‘Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability.’ (Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, 2014)
While universal design is a great concept, it can be hard to understand what issues you should be considering if you haven’t experienced accessibility problems for yourself. If you want to familiarize yourself with some of the access problems experienced by certain groups of people, there are simulators available online such as the Chrome Extension - Web Disability Simulator. It tries to simulate how people with disabilities experience the web.
Example tools:
Perhaps the most commonly discussed web accessibility problems are experienced by people who are blind or who have impaired vision. Developers have a greater understanding of ways to make content accessible for people with visual impairments because of the availability of screen reader software.
Screen readers read digital content aloud and allow for navigation of content via keyboard. They are very specialised software and require a lot of practice to become proficient.
In the video below, Marc Sutton, from the University of California - SF IT Web Services Department, and a person who explains how he uses screen reading technology.
