In celebration of Get Online Week, an annual digital inclusion campaign run by Good Things Foundation, AccessAble Ambassador Holly Tuke highlights the crucial need for accessible digital spaces.

As a disabled person, digital accessibility dictates my online experience. Whether that’s doing my job, disability activism, scrolling social media, making purchases online or keeping in touch with family and friends – whatever it might be, the experience is dominated by accessibility. Digital accessibility has had an impact on my life for as long as I can remember. From learning to touch-type not long after starting school, using a screen reader for the first time or advocating for work in accessible formats. It will always have an impact, something I can only imagine getting stronger as technology progresses. 

We can’t get ahead of ourselves though, we need to face the reality right now - there’s still a long way to go and a lot of work to be done. 

As disabled people, we face digital exclusion on a daily basis. It can often be down to a lack of awareness, arguing more training is needed, perceptions changed and people to have a deeper understanding on the importance of accessibility. Until that happens, we face these barriers every single day. 

The impact digital accessibility has on our lives can’t be disregarded. 

As a blind person and a screen reader user, I’m all too familiar with both the positive impact and the repercussions of digital accessibility.  

If something isn’t accessible, I’m left with two choices: 

• Asking a sighted person for help: taking away my independence, meaning they have to do the task for me. 

• Click away: meaning that I’ll be unlikely to return in the future. 

It doesn’t stop there either. I’m then left wondering whether to contact the company to ask them to make their website, app or communications accessible, if I can even find contact details, let alone an accessibility statement. It’s a familiar, never-ending cycle that goes for every single pillar of accessibility. 

If I followed up every time I encountered a lack of digital accessibility, it’d take up countless hours of my time. The truth is I don’t have those hours to spare, or the energy either. It’s not practical.  Not forgetting it shouldn’t have to be done in the first place.  

 

The real impact of digital accessibility 

As energy draining or frustrating it might be, we need to let our lived experience be the real storyteller here, because nothing is more impactful than that. 

Many of these barriers, and more, are our everyday reality:

• Not being able to buy something online independently because the website isn’t accessible. 
• Not being able to get involved in all the conversations about the latest film or TV show everyone is talking about because it doesn’t have audio description or subtitle. 
• Receiving a document in an inaccessible format, despite you stating your preferred accessible format. 

You’ve probably got many more to add to that list, I know I have. A lack of accessibility leaves us feeling frustrated, upset, excluded…the list goes on. It can be exhausting. Disabled people are natural problem-solvers. 

So what about the impact when it is right, when we can access digital content like everyone else? Thinking about that puts a massive smile on my face. Because that’s how it should be. 

When we have the same access as everyone else, it gives us independence. It gives us autonomy. It means that we can make our own informed decisions about our online activity; meaning that it’s on our terms. It makes us feel included. In a way, it’s empowering, isn’t it? 

Perhaps one of the stand-out feelings, is how it tells us that brands, organisations and individuals care about disabled people. It tells us that they want our time, they want our money, and they want our customer service. Perhaps above the rest though, is they value us. They value our community. They want us to have a stress free experience. They want us to have an accessible experience. Those are the ones we’ll never forget, the companies we’ll return to time and time again and recommend to the fellow disabled community. 

Put simply, the impact of accessibility on our personal lives and our community as a whole is much greater than we can ever put into words. Words don’t do it justice.  

To some, digital accessibility might be a tick-box exercise. To us, the disabled community, its impact is huge. It completely transforms our experience. We’ve all got stories of when digital accessibility has changed the game for us. Those are the stories we want to tell, the ones we want to remember. 

 

Dear disabled people, the impact of digital accessibility isn’t your fault  

It can be easy to get caught up in the notion that a lack of accessibility is your fault as a disabled person. You feel guilty. You feel like a burden for asking for support. You feel like you’re doing the community a disservice if you don’t start the conversations with companies to make their websites, apps, platforms, documents or communications accessible. 

Am I right? 

When we face a lack of accessibility pretty much every single day, there’s no wonder we feel this way. It’s only natural. It becomes so engrained in us that we automatically find ourselves having to problem-solve, feeling guilty for navigating a digital world that isn’t accessible for us, much like the same way the physical world isn’t. There’s no wonder we feel this way. We’re constantly fighting for equal access like everyone else. That’s all we’re asking for. 

But I’m here to tell you that none of it is your fault. You’re not to blame for inaccessible websites, apps that are hard to navigate, or materials that aren’t in your preferred accessible format. It’s not your fault when your needs aren’t met. It’s not your fault when you click away from a website because you feel deflated and excluded. 

But here’s the fact. Accessibility is everyone’s responsibility. We all have a part to play in making the world accessible, both digitally and in the physical world. Whether that’s hiring accessibility testers to test your digital resources and website, or installing a ramp at a physical environment, all the principles are the same. 

To some, digital accessibility might seem like a small piece of the puzzle. To disabled people, it’s a lifeline.