In this interview, Hugo Giraudel, front-end developer at N26, explains to us what “web accessibility” means. Although the integration of people with disabilities in society is a topic that constantly pops up in the media, its relation to websites is rarely talked about. We also discuss various aspects of the internet that haven’t received enough attention.
Raphael: What is your job at N26?
Hugo: I’m a front end developer. I mainly deal with accessibility and developing a culture of quality on our web platform.
R: How would you define “accessibility?”
H: Accessibility online means offering the same content to everyone, no matter what their physical, cognitive or mental state is. Definitions vary but the principle remains the same. The aim is for everyone to be able to access our content and services.
R: Where does the term come from?
H: It comes from the same term that’s used for “real world” contexts, e.g. accessibility of places, transport, and services.There’s a general agreement that the Internet, like any other platform, should be accessible to everyone. The idea is defined on Wikipedia as follows: “Web accessibility refers to the inclusive practice of removing barriers that prevent interaction with, or access to websites, by people with disabilities.”
R: Who is currently affected by accessibility? In “real life” it’s clear that not everywhere is accessible to wheelchair users. How does that translate to the Internet?
H: There are four broad categories of disability. There’s visual impairment, which is the most problematic online since the internet is a medium people mainly interact with via a screen. This affects people who are blind, colour blind, those suffering from cataracts and others.
The second category includes cognitive impairments. People who might be suffering from dementia, for example. There’s the whole autism spectrum. The boundaries of that category are difficult to define. There are also people who suffer from attention deficit or PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), which affect many people to different degrees.
The third category covers physical impairments, such as broken arms or even just tendinitis. Parkinson’s disease also falls under this category.
The fourth category is made up of people with hearing issues, and includes people who are deaf, as well as those with impaired hearing.
I think there’s a fifth category now: speech issues. Speech interfaces like Alexa, OK Google and Siri mean we’re going to have to think of people who are mute, who have a stutter, who have a throat infection, and so forth.
R: Why is it that this issue gets relatively little media coverage?
H: I can’t explain it. There’s no good reason why we shouldn’t talk about it more. Accessibility shouldn’t be an afterthought for any platform anywhere when there’s enough time, money, and motivation. It should be at the center of whatever we do. If we’re not developing our products with everyone in mind, including people with disabilities, we’ve got to ask ourselves who we’re developing them for.
R: Isn’t it difficult to account for all of the disabilities listed above when developing a product or a digital platform?
H: Yes, it’s very difficult, but no one said it was supposed to be easy. However, it’s not possible to satisfy everyone completely; that’s unachievable. Still, there are two important points.
Firstly, the most we can do is to take everyone into account and ensure that the content is accessible for everyone. The experience doesn’t necessarily have to be the same for all users, but everyone should be able to use all the content available and access the same services whether they have a disability or not.
Secondly, of course it’s difficult, but that’s what makes our job interesting. Plus, it’s at the root of what we do. If we develop something for users, we’re developing it for everyone, not just the privileged. Anyone who’s not disabled is privileged.
R: How do we work on accessibility at N26?
H: For a year now, we’ve been working to rebuild our web platform from the ground up. It’s an opportunity to start fresh. We’re doing our best to be there from the beginning of content creation so we can take different people’s needs into consideration, especially people who suffer from color blindness and blind people who use screen readers. That’s a top priority for us.
Beyond that, we’re also trying not to overdo the animation. People who suffer from an attention deficit disorder or a condition linked to movement may have trouble using our content.
We always try to remember that we aren’t all the same. We do what’s best for everyone. It’s a difficult task.
We are thinking a lot more about the users we’re developing N26 for than we did previously. We’re asking ourselves a lot of questions about who are users are and the impairments they may have, whether they’re mild or severe, temporary or permanent.
R: As a front end developer, what effect does this have on your job?
H: It hasn’t had a huge effect on me, since that’s how I learned to code. I brought this culture of accessibility with me to N26, it’s mainly my colleagues who are affected. Otherwise, what it boils down to is asking ourselves questions beforehand to avoid designing things poorly and having to do them over again. We often say that working towards accessibility doesn’t mean doing more work, it means doing the work the right way.
R: Do you have any advice for people who are interested and want to learn more? Can they follow you?
H: For anyone who’s interested in design or development there are many sources, such as the A11Y Project, WebAIM or The Paciello Group. There are also a lot of people you can follow on Twitter: Léonie Watson, Heydon Pickering, Gaël Poupard and Amelia Bellamy-Royds. You can also follow me at Twitter.
R: Is there a final message you’d like to leave us with?
H: The Internet is for everyone, so accessibility shouldn’t come last. It should be at the heart of what we do.
Thanks for reading this interview, you may also want to read Jack Lancaster’s interview on our integration of the 3D Secure protocol. We’ll be back soon with more articles so you can learn more about life at N26.
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