Web Content Accessibility and Mobile Web:
Making a Website Accessible Both for People with Disabilities and for Mobile Devices

This page introduces how:

  • The user experience of people with disabilities using “traditional” computers is related to the user experience of all mobile users (particularly those without disabilities)
  • Accessibility guidelines and mobile best practices overlap. This page was developed in 2008, and most of it is still relevant. For more recent information on mobile accessibility — that is, people with disabilities using content on mobile devices, see www.w3.org/WAI/mobile/

Quick links: Shared Web Experiences, Relationship between MWBP and WCAG
Related page: Mobile Accessibility

Introduction

With global mobile phone use at an all time high, there has been a surge of interest in developing websites that are accessible from a mobile device. Similarly, making websites accessible for people with disabilities is an integral part of high quality websites, and in some cases a legal requirement.

Most Mobile Web specialists don’t know about design issues for people with disabilities. Likewise, most web accessibility specialists don’t know Mobile Web design best practices.

Websites (including applications) can more efficiently meet both goals when designers and developers understand the significant overlap between making a website accessible for a mobile device and for people with disabilities. The similarities are introduced below along with benefits of addressing both and resources with technical details of the overlap.

Similar Barriers

Users of mobile devices and people with disabilities experience similar barriers when interacting with web content. For example, mobile phone users will have a hard time if a website’s navigation requires the use of a mouse because they typically only have an alphanumeric keypad. Similarly, desktop computer users with a motor disability will have a hard time using a website if they can’t use a mouse. Additionally, people with disabilities sometimes use mobile devices to access websites.

Similar Solutions

The W3C provides guidelines/standards on making accessible content and best practices for making mobile-friendly content.

There is an overlap between MWBP, MWABP and WCAG. For example, the MWBP best practice on tab order (“Create a logical order through links, form controls and objects”) corresponds with the WCAG 2.0 success criteria on focus order (“…focusable components receive focus in an order that preserves meaning and operability”).

Doing Both - Designing for Mobile and for Accessibility

Following these two guidelines makes your web content more accessible to everyone regardless of situation, environment, or device. Designing to the guidelines together, instead of separately, can make the process more efficient — especially when considered early in the project.

Websites that already meet WCAG or MWBP are already well on the way to meeting the other.

Understanding the overlap also strengthens the business case for adopting WCAG or MWBP in a website that already complies with one, or for adopting both together. See also Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your Organization.

Resources

The following resources provide a detailed mapping of the overlap between the barriers and solutions for making websites accessible to people with disabilities and usable on mobile devices.

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