Accessibility

Links are the foundation of the internet. They lead the viewer to other information on the same page, the same site, or a destination far away. We need to make sure people understand the purpose of a link before they click it and this requires clear, unique text. 

There are 3 areas to consider when creating a link:

• Don’t use generic text like “click here”, “learn more”, or “buy now”. Make each link unique and don’t depend on visual context. Please note, there are methods for developers to include hidden text for screen readers. This is helpful for content within grids, like a product comparison page. 

• Don’t use raw URLs, as these are difficult to read and give no context to the purpose. For example, https://www.intuit.com/accessibility/ should be Intuit’s Accessibility Statement and Resources.
• Let users know when a link will take them to media or files. The common pattern is to put the file type in the link. For example, Introduction to Web Accessibility (.mp4).

Additional information: 

Accessibility: Clear and Meaningful Link Text

Some websites have bloated, nested navigation links at the top of the page (such as amazon.com). Tabbing through those navigation links to get to the page content is tedious and frustrating. A skip (navigation) link provides a way for users of assistive technology to skip those navigation links and jump directly to the main content area of the page. 

Additional information: 

Accessibility: Headings and Landmarks

Screen readers use page and iframe titles to tell users where they are within a website or web page. We provide clear, descriptive, hierarchical titles that make it easier to navigate our products and pages.

Additional information: 

Accessibility: Headings and Landmarks

Financial software customers must be confident their invoice, estimate, or payment was accurately created. They must know if a form input is for a due date or invoice date. Which inputs are required? Which have been marked as invalid?

As Intuit kicked off a project to fix form labels in QuickBooks Desktop in 2013, My Blind Spot created a video showing how accessibility can be the difference in someone keeping or losing their livelihood. It follows Dixie, a bookkeeper who lost her sight and subsequently her business. She wasn’t able to use the product because the form inputs and controls were not adequately labeled.

All form inputs must be labeled. Our customers also need to know when an input is part of a group (mailing vs billing address), is required, or if the value is incorrect.

Additional information: 

Accessibility: Form Inputs and Labels

Data tables are a powerful part of web design. They’re an easy method to associate information within columns and rows. Sighted users can visually scan a table for these relationships. When used correctly, they are accessible to all of our customers.

A screen reader user will hear a cell’s data and the associated header. For example they would hear “Row 3 of 14” “Quantity 12”, “Product Dog Toy”, “Taxable Yes”.

Older web pages and today’s emails often use tables to create multi-column layouts. This is not recommended, as it causes confusion for screen reader users and unnecessary code that could make the page slower.

Additional information: 

Accessibility: Data Tables

Although they're not sufficiently visually impaired to require screen readers, 158 million internet users require enlarged screen fonts.

It’s important to use relative—not absolute—font sizes that enable users to override the designer’s font size settings. Our pages also need to be responsive to larger fonts to avoid clipping and overlapping.

Additional information:

 Accessibility: Page Zoom and Text Resizing

Intuit believes in the power of the individual to do more, to make more, and to be more regardless of physical, sensory, or cognitive ability. Captioning fulfills this promise for our customers and colleagues that have difficulty understanding the spoken content within live and recorded events. The Intuit Captioning Protocol provides guidance on captioning resources, contracting, and best practices.

Why do we need captioning?

Providing the appropriate accommodations for employees and for customers with disabilities is mandated under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). When producing a video, presenting a workshop, webinar, or having a meeting, your team has certain responsibilities.

Captioning is an accommodation that is made for a disability. Often, when discussing accessibility, an assumption is made that captioning is only for the benefit of the deaf and hard of hearing. However, captioning is beneficial to a wide range of individuals including:

• A person who has a learning disability
• A person who has a temporary disability, such as a concussion
• A non-native speaker
• A person without a disability who may have missed something that was just said

Additional information:

Intuit Captioning Protocol

Color contrast

Adequate color contrast is important for our customers with low vision.

It's also important for people working in glaring light, such as the patio of a Starbucks. It increases readability for those in inconsistent environments, such as riding a metro. It's critical for scannability, for instance, someone reading in the car and they need to get the gist of the information, such as the money in their bank account before heading into a store. The adequate color contrast makes our sites usable for those over 50, who may juggle between glasses, have cataracts, floaters, and other age-related vision loss.

Adequate color contrast allows our customers to read content without additional stress and concentration. Here’s example feedback from a customer:

“I sure wish I could see the font, grey sucks, need to be able to make it black PLEASE. I'd like to see you reconcile a bank account with the current view, font too small and too light....URGH!!!”

Color as context

We also can’t depend on color for setting context. Links need to be differentiated from body text with an underline. Combine color with icons or text to let the user know a bill is late, an expense has been categorized, or a tax form has been completed.

Additional information:

Accessibility: Color Usage and Contrast

Flashing

People with photosensitive seizure disorders may be susceptible to seizures that are triggered by flashing content. If flashes are used, they must not exceed a specified number and interval. Typically, persons with these disorders are more sensitive to red flashing than to other colors.

Animation

Animations can also make people sick, especially when they fill the page and/or include multi-dimensional movements. It’s important to support a customer’s preference for reduced motion, stop animations after 5 seconds, avoid auto-playing videos, and give people the ability to stop looping and repetitive movements.

Additional information:

Designing Safer Web Animation For Motion Sensitivity