Accessible can be Beautiful
I may be preaching to the choir in this post, but one can always use it as a reference to clients or colleagues.
Accessibility is one of my favourite aspects of web design. It’s also got a lot of hangups and myths associated with it. For example, it is not just for disabled users contrary to popular belief. I hope the linked article put that one to bed for a while.
My other favourite myth is the old-fangled “Accessible sites are boring.” Pah! Poppycock! It may be true that often accessible sites are created from a pool of fairly unimaginative templates (think the accessible template set from pre-Dreamweaver 8.) They don’t do anything wrong (except harm my case thus far) but they’re not exciting. They’re not really designed. I aim to show you examples of brilliant and accessible design, and show that it is all a myth after all. Accessibility and design are not mutually exclusive. They walk hand in hand.
Boring? Try Beautiful
Without inspiration such as a bunch of CSS galleries (nothing looked promising after searching for an accessible website showcase) I had to dig a little deeper this time. The following is the pick of the bunch from my search. Feel free to suggest a site if you think it fits the list.
For the record, the following are chosen based upon achieving WAI Priority 2 using the Cynthia Says accessibility tester for their homepage. I am fully aware that validation is not the be-all-and end-all of accessibility. I know accessibility goes beyond the homepage. I think this is the fairest and quickest (let’s be honest I don’t have that much free time!) way to put a benchmark on a site in this case. I’m not suggesting for a minute that this should be the benchmark to test all sites - this simply allows me to find sites of a certain standard. Anyway, on with the sites:
Clean and creative. Good use of space and typography to create a welcoming site.
Use of a flash element - passes the accessibility test. Nicely falls back to good old HTML.
Accessibility - not ’spoiling’ this textured design at all.
Bold, clean and simple.
Ultra-minimal portfolio. Mixed sans-serif font cases adds interest.
I hope to have shown with the aid of the preceding examples that accessibility doesn’t necessarily stunt great design. In fact using accessibility, usability and web standards as a ‘trinity’ one can often improve on their design skills. The examples above also illustrate that the code elements that increase a website’s accessibility do not often show on the design. The sites in question aren’t “littered with accessibility aids that most people don’t use” - another of my favourite statements I hear far too often.
Let me know your additions via a comment and I’ll add the best to the list, along with some link-love to the commenter if desired.