For web accessibility, the truth is no decision I've made so far has been a technical decision. All decisions were people decisions.
Web accessibility is fundamentally about people, not technology. The challenge was I had to understand and accept that different people interacted differently with websites. Of course, at the end of the day, the solutions involved tech. But knowing when and how to apply them required understanding human needs.
Whenever I made decisions that centered around people in web accessibility, I've had to:
- understand diverse user needs (visual, motor, cognitive, auditory impairments)
- consider how they navigate the website (screen readers, keyboard only, voice commands)
- choose which accessibility standards to prioritise based on those users
Most accessibility tools and standards already exist and are well-documented. The technical bit is straightforward once you understand the human needs.