Principles of Web Accessibility

The framework is the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The guidelines provide recommendations for making web content more accessible to people with disabilities.

The WCAG is structured around four main principles, often referred to by the acronym "POUR":

• Perceivable: Content must be presented to users in ways they can perceive.

• Operable: User interface components and navigation must be operable.

• Understandable: Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable.

• Robust: Content must be robust enough to be reliably interpreted by a wide range of user agents, including assistive technologies.

The goal of the Perceivable principle is to ensure that content can be presented in different ways without losing meaning and that it is easier for users to see and hear. Key requirements include:

• Providing text alternatives for non-text content.

• Providing captions and other alternatives for multimedia.

• Creating content that can be presented in different ways, including by assistive technologies.

• Making it easier for users to see and hear content.

Following the guidelines benefits the general user population by improving usability and aiding people facing various non-permanent or situational barriers. These beneficiaries include:

• Older people with changing abilities due to aging.

• People with temporary disabilities, such as a broken arm or lost glasses.

• People with situational limitations, such as those using devices in bright sunlight or who cannot listen to audio in their environment.

• People that use diverse technology, such as mobile phones, smart watches, smart TVs, and other devices with small screens or different input modes.