Accessibility, often abbreviated as "a11y," refers to the practice of making websites, applications, tools, and other technologies accessible to all people, including those with disabilities. The term "a11y" is a numeronym where "11" represents the number of letters between the first 'a' and the last 'y' in the word "accessibility"[1][2][4][5].
In the context of web development, accessibility means ensuring that digital environments are usable by everyone, regardless of their physical or cognitive abilities. This includes individuals with visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities. The goal is to provide a better user experience that accommodates the needs of these users, making digital content functional and accessible to them[2].
Accessibility involves several key practices:
Perceivability: Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. This might include providing text alternatives for non-text content or creating content that can be presented in different ways without losing information[3][7].
Operability: User interface components and navigation must be operable. This includes making all functionality available from a keyboard and giving users enough time to read and use content[3][7].
Understandability: Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable. This means that text content should b...
