Understanding Accessibility

Blindness

Blindness does not always mean that someone cannot see at all. As with all conditions, people who are blind vary in how much they can see. It's also important to realize that not all people who are blind read Braille. Some do, while others may rely on technology to read content aloud.

People who are blind tend to face many barriers with print and digital content. For one, print content may be useless if someone has no vision at all, thus providing digital copies of your materials is a step in the right direction.

People who are blind often use screen readers or refreshable Braille to consume content. Navigating a computer is often done by use of the keyboard and not the mouse.

Common barriers for this group include:

• visual content that has no text alternative
• functional elements that cannot be controlled with a keyboard overly complex or excessive amounts of content
• inability to navigate within a page of content
• content that is not structured
• inconsistent navigation
• time limits (insufficient time to complete tasks)
• unexpected actions (e.g., redirect when an element receives focus)
• multimedia without audio description.