Editing Accessibility (section)

{{Short description|Modes of usability for people with disabilities}}
{{About||design of products or environments for access by all users |Universal design|design of websites etc. for access by all users|Web accessibility| measures of spatial accessibility |Accessibility (transport)| the logical notion|Accessibility relation|the process in agenda-setting theory|Agenda-setting theory#Accessibility}}
{{for|Wikipedia's accessibility guideline|Wikipedia:Accessibility|selfref=y}}

[[File:MAD BS Moon fixtures (cropped 2).jpg|thumb|alt=Panel on an elevator showing the floor buttons with Braille markings|Elevator buttons with Braille markings]]
[[File:Curitiba 10 2006 05 RIT.jpg|alt=A woman with a baby carriage uses a platform lift to access a station above street level|thumb|The [[Rede Integrada de Transporte|public transport system in Curitiba]], Brazil, offers universal access via [[wheelchair lift]]s.]]

'''Accessibility''' is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by [[disabled]] people.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=2596695.2596719 |author1=Henry, Shawn Lawton |author2=Abou-Zahra, Shadi |author3=Brewer, Judy |title=The Role of Accessibility in a Universal Web |publisher=Proceeding W4A '14 Proceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference Article No. 17 |isbn=978-1-4503-2651-3 |date=2014 |access-date=2014-12-17}}</ref> The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible developments ensures both "direct access" (i.e. unassisted) and "indirect access" meaning compatibility with a person's [[assistive technology]] (for example, computer [[screen reader]]s).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.washington.edu/accessit/print.html?ID=1109|title=What is assistive technology?|website=washington.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-07-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119142215/http://www.washington.edu/accessit/print.html?ID=1109|archive-date=2019-01-19|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Accessibility can be viewed as the "ability to access" and benefit from some system or entity. The concept focuses on enabling access for people with disabilities, or enabling access through the use of [[assistive technology]]; however, research and development in accessibility brings benefits to everyone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://transition.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Orders/1999/fcc99181.txt |title=Federal Communications Commission |publisher=FCC on Telecommunications Accessibility for the Disabled |date=1999}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.ahip.getty.edu/cyberpub/goldberg.html |first=L. |last=Goldberg |title=Electronic Curbcuts: Equitable Access to the Future |date=1996 |journal=Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities and the Getty Art History Information Program, Cyberspace/Public Space: The Role of Arts and Culture in Defining a Virtual Public Sphere. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990427111220/http://www.ahip.getty.edu/cyberpub/goldberg.html |archive-date=April 27, 1999 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/technology/eleccurbcut.htm |first=S. |last=Jacobs |title=Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996: Fueling the Creation of New Electronic Curbcuts. |date=1999 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/disacc00.htm |first=L. |last=Valdes |title=Accessibility on the Internet |date=2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Brewer, J. |chapter=Access to the World Wide Web: Technical and Policy Aspects |title=Universal Design Handbook |edition=1st |editor=Preiser, W. |editor2=Ostroff, E. |publisher=MacGraw-Hill |location=New York}}</ref> Therefore, an accessible society should eliminate [[digital divide]] or [[knowledge divide]].

Accessibility is not to be confused with [[usability]], which is the extent to which a product (such as a device, service, or environment) can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Accessibility, Usability, and Inclusion|url=https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-usability-inclusion/|access-date=2020-07-05|website=Web Accessibility Initiative |language=en}}</ref>

Accessibility is also strongly related to [[universal design]], the process of creating products that are usable by the widest possible range of people, operating within the widest possible range of situations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.udeworld.com/dissemination/publications/56-reprints-short-articles-and-papers/110-the-concept-of-universal-design.html|title=The Concept of Universal Design|website=udeworld.com|access-date=2018-07-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704095800/http://www.udeworld.com/dissemination/publications/56-reprints-short-articles-and-papers/110-the-concept-of-universal-design.html|archive-date=2018-07-04|url-status=usurped}}</ref> Universal design typically provides a single general solution that can accommodate people with disabilities as well as the rest of the population. By contrast, accessible design is focused on ensuring that there are no barriers to accessibility for all people, including those with disabilities.