Building an Accessible SaaS Product: A Developer Guide
In today’s digital landscape, accessibility is not just a nice-to-have feature or matter of compliance; it’s a legal and moral imperative, and it’s a fundamental aspect of the user experience. Creating products that are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities, is not only the right thing to do but also makes good business sense. Many organizations, before buying a software product, will additionally evaluate the accessibility aspect of the software before making the purchase decision. In this guide, we’ll explore the essential steps to building an accessible SaaS platform, ensuring that it complies with accessibility standards and best practices.
Understanding Accessibility Standards 🌐
Accessibility standards provide guidelines for making digital content and platforms accessible to users with disabilities. One of the most widely recognized standards is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
WCAG outlines four principles of accessibility: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR), each with specific guidelines for achieving accessibility. WCAG uses three levels of conformance: A (lowest), AA, and AAA (highest). Aim for at least AA compliance to ensure your platform meets basic accessibility requirements.
Key Elements of Accessibility 🔑
Design with Accessibility in Mind 🎨
It takes almost little to no effort or cost to incorporate accessibility considerations into the initial design phase. Pay attention to color contrast, font sizes, keyboard navigation, and other aspects affecting users with disabilities.
Semantic HTML 🏗️
Use semantic HTML markup to ensure proper structure and navigation. This helps screen readers and other assistive technologies interpret content correctly.
Keyboard Accessibility ⌨️
Ensure that all functionality is operable via the keyboard alone. Users with motor disabilities may rely on keyboard navigation, so it’s essential to make sure all interactive elements are accessible this way.
Alternative Text and Captioning/Transcript for Media 🎥
Provide descriptive alternative text for all images. This is crucial for users who are visually impaired and rely on screen readers to understand content. Include captions for audio and video content and provide transcripts for podcasts and other non-text content. This ensures that users who are deaf or hard of hearing can access the information.
Testing and Feedback 📝
Regularly test your platform with users of diverse abilities and gather feedback to identify and address accessibility issues. Accessibility testing tools and user feedback are invaluable in ensuring your platform meets the needs of all users.
Accessibility Tools for Testing and Validating 🛠️👨💻
There are several tools available that can help you test your application for the Accessibility score. Every tool has its own criteria to evaluate the accessibility of your web application. Some of the tools that I prefer to use are
Chrome DevTools Accessibility Testing
Lighthouse, A feature of Chrome DevTools offers a built-in accessibility testing feature that allows developers to identify and fix accessibility issues. By auditing elements and inspecting accessibility properties, developers can ensure their platform meets accessibility standards. The best of the tools is that, along with reporting issues, they also provide links to guides on how to fix them.
Silktide Browser Extension
Silktide’s browser extension provides a user-friendly interface for testing website accessibility. With features like automated scans and detailed accessibility reports, developers can quickly identify and address accessibility barriers on their SaaS platform. Although there are several other extensions, I particularly like Silktide because it is one of the only tools that will give you a WCAG grade for every rule to help you understand your website’s compatibility with the grade.
Necessary Documentation for Accessibility Compliance 📄
Even if your platform is accessible, Your customers may still mark you as Not accessible if you don’t list the necessary documents on your website that validate the accessibility of the application. So in addition to building an accessible platform, it’s essential to provide documentation demonstrating your commitment to accessibility and compliance with relevant standards. Here are some key documents to include:
Accessibility Policy
A well-written accessibility policy should clearly state your organization’s commitment to accessibility. This should outline your accessibility philosophy, including your dedication to adhering to WCAG principles and making sure that accessibility is continuously improved. Here is an example of the Accessibility Policy.
Accessibility Statement
An accessibility statement communicates your platform’s level of accessibility and provides contact information for users to report accessibility issues. It should also include information on how users can request accommodations or assistance. You can use the Accessibility Statement Generation tool on w3.org to generate this statement.
Accessibility Report
Periodically publish an accessibility report that details the accessibility features of your product and any known issues or areas for improvement. This demonstrates transparency and accountability in your accessibility efforts. You can use the report generation tool on w3.org to get this done.
The tools on w3.org are Incredibly helpful. They provide a step-by-step guide to make your product Accessible while generating the required documents.
Building an accessible SaaS platform requires a commitment to understanding and implementing accessibility standards. By conducting thorough accessibility audits, creating comprehensive accessibility statements, using testing tools, adhering to WCAG guidelines, and leveraging resources from W3C, developers can ensure that their products are inclusive and usable by all. Remember, accessibility is not just a feature; it’s a fundamental aspect of digital equality.
I would love to hear if you have any other tips or resources that you follow to make your application Accessible.
