Beautiful shot taken in Mount Waddington. Photo taken by Thomas Lipke
For this week’s class we looked into accessibility in technology. Accessibility is often a topic spoken about when addressing public places, and how accessible they are for all of the population. Although the topic of technology and accessibility has been brought up for potential use in the classroom, I do not think I have ever touched on it while considering it for everyday use. Why is this? I am not entirely sure. It seems to me that because websites, browsers, and videos mirror social media, everything has to be aesthetically pleasing. As a result of this, the pure functionality loses its effects, and leaves the accessibility of the site to be limited. The digital appeal overrules the function.
I am fortunate enough to only need the adjustment of a brightness level and or turning on and off “night mode” on my devices for me to be comfortable. For others, the interaction of colours, tones, size of font, and the way websites are laid out are all factors into understanding if it is sufficient for all.
It was really interesting to input our websites into the Wave Report, along with a website of our choosing. Doing so showcased the flaws in the colours, the text, and the efficiency of hyperlinks. We then adjusted our websites in order to be more accessible for viewers.
The second part of class was taking a video and making it more accessible. I chose a video from the YouTube channel Daily Dose of Internet. The videos are created to brighten people’s moods and provide a good chuckle. I edited the video within wordpress using H5P.