Disabilities and Barriers to Accessibility

Beyond knowing the laws and standards governing and guiding digital accessibility and disability inclusion, it is paramount to recognize the human narrative for accessibility. Understanding how disability can impact the use of digital content and environments and learning what types of assistive devices and technologies exist that people with disabilities utilize on a daily basis are the keys to grasping that narrative.

Types of Disabilities and Specific Barriers to Access

In our first module, we touched on different categories of disability, with examples of each. Here, we look more closely at often-discussed disabilities that are closely associated with digital accessibility barriers.

People who are blind cannot see digital interfaces, including text, images, buttons, and links on screens

People with low vision may find it difficult to read small text, or graphic interfaces with low color contrast

People who have color blindness may not be able to differentiate between color combinations (red and green in particular), and might struggle to distinguish things in low contrast.

People who are deaf cannot hear audio content, including audio in video content.

People who are hard-of-hearing may find it difficult to hear audio content.

People who are deafblind both cannot see digital interfaces and content, and cannot hear audio and other multimedia content.

People with motor disabilities may be unable to utilize a mouse due to decreased dexterity, or may need more time to interact with digital content and interfaces due to slowed movements.

People with cognitive and learning disabilities may find complex or unclear designs and tasks in digital environments overwhelming, and may have difficulty solving technical problems or fixing errors.

People with dyslexia or other reading/print disabilities may perceive words as floating or not aligned, or may mistake one letter for another with a similar shape (p, b, d, q). They may need more time or different font sizes to read through content

People with math-specific disabilities might be unable to distinguish right and left in graphic images, copy graphs, figures and diagrams, or perform complex calculations.

People with speech disabilities may experience difficulties interacting and communicating with voice-based tools and smart-devices.

People with seizure disorders may be sensitive to bright or flashing lights, or other blinking/flickering stimulus.

These are just a few common examples of barriers to access created by disability. These are subjective, and may affect and impact different people differently. In addition, many people have compound disability, which means they have multiple disabilities that affect their functions.