How Disability Enabled Website Can Create A New Generation

Holiday season is the time when people start buying gifts and presents for their loved ones. From the past decade, online shopping has hiked up immensely. Number of people purchasing products online has increased so much because of its efficiency and certain benefits. Unfortunately, a section of people got deprived of using this beautiful feature due to their disability. But, not now, many websites have changed their websites to make it more accessible for disabled people like blind or visually imapired ones to try them.

All you need is a computer fitted with a screen reader or a mobile with touch screen reader. It can change your online shopping experience tremendously. Without having to ask others to do the work for you, now you can purchase online and even pay for it all by yourself.

Disability enabled website can create a new generation

How can you think of success and development, when a whole section of people is left out because of their inability. People suffering from disabilities suffer as they are not able to even use simple daily life things on their own.

But, fortunately, things are changing. Disability enabled websites can create a new generation. Disabled people can make use of websites with help of increased accessibility and certain tools.

Screen readers, magnifying tools are such a boon for blind or visually impaired people. These people can now surf and even shop online by themselves.

Why is online shopping so preferred?

Shopping online is convenient. You can purchase almost everything at the comfort of your home. Most importantly, people with disabilities like blind or visually impaire, physically impaired, hearing disability etc. can easily shop by sitting at home. There is no need to visit  stores and move here and there with difficulty.

Moreover,  you can shop at any time, basically 24/7. Product descriptions, easy payment doorstep delivery and certain others features make online shopping a convenient option.

Why is it necessary to make sites accessible?

As time is passing, many retailer websites are changing their websites to make them more accessible. This is done in order to be able for a larger audience as much as possible. Doing little changes in websites can turn them into accessible for visually impaired people. More and more people have freedom to purchase and surf online without asking for help from their visually sighted friends or family members. Earlier blind or visually impaired people had to use trial and error methods which didn't work every time. 

Efforts to make website accessible

Visually impaired people make use of screen readers and magnifying features to surf online. But that does not mean, the duty of websites finishes here. Websites need to be modified accordingly so that screen readers can read all important text aloud for blind people.

 

Here are a few things to keep in mind-

• Clear link text should be added
• Well labelled buttons for providing proper information
• Good colour contrast between background and other elements
• Fully detailed product description
• Easy to use and non-complex features

Blind people can buy online too!

I was sure that the retailing industry for visually impaired people is changing and becoming more accessible, when i learnt about this.

My best friend's grandmother is visually impaired. She was suffering from an eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa from past years. Earlier, she could use mobiles and desktop and see through the help of zooming features. But a couple of years ago, she lost her eyesight completely and was registered blind. It was a warm surprise when she gifted her granddaughter a brand new iPhone 11 that she purchased online by herself. We were completely surprised when we came to know about this. She used a screen reader to browse online. She found it easy to use and convenient to purchase an iPhone online on Amazon. Websites like Amazon and Target have made considerable efforts to make their websites accessible for blind people too.

 

Such websites try to explain each and every button on the website, give detailed product descriptions so that any screen reader can read aloud all components without missing any. Reading product descriptions paint a picture of a product in the consumer's mind making them able to buy products more confidently. Blind people can use hotkey to make their online experience better. Hotkey helps them to navigate. Also, you can type keywords and easily locate words instead of finding by reading the whole  paragraph.

Sites with too much clutter on webpage, make it difficult for blind people to use them. This is because screen readers jump from one page to another reading a certain word as ‘button’ only. So, it is obvious a blind person will not click on ‘button’ because they do not know what that might lead to.

Conclusion

Websites are molding them and becoming better and better to make them convenient for disabled people too. Now, even blind people can do whatever they wish online without asking for somebody’s help.