Accessibility Foundations and Inclusive Design
Accessible design as quality design
Core accessibility idea
Accessibility means people can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with a site regardless of disability, device, or context. It benefits users with visual, motor, auditory, cognitive, and situational limitations.
Design principle
If you can reach a feature only with a mouse, it is not fully accessible.
Practical accessibility techniques
Keyboard and focus management
All interactive controls should be reachable and usable with the keyboard. Visible focus states help users know where they are, and logical tab order prevents confusion.
Contrast, motion, and alternatives
Text should have sufficient contrast against its background, and motion should be limited or made reducible when possible. Non-text content should have text alternatives so information is not lost.
Which is a keyboard accessibility requirement?
Users navigating by keyboard need a visible indicator of the focused element.
Correct answer: Visible focus indicators
What is the purpose of alt text on an informative image?
Alt text ensures information remains available to non-visual users.
Correct answer: To provide an equivalent text description of the image’s meaning or content.
Accessible interactions
Interactive components should have clear names, roles, and states. Custom controls often need extra work to match the accessibility behavior built into native HTML elements.
Why are native HTML elements often preferred for buttons and inputs?
Native controls usually require less custom work to remain accessible.
Correct answer: Because they come with built-in accessibility and interaction behavior.