Accessibility & Usability: Unintended Ways You Might Be Helping Readers

    Through this past week’s readings, I have discovered that I accidentally made my blog page usable and accessible. Many individuals often associate accessibility with disabilities, according to the article “Accessibility, Usability, and Inclusion,” but this is not always the case. Accessibility means being open to all– the opportunity to navigate and employ a page is what accessibility is all about. Usability also refers to functionality. Does this page look nice? Do links and hypertexts work? Is the layout beneficial? Through the readings this week, I have found that I could answer the previous questions with a confident yes. Aesthetics and glamour might draw a person to a page, but accessibility and usability keep them returning.

    In considering accessibility, a person must first look at how a page is set up. “Accessibility, Usability, and Inclusion” notes that accessible pages usually utilize a darker background as these backgrounds make it easier for individuals with learning disabilities to process the information on a page. Not only does this help individuals with learning disabilities, but it can also help everyone that comes across a page. Dark backgrounds/dark modes help to reduce eyestrain, says the American Academy of Opthalmology. I am proud to report that I had already committed my page to the darker look, in all honesty, just because I like reading against a darker background. Another aspect of accessibility is the ability to contribute without restriction. In playing around with the settings on my blog, I had preemptively set up the comments so that anyone could post– anonymously or not. Often, a person cannot comment on a website without an account, which takes away from the intended community feel and reader autonomy. This action was another form of making my blog more accessible to my readers.

    Usability is another vital idea to think about when creating a functional website. It is easy to forget how a page will look once the publish button clicks. The formatting for the author is significantly different from the finished product. When creating my blog, I was almost obsessive with how often I toggled back and forth between my page preview and control center to make the website look as polished as possible. In doing so, I made a site that looks credible and flows tangibly. As Fogg said, a novice reader would appreciate “the look and feel.” For my own satisfaction, I checked every link, sent my writing through grammar checkers more times than I could count, and cited my sources so that everyone could use the information I provided elsewhere.

    While many of my actions regarding my blog post suited my personal desires and needs, I am satisfied by the fact that my choices help others too. Sometimes people can get too caught up in the details of an assignment, such as making this blog and looking at the rubric as the only guide. In these cases, looking at how you individually want your creation to impact others can be helpful. Because of this thinking, my blog site feels like an immense success (though no one has read it).

I feel that it is safe to say, signing off from my last blog for the Digital Writing 307T class, that maybe…in some capacity…I am tech-savvy.

Visual illustration of the difference between dark and light mode.

Citations

Div. “Dark Mode vs Light Mode, Which One to Choose? - Redtom - Good Things You Like.” RedTom, 5 May 2021, www.redtom.com/post/dark-mode-vs-light-mode-which-one-to-choose/.

Fogg, B. J. How Do People Evaluate a Web Site’s Credibility?: Results from a Large Study: A Report of Research. Stanford University, 2002.

Rush, Sharon. “Accessibility, Usability, and Inclusion.” Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-usability-inclusion/. Accessed 23 June 2023.

“Should You Use Night Mode to Reduce Blue Light?” American Academy of Ophthalmology, 7 Sept. 2019, www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/should-you-use-night-mode-to-reduce-blue-light.