Accessibility and Design" A Failure of the Imagination Bob Regan Macromedia 600 Townsend San Francisco, CA 94103 b r e g a n @ m a c r o m e d i a , com In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practiee, there is. - Yogi Berra ABSTRACT Web Accessibility and Web Design are two disciplines with a common theory and divergent practices. Both endeavors rely on a standard set of techniques to ensure a consistent experience of data and content across a diverse set of end users. Both rely on creative individuals to build and deliver great sites and great experiences that have an impact on the user. Both seek to extend the reach of the end user and link individuals together to form a stronger collective whole. However, despite the common theory that links them, web accessibility and web design do not share a common set of practices. Sites hailed for their accessibility are rarely noted for their design. Sites hailed for their design are rarely noteworthy as models of accessibility. Few sites are ever held up as models of both great accessibility and great design. 1. THE GAP B E T W E E N ACCESSIBILITY AND DESIGN There are few technical reasons for the tension between accessibility and design. In fact, the technical practices of accessibility and design are currently converging in many respects. Both are increasingly dependent on web standards to ensure transformation across browsers and devices. Both web accessibility and web design increasingly rely on style sheets for the separation o f content from its presentation. Both are beginning to value the principles of user testing and feedback. A surprising and noteworthy result of this recent convergence is that the underlying technologies and techniques associated with sites representing great design are increasingly consistent with sites that represent great accessibility. In order to understand why there are so few sites that illustrate great design and great accessibility, web design needs to be understood as a practice of individuals. Sites are built by people, not principles or standards. To state the case in a rather simple way, designers are trained to value the visual presentation. Accessibility advocates are taught to value adherence to standards. Compromising on either front means relinquishing control. In general, this is not something that comes easily within either community of experts. The current state of accessibility represents a failure of the imagination. Advocacy work on the part of groups like the National Federation of the Blind, the Royal National Institute of the Blind and Vision Australia has done much to raise awareness about the importance of accessibility. Guidelines such as those developed by the W 3 C ' s Web Accessibility Initiative have provided guidance for developers and designers in how to build accessible sites. Legislation such as Section 508 and the Disability Discrimination Act have provided a business case for meeting these standards. Awareness about accessibility and the brute force of legislation will only take accessibility to a certain point. Designers do not emulate designs because they are accessible, they emulate sites that they admire or that inspire them. It is only by reaching the hearts and minds of the very designers who create websites that accessibility will truly become mainstream in its practice. Designers need to bring their considerable creative powers to bear on the specific challenges of accessibility. The accessibility community needs to value that power of design and to cultivate a culture of innovation and creativity in accessible design. To date, the absence of a connection between designers and accessibility represents the greatest failure of accessibility and its greatest challenge moving forward. 2. C O N C L U S I O N This paper takes a closer look at how we might bridge the gap between accessibility and design. Beginning with an examination of the state of accessibility and design, this paper will compare the winners of the 2003 Webby Awards and sites promoting accessibility. This selection of sites awarded for their exceptional design provides an illuminating snapshot of the current connection between accessibility and design. Second, this paper will briefly examine lessons learned from a redesign project of a music site at Macromedia. This project presented some of the most talented designers in the US with the challenge of creating a site that was a model for accessibility. The results are not only instructive in terms of the techniques, they provide a framework for how to approach accessibility in a design focused environment. This extended abstract is adapted from Proceedings o f the International Cross-disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility by permission. ©2004 ACM ( published September 2004 ) ACM SIGCAPH Newsletter No. 76, June 2003

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