How would one define a public space? A simple Google search will tell you that a public space is an area or an environment that is open to “all”, a shared space without discrimination or exclusion. This idyllic description however does not apply to most public spaces and the mass shift to the digital realm poses new challenges whereas the old ones still remain unattended. What, then, is a public space truly, and who comprises “all”?
The world that we have created for ourselves post the COVID-19 pandemic relies heavily on digital advancements made in the last four years due to which how we interact with the rest of the world has changed drastically. Chatrooms took the stead of cafes and restaurants, online workspaces replaced classrooms and offices, and very real, life-changing, and human events, be they personal or public, happen on the internet. The internet is not just a recreational space anymore. It is where a lot of us live our lives. Like a lot of other community spaces though, work needs to be done on making it more accessible to the wide array of people for whom the internet provides a less-than-pleasant experience.
Public spaces are quite ableist in how they are designed but the new digital infrastructure being built to support the needs of the ever-growing internet user base should be more inclusive. If every human interaction and activity is to move to the digital realm, we need to make sure not to leave some of us behind due to digital accessibility barriers. The internet is now a public space in its own right and all public spaces should be made as inclusive as possible. Ensuring accessibility does not only entail making websites disability-friendly and supportive of various cognitive needs (although these considerations are important and, more often than not, overlooked) but also involves not assuming the nature in which the end user may engage with a digital entity.
Do Not Assume What Users Know
Most websites also presume some amount of digital literacy and their user onboarding is often inadequate. User onboarding is the process through which a new user on a website or an application is guided through its functionalities. Although more and more websites have these nowadays, they also seem to take a lot of information for granted and cannot be relooked at after the website or the app has been opened for the first time. Ideally, the user should be able to go back to the guide whenever they want, and the guide should be extensive so as to overcome digital accessibility barriers as much as possible.
Most government websites in India do not even have preliminary onboarding. The IRCTC website, for instance, is sloppily designed and does not provide the user with any guidance whatsoever on how to navigate the site. Senior citizens and people who cannot afford air tickets depend heavily on trains for their transportation needs and the confusing structure of this site alienates a huge chunk of these demographics.
Recommendations for Inclusive Design
A basic yet important factor to consider for inclusive design is the color scheme of the website or application. Try and opt for a simple and consistent color palette. People with photosensitivity may also benefit from this. Choose colours wisely and ensure that the content on your website is readable. It is suggested that one must try and choose colours for the foreground and background as per the 4.5:1 ratio.
A good rule of thumb is to keep it simple. Flashy animation and design acrobatics may not bode well for inclusive user experience (UX). Straightforward and intuitive interfaces are always better than complex and distracting elements. Interspersing advertisements within the text and random pop-ups also disrupt the reading experience and if the user’s internet speed is slow, lead to digital accessibility barriers that are hard to mitigate. Keeping it simple will also help reduce load time. The users must also be able to switch to dark mode whenever they think it necessary. An accessibility menu also helps your user adjust the display settings of the website according to their personal needs.
Another key factor to consider when designing a web page is the font used. Neurodivergent users tend to respond better to sans-serif fonts such as Arial or Calibri. Although often ridiculed in academic and professional settings, it has been found of late that Comic Sans is dyslexia-friendly. It is up to the designers to make sure that a commitment to aesthetics does not override an adherence to web accessibility standards.
For an instance of how much readability and accessibility matter, compare the ACLU’s website and the New York Magazine’s website. ACLU’s use of sans-serif fonts makes it much easier for the user to read the content on the page. The New York Magazine’s inconsistent design and cluttered layout make for a less cohesive and user-friendly experience.
Screen readers are a must for users who are visually impaired. Make sure to also check the compatibility of the content of the web page with screen readers. Blind people usually access web pages with keyboards together with a screen reader, and thus screen readers become absolutely crucial for enabling access to digital resources. Providing text descriptions for images is also a good idea. Screen Readers may then read out the descriptions of images and facilitate better comprehension of the content for users. Besides, not all users come from areas with great internet connectivity and alt text can help them understand the content of the images in case they fail to load.
You may also want to guarantee that your web page is compatible with all screen sizes or your user may be greeted by a disconcerting sight when they try to open it on other devices. Your design may look great on a laptop but fail to be accessible on the phone if it has not been tested across devices.
The Language of the Internet
In a Ted Talk about web accessibility standards, Clive Losby talks about how ridiculous it would seem if, like websites that bar people for being disabled, some websites prohibited you entry if you were not white. Given that English is now being widely touted as the language of the internet, this hypothetical is not just a hypothetical. Website and internet accessibility does largely depend on whether or not you understand English and in that it is inherently Eurocentric.
It would help non-native English speakers therefore if the language on web pages was kept simple. Abstract and figurative language also, additionally, does not help autistic individuals comprehend the content of the web page very easily.
Most translation tools are better than they used to be but they are still very much in their primitive stages and are not great for translating huge walls of text that websites often contain with nuance, and they have a limited number of languages that they can translate into, or they make mistakes in identifying the language of a given text. Users often take to social media platforms to talk about the errors made by these translation tools.
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In Conclusion
According to the 2011 census of India, around 2.13 percent of the population is disabled. This of course does not account for neurodiversity nor are there numbers that adequately reflect the number of people on the spectrum. The budget allocated to the Department of Empowerment and Welfare of Persons with Disabilities however was around 0.03 percent as of 2022, drastically below the allocation required to address these requirements. Most government websites are not disability- or neurodiversity-friendly, and they barely consider so-called status-based “social disabilities”, and they fail to meet most web accessibility standards.
The shift to the digital realm is happening now and it is happening fast. Accessibility is imperative and should address the physical, mental, social, and cultural needs of the people who have hitherto been neglected.
As architects of a new-age digital universe, web designers and engineers share the responsibility of making sure that this world does not marginalize certain groups and individuals and that is easily done. What is accessible enough for these marginalized groups is undoubtedly good enough for everybody and they deserve not to be the edge cases in the consideration of inclusive design choices but rather the central ones. Only then will we be able to build our virtual world more sensibly and sensitively than our physical world and make sure we mean it when we say that the internet is a public space, and that it is meant for all.
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