Introduction
This is the all•Access podcast Access & Allies. My name is Rowan; I’m the co-Founder of All Access and a web accessibility auditor for the government of British Columbia’s Digital Government team.
The goal of Access & Allies is to attempt to break down any digital accessibility topic under the sun to answer any and all of your questions around making digital tools more accessible. Thanks for tuning in, and if you prefer to read along, make sure to find this episode’s transcript in the notes — along with any resources I mention.
Now, let’s get started with today’s topic: Web accessibility for autistic users, part 3 of 3.
Topic Intro
This episode is the third of a three-part series that discusses findings on how to make your web content more accessible for people with Autism.
In the first episode, we covered how the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines skew heavily towards making your content accessible for people who use assistive technology, as well as people with reading and processing disorders. But there’s so much more to explore when it comes to digital accessibility, and I decided to do a deep dive into the topic of web accessibility, and Autism.
We also introduced a report released by the organization Hassell Inclusion, in partnership with the National Autistic Society in 2019. The information in episode 14 through 16 is based on that report, and it is linked in the notes section for you to check out in more detail.
There is a lot more background information, as well as great suggestions for accessibility through the first ten topics in the previous two episodes, episodes 14 and 15. So if you haven’t listened to those, make sure to head on back and give them a listen.
Without further ado, let’s continue our journey into understanding web accessibility best practices for autistic web users.
11. Forms
The eleventh of sixteen topics in the report is forms. How can we make our forms more accessible and user friendly for autistic web users? Well if you’re already adhering to WCAG level AA, I have good news in that you are probably already implementing these suggestions.
The first is to use clear, unique labels and instructions for each field. This aligns with success criterion 2.4.6 Headings and Labels, which states to provide descriptive headings and labels for a page’s content, as well as 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions which says to provide labels or instructions for inputs (or forms). And that is so users know what information to enter.
The next suggestion is to make sure time-outs are reasonable. Reasonable, meaning probably longer than you think your average user should need to fill out a form. Count downs can be extremely stressful for people, so if you must use them, ensure there is extra time given to get through the content, and an easy way to extend the time. This generally applies to the guideline 2.2 Enough Time, under which there are several success criteria. l2.2.1 Timing Adjustable says you need to be able to do one of the following: turn off, adjust, or extend timed content unless the event is in real-time (or live), it would invalidate the activity to do so, or the limit is longer than 20 hours.
The last suggestion for forms is provide clear and timely feedback. And this aligns with success criterion 3.3.1 Error Identification wherein you must identify errors so users can easily understand how to fix them. It also aligns with 3.3.3 Error Suggestion, so if an error is detected, suggest the correct answer unless doing so jeopardises security or content purpose.
12. Use of language
The next set of suggestions is for use of language, and there are two here.
The first is to use clear, concise language and avoid metaphors and ambiguities. Metaphors and ambiguous terms tend to be abstract concepts, which are notoriously difficult for many autistic people. 53.3 percent of respondents agreed that it is difficult for them to understand when people do not say what they mean or use metaphors. There’s a level AAA success criterion in WCAG that is somewhat related to this which states that a mechanism should be available “for identifying specific definitions of words or phrases used in an unusual or restricted way, including idioms and jargon.
Which leads me to the next suggestion under use of language, which is to avoid jargon, abbreviations, acronyms, idioms and colloquialisms. It’s all part of the same barrier for autistic people who can find these uses of language to be challenging or impossible to understand. This all falls under different AAA success criteria, like 3.1.4 Abbreviations and 3.1.5 Reading Level. But because most organizations and government bodies who aim for digital accessibility only aim for level AA, these really useful success criteria for autistic individuals as well as people with cognitive disabilities aren’t compulsory.
13. Customisation
Next on our list is customisation. This goes along with what we were talking about in previous episodes in this series about autonomy. Individuals have different needs and different preferences, and a lot of the time these can play into whether or not looking at your content leads to physical pain like eye strain and headaches, or exhaustion.
So make sure to provide clear ways to customise your website. I have to stop here to clarify that by this I do not mean using third party overlays. These often get in the way of accessibility, especially for assistive tech users, despite how they are advertised. And we go into more detail about this in episode 13 of Access and Allies, “The Myth of Automated Accessibility”. Definitely check that out if you’re curious about overlays, or just head to the notes section to check out the resources provided.
Things you might consider when allowing customisation are covered in previous episodes of this series which are the font type and size, background colours, an ability to turn off decorative graphics, and the choice of whether to use captions. There are so many things you can customise, so just keep this development step in mind when designing your product. And then just making sure that these options are clearly provided.
14. Sharing content
Topic number 14 is sharing content and there is only one suggestion here and it is listed as a low priority item. I’ll still outline it because they clearly found it important enough to keep in the report, and it is to allow users to share content via email and social media platforms.
While that may seem obvious, the ability to email content allows users to email themselves your content for ‘slow’ reading. So if they can’t stay on your page or they know the page might reload or disappear, the ability to save it in email can be very helpful.
15. Re-learnability
The penultimate suggestion of this series is a high priority item under re-learnability. So this one says to communicate your plans about changes on the website clearly and in advance. Are you about to go through a website overhaul? Make sure people know so that if they are used to a particular format of information sharing they won’t be caught off guard by the sudden change. Tell them what is changing and when to avoid disorientating your users.
This can go for mobile app thumbnails and widgets as well. If you’re going to change your look, notify people so they know what to look for and don’t lose your app in their library.
16. User research
We are on the last topic of this three-part series, and number 16 of this report was user research. There is one high priority suggestion in user research, and it is to conduct user research to inform design decisions.
Are you thinking of changing up your look or the way you convey information? Perform user testing and include autistic people and those with cognitive disabilities and learning disabilities. Make sure these voices are heard, and not just one token person from each group but a group of participants that can speak to their individual experiences.
That is a good rule in general. Any time you are consulting your audience, include people with disabilities and autistic people. Because they are often overlooked and therefore not included in the end product.
Conclusion
Thank you for listening to this episode of Access & Allies on making your web products accessible for autistic users. This is the end of our three part series on making your web content accessible for Autistic individuals. Remember that user experiences, regardless of demographic, are individualistic. But this data was put together with over 400 respondents thanks to Hassell Inclusion and the National Autistic Society in the UK in 2019, so we can confidently say that these 16 topics and their suggestions are great ways to be inclusive of autistic web users.
The topics we covered today in order were forms, use of language, customisation, sharing content, re-learnability, and user research.
I hope this has provided you with some new information, or at least confirmed some old knowledge. Just remember: meaningful accessibility takes time, expertise, and context!
Make sure to check out the resources provided in the notes section. And if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out at info@allaccess.dev or through LinkedIn.
Want your site assessed for accessibility, or looking for consultation on your site plan? Make sure to reach out about that as well — we want to know how we can support you.
It’s been fun talking at you and until next time on Access & Allies.
