Post by account_disabled on Oct 21, 2023 5:27:51 GMT
How much do you know about digital accessibility in Brazil ? Besides knowing that it is in its early stages, until now we did not have much information on the topic. And to make this scenario worse, the data we had was not very encouraging. For example, even with more than 17 million people with disabilities in our country, less than 1% of Brazilian websites are considered accessible. In short: the web is not accessible for people with disabilities, right?
To overcome guesswork and contribute to the production of knowledge on this subject, Hand Talk, in partnership with Movimento Web Para Todos , conducted a study on The Panorama of Digital Accessibility in Brazil . The first section of information we made was based on the perceptions of people with disabilities on the topic, and we have separated here some of the main results and reflections on the research for you to check out later, so let's do it!
What is digital accessibility?
It's always good to start at the beginning, isn't it? Digital cell phone number list accessibility concerns the creation of digital products and environments that can be used by all people , regardless of their physical, sensory or cognitive abilities. This involves making websites, applications, documents and other forms of digital content understandable and operable for as many users as possible.
Unfortunately, digital accessibility is often still left aside, either due to a lack of knowledge about the subject and how to implement it, or even due to a lack of budget or low project priority . We're going to talk more about how organizations are adopting digital accessibility initiatives on a daily basis, so keep reading!
What are some examples of digital accessibility?
There is a huge range of examples of digital accessibility, whether they are products or services. To better contextualize you, these are some of them:
Screen readers : these are technologies that convert text into audio, allowing blind or visually impaired people to use computers and mobile devices more independently.
Responsive design: Creating designs that adapt to different screen sizes and devices is super important for improving usability for everyone.
Virtual keyboards: a great option for those people who have motor difficulties or cannot use physical keyboards.
Textual alternatives for media: can appear in the form of alternative texts or captions for images, graphics and videos, making the content understandable for people with visual impairments.
Automatic sign language translators: these are tools such as the Hand Talk Plugin , which, when installed on websites, translate text content from Portuguese to Libras (Brazilian Sign Language), improving the experience of the deaf community that communicates mainly in sign language . Signs .
Digital behavior and assistive needs
This may come as a surprise, but 47.88% of people with disabilities interviewed in the study said they agreed, partially or completely, that the websites and applications they interact with on a daily basis meet their navigation needs . However, it is interesting to note that no one with blindness or visual impairment completely agreed with the statement . In other words, the web may even be more accessible than we imagined, but we need to improve our inclusion actions, especially for blind people or people with low vision.
As you can see, a large number of people with disabilities still lack the feeling that the online world is accessible, but which assistive resources do they miss most? Firstly, there is a good structure on the websites so that screen readers work well , followed by having specialized online support for people with disabilities . To close the top 3 is the availability of this specialized service 24 hours a day , and finally, having the option of translating written content on websites into Brazilian Sign Language (Libras).
Now, when we think about assistive technologies , toolkits, tools with various functionalities for adjusting the layout of website pages, for example, were the most classified as “terrible” compared to other solutions. It is interesting to note that users with disabilities value free extensions offered in browsers more than these “toolkits” , as these extensions have practically the same functionalities and are better evaluated by the people interviewed.
To overcome guesswork and contribute to the production of knowledge on this subject, Hand Talk, in partnership with Movimento Web Para Todos , conducted a study on The Panorama of Digital Accessibility in Brazil . The first section of information we made was based on the perceptions of people with disabilities on the topic, and we have separated here some of the main results and reflections on the research for you to check out later, so let's do it!
What is digital accessibility?
It's always good to start at the beginning, isn't it? Digital cell phone number list accessibility concerns the creation of digital products and environments that can be used by all people , regardless of their physical, sensory or cognitive abilities. This involves making websites, applications, documents and other forms of digital content understandable and operable for as many users as possible.
Unfortunately, digital accessibility is often still left aside, either due to a lack of knowledge about the subject and how to implement it, or even due to a lack of budget or low project priority . We're going to talk more about how organizations are adopting digital accessibility initiatives on a daily basis, so keep reading!
What are some examples of digital accessibility?
There is a huge range of examples of digital accessibility, whether they are products or services. To better contextualize you, these are some of them:
Screen readers : these are technologies that convert text into audio, allowing blind or visually impaired people to use computers and mobile devices more independently.
Responsive design: Creating designs that adapt to different screen sizes and devices is super important for improving usability for everyone.
Virtual keyboards: a great option for those people who have motor difficulties or cannot use physical keyboards.
Textual alternatives for media: can appear in the form of alternative texts or captions for images, graphics and videos, making the content understandable for people with visual impairments.
Automatic sign language translators: these are tools such as the Hand Talk Plugin , which, when installed on websites, translate text content from Portuguese to Libras (Brazilian Sign Language), improving the experience of the deaf community that communicates mainly in sign language . Signs .
Digital behavior and assistive needs
This may come as a surprise, but 47.88% of people with disabilities interviewed in the study said they agreed, partially or completely, that the websites and applications they interact with on a daily basis meet their navigation needs . However, it is interesting to note that no one with blindness or visual impairment completely agreed with the statement . In other words, the web may even be more accessible than we imagined, but we need to improve our inclusion actions, especially for blind people or people with low vision.
As you can see, a large number of people with disabilities still lack the feeling that the online world is accessible, but which assistive resources do they miss most? Firstly, there is a good structure on the websites so that screen readers work well , followed by having specialized online support for people with disabilities . To close the top 3 is the availability of this specialized service 24 hours a day , and finally, having the option of translating written content on websites into Brazilian Sign Language (Libras).
Now, when we think about assistive technologies , toolkits, tools with various functionalities for adjusting the layout of website pages, for example, were the most classified as “terrible” compared to other solutions. It is interesting to note that users with disabilities value free extensions offered in browsers more than these “toolkits” , as these extensions have practically the same functionalities and are better evaluated by the people interviewed.