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Introduction

Accessibility is one of the most important aspects of modern web development. Accessibility means the greatest number of users can view your content. It means search engines will be able to read your site more completely. Users of all types will have a better experience if you take accessibility concerns into account. And least of all, it is required by law for all federal information and communication technology (ICT) products to be accessible (with a few minor exceptions).

Accessibility works best when incorporated into an agile production environment. It's very hard to adequately address accessibility concerns at the end of a project, but if taken into account at the beginning, it's quite straightforward and cost effective. The best way to ensure this is done is through training and education. Every member of a production team should be aware of what accessibility concerns are and have a basic understanding of how they are addressed.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) have long been the gold standard for accessibility on the web. Here at 18F we follow WCAG2.0 AA as our minimum standard for accessibility.

If you have questions about accessibility or would like help, please reach out on the GitHub Repo.

Disclaimer: This resource is intended to help 18F develop accessible products and is not a replacement for the standards defined by the U.S. Access Board. Please visit the Access Board's Section 508 Standards for ICT for more information.

Resources

Testing Tools

Please see our tools page for a listing of accessibility testing tools.

Government Sites and tutorials

World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative

Misc Sites and tutorials

18F Accessibility

An official website of the GSA’s Technology Transformation Services

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