Embedding good practices in software design and development, testing and evaluation and procurement is not an easy job. There is much to do, and few examples to follow. If you are prepared to spend the time, there is a wealth of useful information within the Software Access Centre.
If you need some hints on where to start, we have five recommendations. You won't end up with accessible and usable software with just these five things, but you will have
made a start.
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Get to know the standards and guidelines that cover inclusive design, accessibility and usability. The IBM checklists are the place to start, although RNIB advocates the more comprehensive ISO 9241-171 for full coverage.
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Try to carry out every task and action without having to use a mouse - this is the most important single guideline or standard. Blind and partially sighted people, and those using voice input or alternative keyboards would all benefit enormously from a properly designed and complete keyboard interface. If this single standard were implemented, the majority of barriers facing these users and many others would be removed.
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Many people would prefer to have a choice of interface colours. This could be because they are colour blind, or partially sighted, or dyslexic, or experience glare from the computer screen, or just seem to work better with their preferred colours. Many interface colour choices are available, particularly with Windows, and inclusively designed software will pick up these preferences successfully. This improves accessibility and usability, and will raise the user's satisfaction and productivity.
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The software interface should provide programmatical information to assistive technology - this is the most difficult recommendation of the top five. What the control is (for instance button, edit field, list box, menu item, window title), what text it contains or displays, and what its state is (checked or unchecked) must be available. This is extremely important for screen reader software, as it depends on this technical information to tell blind users where they are and what they are looking at.
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Seek out some users and find out how they interact with computer interfaces and experience the specialist technologies they use.
You will learn a great deal from watching and listening to a blind user carrying out a complex task using a screen reader with synthetic voice output.