A transcript is the only way to make video or audio content accessible to someone who is both deaf and blind. Transcripts can be converted into braille, to be read on a refreshable braille output device.
Many live with the limitations of not understanding numbers and the impact that has on everyday life. Laura Parker's Accessible Numbers project offers guidance on how to design services and write content for people who need help with numbers.
accessiblenumbers.com
"Learn Accessibility" is a course that takes you through the essentials for building accessible websites and web apps. Created for both beginners and advanced users, this course can be taken beginning to end, or used as a reference for specific topics.
web.dev/learn/access...
If you have a hashtag with multiple words, write the hashtag in #PascalCase or #camelCase to help users of screen readers. That helps the screen reader to read out the words out individually, rather than trying to read them in one long word.
Sheri Byrne-Haber's "Giving A Damn About Accessibility" has great tips on how to deal with people who challenge or dismiss the need for accessibility.
uxdesign.cc/giving-a-dam...
Templates could be designed and coded according to web accessibility standards, but this won't ensure that the final product would be accessible. Content creators still need to know about key accessibility concepts, including alt text, link text, and proper headings.
A refreshable Braille display is a device that takes a computer screen's text and generates it in Braille by raising and lowering pins through holes on a flat surface. The display refreshes as the user moves through the screen's content.
www.afb.org/node/16207/r...
Alt text always depends on context. Imagine an icon of a computer printer. It could be used on a page of free icons. It could be on a school's computer lab site. Or it could be part of a button that allows you to print the current page. In each instance, the same icon would need different alt text.
You don't necessarily want to use the exact same alt text each time a specific image is used. Alt text must consider the context of the image and why it's being included on a site, post, article, etc. In other words, alt text depends on where you're including the image and why.
The best time to start thinking about and talking about making a website accessible is at the very beginning, before any content or code has been written. But the second best time is right now.
Structure content to guide users and help them quickly find what they need. Organize content logically, and break content into short sections that reflect natural stopping points. Write headings that help readers predict what is coming.
www.w3.org/WAI/tutorial...
Hyperlink text should make sense when read out of context. Screen reader users can navigate from link to link, and can listen to links in a list. When navigating this way, only the link is read. So "click here" or "read more" won't make sense.
Your site's users need enough time to interact with content and fill out forms. People with disabilities such as blindness, low vision, dexterity impairments, and cognitive disabilities might need more time for things such as forms. Allow users to turn off or extend time limits.
Pretty cool, eh?
For beginners, it can be difficult to know what to put in alt text, as well as when alt text is needed and when it isn't. This decision tree from the W3C helps you determine what to do, based on specific situations.
www.w3.org/WAI/tutorial...
The Xbox Accessibility Guidelines are a set of best practices compiled by industry experts, gamers, and disabled people. The guidelines have been written to help developers, designers, and testers make games more accessible to people with disabilities.
learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming...
Some treat web accessibility as a checklist to meet legal or technical requirements. But at its core, web accessibility is about people, not code or requirements. Web accessibility is about making sure people with disabilities can use websites, apps, and digital technologies.
It's so perfect!
Hungry for more accessibility analogies and metaphors related to baking? @lflegal.bsky.social has compiled some great ones. These help make thinking about accessibility more accessible to people, as they put things in terms they can relate to and understand.
www.lflegal.com/2020/05/acce...
A similar analogy comes from Cordelia McGee-Tubb, who has said accessibility is like blueberry muffins: You can’t bake muffins and then try to add blueberries after the muffins are baked. Similarly, you can't have accessible websites if you try to add accessibility at the end. It must be baked in.
Lots of great quotable lines from @deque's Axe-con, including this gem from @stephaniewalter.bsky.social: "You can't sprinkle eggs on the cupcake after baking it. Fixing accessibility later is messy, slow, ineffective!"
www.deque.com/axe-con/sess...
Axe-con continues today!
Axe-con is a free virtual digital accessibility conference offered today and tomorrow (February 24 and February 25) by @deque.com.
Registrants from all time zones are welcome! All sessions are free, recorded, and available on demand following the conference.
www.deque.com/axe-con/
Axe-con is a free virtual digital accessibility conference offered today and tomorrow (February 24 and February 25) by @deque.com.
Registrants from all time zones are welcome! All sessions are free, recorded, and available on demand following the conference.
www.deque.com/axe-con/
When writing alt text, focus on what's truly important. In an image with text about a canceled event, the borders of the image are not nearly as vital as conveying that this event is now canceled. A decorative border can be mentioned, perhaps, but it's not the most important element. The text is.
Screen reader users can navigate from heading to heading. If HTML headings are used correctly, this allows users to get a basic outline of content and find the information they’re looking for. The highest heading level is <h1> and <h6> is the lowest.
developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/W...
Consider your site content that is routinely updated, like weather maps, Covid charts, or stock graphs. Screen reader users encounter maps and charts where the image has been updated but the alt text hasn't. This can lead to confusion. Always update alt text when updating images.
Automatic captions make it difficult to watch videos because the viewer is forced to decipher misspelled or mistranslated words that appear in a string of text without any punctuation. These can be distracting and disorienting. Always edit your captions before publishing.
The Game Accessibility Guidelines have been put together by game studios, specialists and academics. While they are not an official set of standards or documents, they are a collection of tips and techniques to help developers make games more inclusive.
gameaccessibilityguidelines.com
Vestibular disorders affect people's balance as well as their visual perception of their world around them. Don't make animations, sliders, videos, or rapid movement start automatically, as autoplaying elements could trigger a bad reaction in people who have vestibular disorders.
