Accessibility features

Barrier-fasting: improve websites code line by code line!

Digital accessibility is still a marginal topic in the education of developers:inside, if it is ever covered at all in studies and training. Accordingly, often only individuals are interested in delving into this complex and extensive topic.

At the same time, in a society that is becoming older and more diverse, there is a growing need for websites that think and implement usability, accessibility and technical accessibility together. With your accessible online presence, you show that social responsibility and economic efficiency are not contradictory.

Of course, a truly accessible website is at its best when it has been conceived, designed and implemented inclusively from the start. Often, however, it's just a few lines of code in HTML or the choice of the right units and values in CSS that make the difference between "not at all" and "at least rudimentarily accessible."

But between all the user stories from the backlog, when is the team supposed to even care about tackling this "epic epic" accessibility?

This is where the barrier-fasting program comes into play:

During Lent, between Ash Wednesday () and Maundy Thursday (), the accessibility of a website of your choice will be improved a little bit every day.

For this, the participating teams and developer:s receive a daily task to optimize a line of HTML or a thematic area in CSS. This only takes between 5 and 30 minutes. Teams can choose between the generic set of tasks based on the most common mistakes made, or have their site pre-screened to receive custom tasks tailored to their current state.

Cost to participate in the first Barrier Fast

In the first run during (Christian) Lent 2023, participation is free. All we ask is that you fill out daily in the small form at the bottom of the page whether you made the change, if there were reasons not to, or if you did not make the change because the line in question was already correct. Also, we welcome your feedback on the program and information on what the changes have done on their side!

In addition, you are welcome to contribute to the refinancing with a donation. For this purpose, you can donate via PayPal during the term. Or you can send me your billing information and the amount you would like to be billed to annika@barrieren-fasten.de. If you are located outside of Germany in the EU, please remember your sales tax identification number for the reverse charge program.

Reasons for participating in the first barrier fast

Contribute to digital participation and better reach people with and without disabilities in the future - with as little effort as possible!

You are simultaneously making your team and your website fit for the year 2025, when the EAA - the European Accessibility Act - no longer applies only to public bodies, but to all companies that do not fall under the definition of "SMEs with fewer than 10 employees or less than €2 million in turnover". Or do you want to leave the competitive advantage of an accessible website to your competitors?

A few number arguments

According to the study on "Perception of barriers in everyday life by disability status in Germany 2021" by Statista, 13% of respondents without disabilities said they felt restricted in their everyday life by unclear or poorly usable websites. Among people with disabilities, this figure was only 8%, but was joined by 12% with "Other impairments". However, the study did not differentiate what type of disability the impairments were associated with. https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1261902/umfrage/umfrage-barrieren-im-alltag/

For Germany, there are currently no figures as good as for the Netherlands, where it was evaluated how many people have activated accessibility settings on which smartphones: https://appt.org/en/stats.

WHO estimates that 15% of the world's population has some form of disability. In industrialized countries, this percentage is even higher. Only 4% of disabilities exist from birth; the rest are acquired during life, and many limitations are signs of aging, such as presbyopia or stiff finger joints.

"The provisions of the Accessibility Strengthening Act are generally effective as of ." Press release of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

More information

P.S: best practice codes for accessibility can also improve your performance, SEO and sustainability.

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