Every time you begin a new release cycle, you'll be faced with plenty of traps.
They'll seem like win-win situations at first. They'll promise faster delivery times and reduced complexity.
The allure is strong, especially when facing tight deadlines and budget constraints. You'll want to believe there's a magical way to do more with less.
But make no mistake. They are situations you'd do well to avoid.
You can easily spot a trap. They usually have these elements:
- Traps are hard to ignore. They offer benefits that seem too good to be true.
- Traps are a zero-sum game. For you to benefit, someone else has to suffer.
- Traps are difficult to get out of. Once you've walked in, you can't easily step out.
Here are some traps to stay away from next time you plan a product release.
- Adding accessibility later. This never happens. Shipping features without accessibility will require massive rework.
- Thinking most of your users don't need accessibility. This ignores the 20% of people with disabilities and the many situations where all users benefit from accessible design.
- Testing with screen readers is enough. Screen readers are just one tool. But you've left out cognitive and situational impairments, for example.
- Automated tests are enough. Tools can't catch all accessibility issues. Human testing is essential.
- Thinking following the WCAG is enough. Guidelines are the minimum standard, not the ceiling for accessible products.
Now you know traps are there.
It's still up to you to avoid them.