The National Federation of the Blind's Strategic Nonvisual Accessibility Partnership (SNAP) program works to ensure that websites, products, and services are nonvisually accessible by developing productive, on-going partnerships with organizations in an effort to assist them with infusing accessibility into their corporate culture.
The myth is that ensuring accessibility is too difficult and too expensive. The truth is that when done correctly, with the right partners, building in accessibility is simple, cost effective, and beneficial to both blind and sighted users of the technology.
In simple terms, a nonvisually accessible website, product, or service is one that has been developed in a manner that allows the blind user to access information, complete transactions, and utilize features that have been identified as primary to the application or service.
We know that it is a SNAP to ensure accessibility when websites, products, and services are developed properly from the start.
Our SNAP program is more dynamic than a static certification process, and assists our partners in gaining access to a team of experts and a collection of user experiences that address accessibility throughout the development life cycle.
NFB SNAP Program Components
- Initial Assessment: An initial accessibility standard must be met before an entity is considered an NFB SNAP partner. The guideline used will be the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.1, AA.
- Blind Users Innovating and Leading in Design Feedback: The NFB is establishing a group of blind users to evaluate partners’ websites, products, and services. The BUILD team will provide valuable feedback, detailing usability experiences and any potential accessibility issues.
- Semi-Annual Reporting: The NFB’s nonvisual access technology specialists will provide semi-annual accessibility and usability reports, based in part on BUILD team feedback. The reports will provide timely feedback on existing usability barriers and offer a foundation for future design efforts.
- Semi-Annual Discussions on Best Practices and Troubleshooting: The NFB’s nonvisual access technology specialists will engage in semi-annual teleconferences to share new techniques and best practices in an effort to resolve most accessibility issues. Should additional consultation be needed for complex accessibility problems, the NFB will provide expanded support on a fee-for-service basis.
- SNAP Icon: Our partners are invited to place the NFB’s SNAP icon on their websites. This icon serves as a symbol to users that the organization is committed to an enculturation of accessibility. Moreover, when users select the icon, they are able to access a form by which they can report any perceived accessibility issues directly to our nonvisual access technology specialists for evaluation.
- Promotional Opportunities: The NFB will highlight our partners on our website.
NFB SNAP Partners
- Target: In recent years, Target’s web team made a decision to build and maintain a design system which includes a library of reusable UI components. One of the aims of having this UI component library was to create a more efficient process that would result in consistent code across development teams, and across areas and sub-pages of the website. More specifically, the UI component library creates a shared language and a shared understanding that helps maintain consistent branding and a consistent user experience (UX). Read the full Target case study, "Target’s Design System Incorporates Accessibility as Standard."
- D2L: As a global leader in education technology with a mission to transform the way the world learns, D2L delivers an inclusive learning platform to enable every learner gain equitable access to education. At D2L, accessibility is not an afterthought but the result of a purposeful inclusive design practice. D2L’s product process is embedded with accessibility criteria from the most recent global accessibility standards. To top it, researchers, designers, developers, and testers gather inputs during the product development process from individuals with diverse accessibility needs, both in-house and through partnership with the National Federation of the Blind.
More Information
For more information about the NFB's SNAP program, please contact us at [email protected].