Accessibility

Ensuring that everyone can use Orchid sites and apps

According to the World Health Organization’s world report on disability, about 15% of the world’s population lives with some form of disability. The report’s conclusion includes this wisdom:

Almost all jobs can be performed productively by someone with a disability, and given the right environment, most people with disabilities can be productive.

This is why web accessibility is so important. Orchid adheres to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, a set of recommendations for making web content more accessible, to create the right environment for anyone and everyone using a site or app built with Orchid.

Orchid accessibility best practices

Accesibility isn’t just a checklist to go through at the end of a project. The most accessible experiences start with good design.

A good place to start is to ensure that any content that is crucial to a Orchid app is represented via server-rendered HTML. That ensures that anyone using the app can access its content, whether visually through a browser, using assistive devices like screen readers, keyboard-only navigating, and many other form factors. By using semantic HTML, you’re doing all of your users—and machines, robots, and spiders too—a big favor, regardless of how they’re accessing your app.

Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA)

If you find yourself in a situation where you need additional semantics in your markup—specifically as it relates to interactive components—you can enhance your HTML with WAI-ARIA.

Note: WAI-ARIA is a way to make inaccessible markup accessible. For best results, start with semantic HTML, as it takes best advantage of the browser’s built-in accessibility tree.

As a general guideline for interactive Orchid components, your HTML should make use of appropriate Roles and your JavaScript should articulate States and Properties.

Further research