Listening ACCESSability

When we browse the internet we are bombarded with digital media, whether it be in the format of pictures, videos or soundbites. As time progresses, we are inundated with more and more media. This media should be becoming more and more accessible and yet, unfortunately it isn’t. If anything, it is increasingly inaccessible.

When the internet started, the people making the sites and the content needed a large amount of training to build and develop content. This training tended to focus on accessibility, making content suitable for low bandwidth connections, creating simple navigation, and focusing on the user. As the internet has developed and tools make it easier for people to develop their own content, the content has improved, but the accessibility of it has decreased. It would seem that people are focused on content development, and not the consumption of it.

In recent years there has been more of a focus on making content accessible again. Many site builders and content creation tools now have accessibility features built into them. One such example is the ability to add ALT Text (the text which describes an image for the visually impaired).

As building our own content gets easier, it is important that this message of accessibility is at the forefront in the tools and services that we use. What do I mean by that? Think about these examples:

• You upload a video to YouTube, and one of the steps asks you for the captions to be created (this is actually part of the YouTube workflow! Good work YouTube).
• You add a video to your favourite social media platform and it asks you for a caption file, or offers to transcribe your video so you can edit your captions.
• You add a photo to your favourite social media platform and it asks you for the ALT text for these images

You can see that these examples are not extreme. They don’t require specialized tools nor do they need us to learn new skills. The accessibility tools are built into the platforms themselves. Unfortunately however, in the majority of cases this is not the reality; we are not given easy-to-use tools and the tools which make our lives easier are expensive.

Imagining a world where the onus is immediately put on the content creator, instead of the consumer, is a blooming reality. The foundations are there, but the implementation is lacking.

If you’re creating content to be consumed on the internet, in person, on the TV, or anywhere else, it is your responsibility to make that content accessible through offering captions, ALT text, large text options and more.

Know better, do better, what is essential for some is beneficial for all.