What is Web Accessibility?
Tags: beginners, designer, developer, codenewbie
Published: 2022-01-24 17:05:34



According to Google 15% of the world's population, experience some form of disability. People with disabilities, on average as a group, are more likely to experience adverse socioeconomic outcomes than People without disabilities.

61 million adults in the United States live with a disability. 26 percent (one in 4) of adults in the United States have some type of disability.

####Accessibility?
Accessibility, also known as the ability to access, means that devices, services, and products are accessible to people with disabilities. Some people have to use assistive technologies which make these things accessible for them.

However, people with disabilities can’t access web content if it is not meeting the accessibility principles. These users are missing the possibilities that come with technology. All users should have access to them.




![spectrum of permanent, temporary, and situational mismatches that people experience based on their abilities and disabilities](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/f0k0qgrf2w60ueck8csd.png)

if you're designing websites you have to know what accessibility for websites means. over the last year lawsuits over websites which are not accessible has been on the rise. so actually legally if you're a designer you need to know Web Accessibility.

####What is the WCAG?
WCAG stands for the Web Content Accessibility  Guidelines. The [Web Content Accessibility  Guidelines](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/) (WCAG 2.1 guidelines) are arguably the most influential protocols shaping web accessibility policy.



there's a spectrum of permanent, temporary, and situational mismatches that people experience based on their abilities and disabilities.

To really understand why the WCAG matters so much, you need to know who is behind them. The WCAG was created by the World Wide Web ConsortiumNew Window, known as the [W3C](https://www.w3.org/).

W3C originally focused on standardizing web protocols so that websites and web tools would be compatible with each other. Every W3C standard is reviewed several times, tested, and analyzed before it’s approved by members. Usually, W3C standards have 3 levels of compliance, from A to AAA. 


####What is Section 508?
Strictly speaking,  [Section 508](https://www.section508.gov/) is a set of rules for government entities, although it includes any organizationsNew Window that receive federal funding. 

That means that government-supported institutions like museums or universities, medical centers that accept Medicaid or Medicare, and programs run by organizations that are partially federally funded all have to abide by Section 508.

Section 508’s accessibility rules also affect contractors or third-party workers that provide services for government bodies or organizations that receive federal funds. That means that any digital platform or website that’s in any way connected with a body that receives federal funds and is used by the public, has to comply with Section 508. 

Small businesses should keep this in mind if they want to go after government grants or contract work with federal agencies.