The Role of Business Analysts in Fostering Accessibility in Web Applications

This article highlights the crucial role business analysts (BAs) play in promoting accessibility in web applications. The article presents a case study of a date picker UI, highlighting accessibility issues such as improper focus management and screen reader announcements.

Imagine a visually impaired student attempting to enroll in an online course but finding out that the form cannot be read by their screen reader. Such scenarios are not just inconveniences but significant barriers that can prevent individuals from participating fully in our digital society. In our digital age, web applications serve as critical gateways to education, business, communication, and entertainment. As business analysts (BAs), it is imperative to champion accessibility to ensure no user is left behind due to situational or permanent disabilities.

Understanding Disabilities and their Impact:

Disabilities impacting user interaction can generally be classified into two main types:

Situational Disabilities:

 These are temporary and context-dependent limitations affecting users under specific conditions.

Examples:

• A person struggling to listen to a video in a noisy environment.
• A user trying to operate a touchscreen with wet hands or while juggling multiple tasks.

Permanent Disabilities:

Long-term impairments, which may be visual, auditory, physical, or cognitive. Approximately 15% of the global population lives with some form of permanent disability.

Examples:

• An individual with visual impairment uses screen readers to interact with digital content.
• A person with limited mobility relies on keyboard navigation.

Given these conditions, BAs' role in advocating and implementing accessibility measures is vital to ensuring that technology's benefits are universal.

Responsibilities of Business Analysts:

Verify Product:

• Check the requirements towards accessibility: Evaluating whether the web application meets accessibility standards such as WCAG and Section 508.
• Check the maturity of accessibility: Assessing the depth of integration and adaptability of accessibility features within the application.
• Identify content to be improved: Locating elements in the web application that hinder accessibility.
• Prioritize accessibility improvements: Deciding which accessibility features to enhance first based on user impact and compliance.

Specify semantic meaning in the content:

• Consider the structure/hierarchy: Structuring content logically to assist screen readers in better communication.
• Consider announced information: Ensuring the information conveyed by assistive technologies is both succinct and significant.
• Consider visible and decorative content: Differentiating between essential interactive elements and purely decorative content to prevent user confusion.

Specify the connection of the elements in the content:

• Consider the reading order: Ensuring that the layout follows a logical progression that aligns with intuitive user interactions.
• Consider action or navigation: Establishing clear and understandable pathways for user actions and navigation.

Date Picker example

Let's check the following  date picker

What are the potential problems with accessibility?

Location of Date Display:

• The display of the date above the selection buttons can pose an issue for screen readers, as it doesn't follow a logical tab order. Users who rely on such technology typically expect the output (the selected date) to follow the input controls (the buttons used to select the date).

Screen Reader Announcements:

• The absence of updates read by screen readers when the selected date changes suggests that dynamic content updates are not being recognized. This could be due to inadequate ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and properties, or lack of proper event handling for accessibility.

Solutions to Enhance Accessibility:

Revise the UI Layout:

• Logical Flow: Consider repositioning the date display so it appears after the selection buttons, or at the very least, ensure the screen reader reads the date after the buttons are interacted with. This change would make the user interface more intuitive.
• Visual and Auditory Alignment: Visual representation should always align with what is conveyed through the screen reader, ensuring consistency between what is seen and heard.

Enhance Keyboard Accessibility:

• Ensure that all functionalities of the date picker are operable via keyboard. Key functionalities should include navigating through days, months, and years, and selecting a date using keyboard commands alone.

Focus Management:

• Programmatic focus control can be utilized to direct the focus to the newly displayed date after a selection is made. This helps screen reader users understand that the action (pressing a date selection button) had an immediate effect.

By addressing these key areas—layout redesign, dynamic content announcement, keyboard accessibility, focus management, and user testing—the date picker's accessibility can be significantly improved, making the application more inclusive for all users, especially those who depend on assistive technologies.

Challenges and Solutions: 

Implementing web accessibility can present challenges such as resistance to change, technical constraints, or lack of awareness. Successful BAs often advocate for a strategic approach that includes educating stakeholders on the benefits of accessibility, leveraging advanced tools for accessibility testing, and promoting a culture of inclusivity.

Conclusion: 

Business analysts play a pivotal role in ensuring web applications are not just accessible but also provide a seamless and inclusive user experience. By highlighting their responsibilities and actively addressing the common challenges, BAs help foster an accessible digital environment. Collaboration among all stakeholders in web development is essential to advance these accessibility initiatives effectively. For more insights, readers are encouraged to refer to the WCAG guidelines and explore case studies demonstrating successful accessibility integrations.