Understanding Web Accessibility and Using WordPress Accessibility Plugins

Understanding digital accessibility issues may seem simple if you know people who have disabilities or use accessibility technology. But it may be more challenging if you have never seen a person using accessibility devices. Fortunately, WordPress accessibility plugins can help you make web browsing more accessible to everyone. Here are some facts to help you understand what it's like to use the internet for people who have trouble hearing and why it's essential to make accessible content.

 

Listening Enhancement/Assistance

you can use systems to eliminate background noise and provide a more direct audio feed to people who use assistive listening devices.

 

Accessibility for Individuals with Hearing Loss

Here are some accessibility issues that WordPress accessibility plugins might help solve:

 

Incorrect captions

It can be challenging or impossible to follow what is happening on screen without captions. For example, while some people can read lips, it is not possible to do so in a video unless the speaker is looking directly at the camera the entire time.

 

When captions are missing content, have incorrect words, or miss essential details, they do not provide a complete experience for someone who relies on them for a full experience. Subsequently, for those deaf or hard of hearing, automated captions are both a blessing and a curse. Captions can be helpful, but AI is far from perfect, and sometimes automated captions are worse than having no captions.

 

Captions that are not correctly synchronized

If you've ever experienced lag while streaming video and had the actor's mouth not match their words, you understand how inconvenient it is when the visual and audio tracks are out of sync. Captions, analogous to audio, should be in sync with the video.

 

There are no transcripts

Podcasts have grown in popularity, but few offer transcripts for those who require them. (Marketing pros: having transcripts done for webinars is a bonus.)

 

Audio of poor quality

Low-quality audio will result in incorrect captions or extra work on your part to fill in the blanks where the transcriptionist couldn't make out the words. Without captions, the audio will be even more difficult for someone to understand if background noise competes with the speaker.

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