other places
Impairments in cognitive abilities
Users with impaired cognitive abilities are often unable to grasp complex relationships and understand complicated content.
The measures taken in this regard are primarily editorial in nature. This means that application developers who create text content must be careful to use "simple or plain language." There is no direct (technical) connection to Intrexx here.
As mentioned above, a clear, logical structure and straightforward navigation help you better understand a page. This makes it easier for people with impaired cognitive abilities to use and understand a webpage.
There are also corresponding guidelines for disabilities related to limited cognitive abilities. You can find these, among other things, in the following section, " Information and Relationships (Structuring Pages and Content).
And what about users without disabilities?
Note that not only people with disabilities benefit from accessible sites. Generally, accessible web pages are more user-friendly. Good usability makes all your users happier. And if your portal is accessible on the Internet, accessible web pages will help you reach a wider audience, since search engines find pages more easily when they are user-friendly and designed for easy access.