In the past, we were told to put an Accessibility Navigation in the HTML of our websites in order to make them more accessible. That might be true in the past, but what about today?
Today, how many visually disabled people are actually surfing the internet? And how many people are actually surfing the internet using "miceless laptops"? If no one is using Accessibility Navigation, what's the point to put it in your website? Is it there just to say "your website is professional because it has an Accessibility Navigation"?
What's your thought? Is Accessibility Navigation really necessary nowadays?
Accessibility is always needed, especially if you want more people to use your website. Loads more people are starting to use mouseless laptops, and now that screen-readers are improving, more and more people with visual impediments are using the internet. Therefore having a nav that is obvious to use when read out is important, and having conditional links (for screen-readers) that send you to important places of the page too. It doesn't take too long to write and is a good time investment.
If I were blind I think I would want a braille screen to read on. Someone should make those accessible.
I think it is a good idea to have accessibility, but I also think you need to look at the target audience of your site and determine how many will put it those features to use. A blog should have them for sure in most cases, but I could see a site dedicated to the deaf not needed screen reader capabilities.
Thanks for advising. You reminded me there are still people who consider that Accessibility Navigation is always needed, so it looks like dropping it now is not a good idea.
However, is there a statistic shows that loads more people are starting to use mouseless laptops? Schmotty mentioned tablets. So maybe it should be that loads more people are starting to use tablets instead of mouseless laptops?
@Schmotty,
Yes, thanks for your good point. Apparently, it depends on what kind of audience a website has.
I guess the reason CSS-Tricks doesn't have an Accessibility Navigation is that CSS-Tricks is for web developers instead of visually disabled people. So it is reasonable that this website doesn't need such a navigation.
Today, how many visually disabled people are actually surfing the internet? And how many people are actually surfing the internet using "miceless laptops"? If no one is using Accessibility Navigation, what's the point to put it in your website? Is it there just to say "your website is professional because it has an Accessibility Navigation"?
What's your thought? Is Accessibility Navigation really necessary nowadays?
Loads more people are starting to use mouseless laptops, and now that screen-readers are improving, more and more people with visual impediments are using the internet.
Therefore having a nav that is obvious to use when read out is important, and having conditional links (for screen-readers) that send you to important places of the page too. It doesn't take too long to write and is a good time investment.
If I were blind I think I would want a braille screen to read on. Someone should make those accessible.
I think it is a good idea to have accessibility, but I also think you need to look at the target audience of your site and determine how many will put it those features to use. A blog should have them for sure in most cases, but I could see a site dedicated to the deaf not needed screen reader capabilities.
Thanks for advising. You reminded me there are still people who consider that Accessibility Navigation is always needed, so it looks like dropping it now is not a good idea.
However, is there a statistic shows that loads more people are starting to use mouseless laptops? Schmotty mentioned tablets. So maybe it should be that loads more people are starting to use tablets instead of mouseless laptops?
@Schmotty,
Yes, thanks for your good point. Apparently, it depends on what kind of audience a website has.
I guess the reason CSS-Tricks doesn't have an Accessibility Navigation is that CSS-Tricks is for web developers instead of visually disabled people. So it is reasonable that this website doesn't need such a navigation.