Accessibility remediation refers to the process of identifying and addressing accessibility barriers that may prevent or semi-prevent users with disabilities from accessing digital content. In this article, we will explore the significance of accessibility remediation, its key components, and practical steps for implementing effective remediation strategies.

Step 1: Understanding Accessibility Barriers

Identifying Common Barriers

The first step in accessibility remediation is to identify common barriers that users may encounter. These barriers can include issues with text readability, lack of alternative text for images, improper use of headings and other semantic markup, and challenges in navigating content using assistive technologies.

These barriers should be identified through a mix of testing and channels.  Automated and manual testing should be conducted on your website or digital platform to get a better understanding of the barriers that are on a system.  Having users also be able to report barriers can help us in identifying these barriers that need to be remediated. 

Assessing Compliance with Standards

Familiarize yourself with established accessibility standards, such as the current version Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) AA requirements . Regular assessments can help identify areas where digital content may fall short of these standards and require remediation.  If possible get your site enrolled into the Universities automated testing system to help with this ongoing evaluation process.

Step 2: Prioritizing Remediation Efforts

Impact on User Experience

Prioritize remediation efforts based on their impact on the overall user experience. Addressing issues that significantly affect users with disabilities, such as keyboard navigation or screen reader compatibility, should be given priority.  You can also organize the list by the remediation efforts your team has control over and those that your team does not control, such as content remediations verses template adjustments.  

Knowing what you have the ability to change and what others need to help you change is important.  After you have determined what you have control to remediate and what others will need to help with sort the list based on the things you know how to remediate and the ones you may need clarification on.  Send the list you need clarification on to the Digital Accessibility Coordinator and then start working on the list that you can remediate already.  

Step 3: Prioritizing Barrier Remediation

Like mentioned above prioritizing based on the amount of impact can be a good route to take, however make sure to consider the amount of time you have to do a remediation of a found barrier.  Sometimes remediating a bunch of smaller barriers will prove to be more beneficial for the end users if we do not have time to fix a bigger issue in one sitting.

The goal of remediation is to make things more accessible, but we must consider that we need to make sure that our websites or other digital platforms function uniformly and consistently.  Fixing a major issue on one page that is on other pages as well could cause confusion for our users if we do not fix them all at once. 

Step 4: Implementing Remediation Strategies and Grouping of Barriers

Once you have identified your barriers you will want to group them together by similarities that work for your specific team.  This grouping could be type of error (color, ARIA, header order), location of error in template (specific location or component), or something based on your knowledge (content vs. coding), how long a barrier will take to remediate, etc. 
This grouping can be done in various ways or mixed, there is really no wrong way to group barriers, as long as it works for you and your team.

Once you have items grouped the next step is to get to work on remediating the barriers and testing as you go to ensure that your barriers are being remediated properly and effectively.  It should also be noted that testing should be done as you make changes by utilizing both automated testing, manual testing, and code inspection methods.

Step 5: Continuous Improvement

Accessibility is an ongoing process. Regularly revisit and reassess digital content, incorporating user feedback and addressing new challenges as they arise. An iterative approach ensures that digital properties remain accessible and inclusive over time.  Whenever you update a page either with new code or with new content perform an automated or manual test to ensure the accessibility of the page has not be negatively impacted. 

Conclusion

Accessibility remediation is a critical process for ensuring that digital content is inclusive and usable for everyone. By understanding common barriers, prioritizing remediation efforts, implementing effective strategies, testing with users, and promoting awareness, organizations can bridge the accessibility gap and contribute to a digital landscape that values diversity and inclusivity. Investing in accessibility remediation not only enhances user experiences but also aligns with ethical design principles, reflecting a commitment to equal access for all.