The impact of developer best practices on accessibility
Digital accessibility is becoming an imperative for many companies. Stéphanie Walter, an expert in inclusive design, stresses the importance of choosing the right partner.
Monday, July 10, 2023
Stéphanie Walter began her professional career in Germany, before moving to Strasbourg, where she learned about accessibility. She is now based in Luxembourg, specialising in Enterprise UX. As a consultant for Maltem, she designs complex business interfaces for the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Her blog is packed with resources on digital accessibility, and she is already offering an introductory course in English on the subject. This training will also be offered to design students at the University of Strasbourg as from the start of the 2025 academic year. This training is well-timed given the recent enforcement of the European Act on Accessibility.
You are preparing a course on accessibility: is this a novel addition to university curicula?
Yes, the aim is to highlight issues of digital accessibility and to ensure that these problems do not arise at the graphic design stage: by questioning the relevance of colours, choosing contrasts, planning keyboard navigation and giving space to accessibility features (such as subtitles or video transcription), among others.
This course must be extended by another one dedicated to code, to show in concrete terms how HTML and CSS can be used to implement integration that respects the various criteria linked to digital accessibility.
There is a whole series of accessibility best practices that are, quite simply, good development practices: associating labels with form fields, using the right tag for a button without trying to recreate the element by devious means, mastering languages before taking on Javascript frameworks, etc. Good developer practice has an impact on accessibility.
What is your role at the EIB today?
I am a UX researcher and designer, which involves designing interfaces and tools specific to the bank and used on a daily basis by its employees. In my project team, I've been in this role for over three years.
How do you manage to put accessibility issues on the agenda?
The bank has launched a number of initiatives to improve physical accessibility. I wanted to push for digital accessibility. We are recreating an interface designed and developed eighteen years ago. It is now being rewritten in a new technology - React enriched with Material UI. There was a whole preliminary research phase to understand which features were being used and were relevant. Then we worked on refining the components to make them really accessible - for example, we don't just use a placeholder as a form label; we're reintroducing the halo - removed by Material UI - when focused using the keyboard.
How do you work with the developers on a day-to-day basis?
I work with two front-end developers, who are not experts in accessibility, but who are nevertheless happy to discover and learn. What's more, the team is constantly evolving, so nothing can be taken for granted. It's not easy, you have to keep reminding yourself of the basics and staying vigilant.
Are there any everyday digital tools you use that you find to be insufficiently accessible?
The Luxtrust Android app. The developers have recreated a keyboard that doesn't allow you to copy and paste and on which, unlike the default keyboard, you can't see the character you've just typed, even for a moment. Similarly, there is no option to view the password in clear text. After several unsuccessful attempts, I almost blocked my account. It's hard to imagine that anyone could easily use this interface.
In the category of websites, I can mention the French tax portal. From a cognitive perspective, it's a nightmare.
Do you feel that, as a general rule, the accessibility of websites and apps is improving?
Yes, that's generally true. At the same time, I'm concerned about the emergence of a new charlatanism: companies claiming to specialise in digital accessibility whose showcase site is far from compliant. The risk is that we end up with site owners who think they're doing the right thing, but turn to companies that aren't qualified, or who do the minimum with the help of overlays (accessibility tools added on top of an existing site, which can have limited effectiveness, editor's note). Some of the companies providing these overlays are now taking legal action against their detractors, who are accessibility experts, both in the United States and in France.
On social networks, there are also a number of self-proclaimed experts who spread untruths about accessibility or surf on a hard-line validist discourse (validism can be defined as systemic discrimination against people with disabilities, editor's note), ignoring the whole spectrum of disability. Obviously, these are not the majority of my interactions, but there is still work to be done to break down barriers, or to avoid reducing accessibility to a constraint.
I am also concerned about the implementation of the law that will enforce accessibility for goods and services in the private sector starting in 2025. I live in Luxembourg: who will I report to if I face an accessibility issue with a Belgian e-commerce site? This could lead to legal confusion... It will be interesting to see which company will be the first to receive a fine for non-compliance.
If that's what it takes to change society's perception of disability, then why not! There are far more people with disabilities than we realize, and integrating them into all aspects of our society is an undeniable necessity.