accessibility

UK/əkˌsɛs.əˈbɪl.ɪ.ti/US/əkˌsɛs.əˈbɪl.ə.ti/

nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,617 of 15,258mostly written

Accessibility is how easily a place or service can be used by everybody. Improve accessibility, accessibility standards, an accessibility audit.

It is a legal duty in many countries and covers websites as much as buildings, since a site unusable with a screen reader excludes people as surely as a step does. Designing for it usually improves things for everybody.

Definitions of accessibility

1nounaccessibilityHow easily a place or service can be used by everybody.B2+
“The museum added ramps and lifts to improve accessibility for wheelchair users.”

accessibility is a quality.

Where it comes from

From accessible, from Latin accedere, to approach, plus -ity.

Latin
accessibilitas
English, today
accessibility

From accessible + -ity, after Latin accessibilitas, from Latin accessibilis.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Disability & Access

Practise this word

accessibility in the wild

By contrast, accessible design is focused on ensuring that there are no barriers to accessibility for all people, including those with disabilities.
Accessibility
Computer accessibility refers to the accessibility of a computer system to all people, regardless of disability type, English literacy or digital fluency.
Computer accessibility
Web accessibility should be mindful of users experiencing a wide variety of barriers.
Web accessibility
According to a 2018 WebAIM global survey of web accessibility practitioners, close to 93% of survey respondents received no formal schooling on web accessibility.
Web accessibility
The feature is designed to increase accessibility for blind and low-vision users, as well as for users with dyslexia.
VoiceOver

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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