Making the Web More Usable for Low Vision Audiences

Making the Web More Usable for Low Vision Audiences

Date: Thursday, November 1, 2016
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Eastern (UTC – 4 hours)
Length: 1.5 hours
Speaker: Aaron Leventhal, Director of Project Management, AiSquared
Target Audience: Accessibility professionals, developers, designers, testers, and anyone involved in the delivery of websites and web content to the general population
Skill Level: Intermediate

Overview: Low vision audiences are rarely the focus of web accessibility efforts, yet the low vision population is massive. The World Health Organization estimates that 246M people worldwide have low vision, and this population is growing rapidly in developed countries due to demographic trends and rising computer use. This session will focus on the needs and challenges faced by low vision web users. We will delve into the diverse of low vision condition and enumerate common web design practices that can pose a specific challenge to this user group. We will provide practical guidance for developing "low vision friendly" websites and applications.

Objectives:

• Learn about the diversity of low vision conditions and the corresponding challenges faced by low vision web users

• Develop actionable techniques for empathizing with those with low vision

• Identify common web design practices that result in poor accessibility and usability for low vision web users

• Learn guidelines for web and application design that maximize usability for the widest variety of low vision users