Digital accessibility affects one in six people – and your software

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one out of every six people worldwide lives with a disability. An estimated 70 percent of these disabilities are invisible. This means that most of those affected cannot be easily identified.

Disabilities can be divided into three categories.

1. Permanent limitations such as blindness, deafness, or motor disabilities, are the most well-known.
2. Temporary limitations include a broken arm, an eye infection, or an operation that temporarily restricts mobility.
3. Finally, there are situational barriers that can affect virtually anyone. For example, you are standing on the train platform, and a passing train drowns out your phone call. You are holding your child and using your smartphone with one hand. You are reading an app in bright sunlight.

Added to this are cognitive limitations, which are rarely considered. For example, a person with ADHD needs clear structure and few visual distractions. Older users benefit from larger buttons and high contrast.

These scenarios demonstrate that digital accessibility is not just a concern for a small, marginal group. It affects software for all of us at different times in our lives.