This is an unpublished draft preview that might include content that is not yet approved. The published website is at w3.org/WAI/.

Interaction - navigating and finding in Tools and Techniques, How People with Disabilities Use the Web

Accessibility: It's about people

Note: The examples given in this section are not a complete list of all the ways that people interact with digital technology.

Description

People navigate and find content using different strategies and approaches depending on their preferences, skills, and abilities. For instance, someone using a website for the first time may need clearer guidance than someone who has more experience with the particular site, and someone using the Web on a mobile device with a small screen may require more orientational cues than someone using a desktop computer. While these are typically usability aspects that affect people with and without disabilities, some situations affect people with disabilities to a greater extent.

Examples of such situations include:

Many functions to support different styles of navigation are built directly into browsers and assistive technologies. For example, most commonly available browsers provide bookmark functionality, and screen readers provide functions to list headings, links, and other structures on a web page. However, the design of the content is also an essential factor to support different styles of navigation.

Accessibility feature examples

Assistive technology and adaptive strategy examples

Video: Tools and Techniques - Interaction

This video is also available on a W3C server: Video: Tools and Techniques - Interaction (file format: MP4, file size: 241MB).

Text Transcript with Description of Visuals

Audio Visual
How people with disabilities use digital technology: Interaction - navigation and finding How people with disabilities use digital technology: Interaction - navigation and finding
When content is accessible, people can navigate and find information using different strategies and approaches depending on their preferences, skills, and abilities. Collage of four people using various technology devices
Many people with cognitive and learning disabilities rely on clear layout and design to find information on websites and apps. This includes different ways of navigating the content, such as using hierarchical menus as well as search functionality; with visual orientation cues, such as using background colors to indicate different parts of the content; using unique headings; and placing relevant information in prominent areas. It’s also important to use a consistent and predictable design. Man at desktop computer searches around a pet supply website inclucing using the search field to find a product.
While many of these are typically usability aspects that affect people with and without disabilities, these situations often affect people with disabilities to a greater extent. For example, people with low vision who use screen magnification also rely on visual orientation cues to orient themselves and find information on websites and apps. Woman with low vision uses magnification software on her desktop to view the same pet supply website, only seeing a portion of the screen at one time.
And consistency and predictability helps everyone. For example, people who are blind use screen readers to scan the content structures, such as headings, links, and navigational menus to get an overview and orient themselves. Websites and apps with clear and consistent headings, labels, and structures make the content more predictable and easier to navigate. Blind man uses his laptop to navigate a webpage about visiting a library. The headings and side navigation on the site are highlighted during narration.
In addition, people who are blind rely on mechanisms to skip over blocks of content, such as headings, navigation bars, or menus, repeated within websites and apps. They also rely on websites and apps to provide clear instructions and help users identify and correct mistakes, such as incorrect dates, numbers, and other input. A “Skip to main content” link on the library page is highlighted then activated. It moves the focus to the main content of the library page (past the navigation menus).
In addition, people with physical disabilities rely on consistent labels on websites and apps, which allow browsers to optionally remember previous entries. This speeds up typing because people can select previous entries, for example names and addresses. Man in wheelchair types on laptop in web form. The name and address fields are automatically filled in by selecting a dropdown in the browser that has stored this information.
You can help make technology accessible to me. Man (from first scene) speaks to camera.
Accessibility: It’s about people. Collage of 12 people with colored backgrounds.
For more information from the Web Accessibility Initiative on how people with disabilities use digital technology, visit w3.org/WAI/people Accessibility: It’s about people. w3.org/WAI/people
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This is an unpublished draft preview that might include content that is not yet approved. The published website is at w3.org/WAI/.