Should web accessibility be part of Computer Science courses?
Developers have the power to make the web more inclusive and have the appropriate skills and tools to build websites with no barriers for anyone. According to Web Accessibility in Mind – WebAIM, only 3% of all websites are accessible.
The report shows that in 2022, 96.8% of home pages were detected with accessibility failures, showing how much improvements needs to be done. However, it is important to note that there was a slight improvement from the previous research of 2021, with 97.4%, and 2019, with 97.8% of home pages with accessibility failures.
The most common failures in home pages are:
• Low contrast text (83.9%);
• Missing alternative text (55.4%);
• Empty links (50.1%);
• Missing form labels (46.1%);
• Empty buttons (27.2%);
• Missing document language (22.3% of pages).
The research emphasises that addressing just these types of issues could significantly improve the accessibility across the web.
This data highlights the importance of incorporating web accessibility in computer science courses to ensure that future Web Developers create accessible web pages that will allow everyone to be online, regardless their abilities.
For the web developers learning about accessibility code and design, understanding the types of assistive technologies, and understanding the needs of various disabilities are the key elements to make web pages more accessible. Guidelines, regulations, and standards should be an important part of this improvement for web developers.
It is important that the computer science courses, and the web community raises the awareness of inclusivity and accessibility for future and current web developers to promote websites with no barriers for people with disabilities.
To find out more about the web accessibility in computer science courses, see the full article here.
And click here to read the complete WebAIM 2022 Report on Accessibility of the Top 1,000,000 home pages.
If you need further information on how to make buildings and services more accessible and inclusive, please do not hesitate to contact one of our team on (01) 415 12 85 or e-mail [email protected].
