The earth is flat and if you run too far in any direction, you could fall off. Fact or fiction? Of course, it’s a wrong notion and one that a simple Google search can verify. But it’s not always so easy to verify truths about topics you aren’t familiar with. And because the niche of web accessibility is not so commonly talked about, we’ve curated a list of myths to deal with. So, let’s bust 10 myths about automated web accessibility, once and for all.
1. Digital Products Should Be Accessible by Default.
?False. Apple and Google, two of the biggest tech giants, do not apply accessibility profiles by default. On their platforms, a person with a disability has the option to set their own preferences. This makes logical sense because people with disabilities do not all have the same needs. Creating a platform that automatically loads an accessibility mode by default won’t suit the diverse requirements of the intended consumers, and may inconvenience consumers who don’t need it.
At Equally AI, we take into account the specific needs of our community. We have different profiles for our beneficiaries’ individual preferences and needs, ensuring that they can have customized and seamless experiences when and how they want to. Just like Apple and Google, you will only need to set it once.
➡️ Claim Your Free Trial: Explore Equally AI’s Accessibility Profiles
2. Automated Web Accessibility Solutions Can’t Detect Changes That Harm the Accessibility Experience.
?False. Automated checkers can be set up to run regularly, such as daily or weekly, to scan a website for potential accessibility issues. They can also be integrated into a website’s development workflow, allowing developers to receive alerts and notifications when accessibility issues are detected. This can help catch problems before they become bigger and more difficult to fix.
Equally AI is designed to be accessible by default and adapts seamlessly to changes in your website’s function and structure. This ensures that you provide the best user experience possible to your visitors even as your website evolves over time.
3. Automated Web Accessibility Solutions Can’t Handle Regulatory Changes
⚖️True and False. Automated accessibility solutions can be updated to reflect changes in regulations, and provide a baseline for accessibility compliance. However, manual testing by accessibility experts is also necessary, as it provides a more comprehensive evaluation of a website’s accessibility.
Therefore it is important to complement automated checks with manual testing to ensure full compliance with the latest accessibility regulations. Equally AI provides both automated and manual testing solutions to help you meet the regulatory requirements for web accessibility in your region.
4. Automated Web Accessibility Solutions Don’t Work
?False. There’s a lot of distrust regarding automated accessibility solutions. This is largely due to the proliferation of overlays and solutions that just don’t seem to get the work done. We’re glad to let you know that automated solutions can do a complete job, and even scale with your website, ensuring you stay compliant all the time and provide a better user experience.
With Equally AI, you only need to enter one line of code, and we’ll do the rest. We’ll remedy errors in both the foreground and background elements of your website in real-time, keeping you compliant with your regional regulations and maintaining the WCAG 2.1 AA standards. The best part is that we do this while ensuring that people with disabilities still have a seamless experience on your site.
5. Automated Web Accessibility Gives People a Bad Experience
?False. Each person with a disability experiences the web uniquely, and like people without disabilities, their experiences should be improved with continuous use. Equally uses automated technology and manual expert testing to improve and personalize the experiences of your consumers. Each time a person uses our interface, our technology changes to better serve our beneficiaries. Our technology remembers the user, so it only has to be set once. Most importantly, our technology will provide people with disabilities and primarily the blind community with the best experience ever.
6. With Automated Web Accessibility AAA Level Is Unattainable
?False. This is a tricky one because all governments require those in their jurisdictions to comply with the WCAG AA level. This is a good aim because conformance level AA addresses guidelines for usability and operability by a large number of users. The AAA level takes things a step further and primarily focuses on the requirements for people with cognitive impairments. Understandably, it isn’t easy to make all web content comply with WCAG conformance standard AAA, but when done, it’s worth it for the beneficiaries.
Equally AI provides conformance with WCAG 2.1 level AA and AAA at the same cost, ensuring your content is accessible to a broader range of people, more than what the law requires.
7. Automated Web Accessibility Solutions Are Fully Automatic and AI-powered
?False. We understand what AI means and how it relates to web accessibility. Even the most advanced present-day AI technologies cannot completely make an entire website accessible. Human evaluation is need to verify the results of automated tests.
The best that can be achieved is IA – Intelligence Augmentation. This involves the use of machine learning and human accessibility experts to provide complete remediation.
At Equally AI, we use machine learning to save time, but every website has to go through a certified accessibility expert, who carefully inspects, confirms, and adjusts the work of the AI. This ensures we do not only provide compliance but a phenomenal user experience.
You only have to insert one line of code, and we’ll do the rest. We take into account the specific needs of our community, and we work together with them to make sure our product is loved by the community.
8. Automated Web Accessibility Solutions Affect Website Performance
⚖️True and false. Some companies use old technologies that affect the loading time of any website using their platform. And false, because Equally AI uses advanced technology that prioritizes your main page’s content. Our interface only gets rendered after your website content is loaded. This ensures your website’s performance is unaffected.
9. Making My Website Fully Compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA Could Harm Someone with Disabilities
?False. Making your website fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA will not harm anyone with disabilities. In fact, doing so does not only benefits people with disabilities, but it also benefits everyone who visits your website. There are other advantages of removing accessibility barriers on the web and WCAG 2.1 AA provides guidelines to help you do just that.
Equally AI offers a comprehensive suite of advanced technology and expert services to ensure your website is usable by everyone, including people with disabilities who use assistive technologies such as screen readers.
10. One Must Manually Activate an Accessibility Interface for a Website to be Accessible
?False. With our technology, websites are made accessible in accordance with WCAG 2.1 level AA standards by a simple integration of our accessibility solution. However, people with disabilities are offered the choice of enhancing their experiences by selecting one of several profiles.
Closing thoughts
We know this is not an exhaustive list of automated web accessibility myths. In fact, it’s far from it. These are just some of the most common ones we come across, so it’s vital to put them to rest.
Do you think we missed any other frustrating myths? Let us know in the comments section.
