Digital accessibility watch December-January 2022

Lots of great articles on the beginning of this new year. We feel that all this is moving, the a11y has the wind in its sails...

In the world of a11y, captchas are an abomination, so here is a W3c Draft on a11y and Captchas, just waiting for your comments, so go ahead!
https://w3c.github.io/captcha-accessibility/

Accessibility in laws, standards and recommendations #

• Editor's draft of ARIA authoring practices 1.2 pending the final version, ARIA implementation best practices: https://w3c.github.io/aria-practices/
• Evolution of the a11y standard for the public sector in Europe EN 301 549: https://axesslab.com/en-update/
• WCAG 3.0 not ready to be ready but…: https://yatil.net/blog/wcag-3-is-not-ready-yet
• Do you need a transcript with podcasts, spoiler: yes: https://www.boia.org/blog/do-i-need-to-write-podcast-transcripts-for-accessibility
• alt and descriptions in the photo metadata standards of images: https://www.scribelytribe.com/post/one-giant-leap-for-accessibility-meet-the-new-photo-metadata-standards

Feedback and accessibility #

• How to do a11y well with a hHML table basket, great art: https://adrianroselli.com/2022/01/accessible-cart-tables.html
• Properly manage the alternatives of decorative images alt=””, to read!: https://html5accessibility.com/stuff/2022/01/10/alt-tag-emptiness/
• ARIA is not the solution, not always: https://dev.to/steady5063/a-tangled-web-of-aria-50nk
• Accessibility strategy at what3words: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/accessibility-strategy-gigi-etienne/
• Why devs don't do accessibility right: https://css-tricks.com/why-dont-developers-take-accessibility-seriously/
• Misunderstanding of ARIA: https://www.boia.org/blog/5-common-misconceptions-about-wai-aria-and-accessibility

Accessibility strategy #

• Make a11y in the long run, sustainable in fact: https://tetralogical.com/blog/2021/01/07/sustainable-accessibility/
• Integrate a11y into the whole team, the basics: https://austingil.com/making-accessibility-more-accessible/
• Great example of designing an accessible interface component, a reorderable list: https://www.darins.page/articles/designing-a-reorderable-list-component
• Evolution of the a11y, figures and observation: https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/26/accessibility-awareness-is-on-the-rise-but-is-it-turning-into- action/
• The real costs of a lack of a11y: https://www.joedolson.com/2022/01/the-real-added-costs-of-accessibility/
• Article on who is responsible for setting a11y and the consequences: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9681668

Test accessibility= #

• Cool a11y tests anyone can do: https://tetralogical.com/blog/2022/01/18/quick-accessibility-tests-anyone-can-do/
• A tool capable of going further than classic webdrivers for testing a11y, in particular with regard to screen readers, to be tested: https://github.com/bocoup/aria-at-automation
• Test accessibility with the keyboard, the base: https://www.edeshseba.info/web-accessibility-and-keyboard-only-testing/
• Have your content tested by hearing impaired people: https://makeitfable.com/article/user-testing-deaf-hoh/
• Tests based on WCAG, nice: https://thisiswcag.com/
• Cognitive impairment and a11y tests: https://www.tpgi.com/introduction-to-cognitive-disability-and-accessibility-testing/

Technical points in accessibility #

• ARIA is not always supported, think about it: https://www.a11yproject.com/posts/aria-has-perfect-support/
• Better manage focus with CSS: https://css-tricks.com/standardizing-focus-styles-with-css-custom-properties/
• Visible labels and accessible names (fr): https://www.tanaguru.com/labels-visibles-et-noms-accessibles/
• A vanillia JS to set a pause button in GIFs, great: https://github.com/adamchaboryk/gifa11y
• WCAG criterion “2.2.2 pause, hide, stop” and prefers-reduced-motion, how to do it: https://hiddedevries.nl/en/blog/2021-12-03-meeting-2-22-pause-stop-hide-with-prefers-reduced-motion
• Flash, animation and a11y, the base: https://tetralogical.com/blog/2022/01/10/animations-and-flashing-content/
• Lots of little tips on this site, here, hide content from all users, nice: https://dev.to/carlosespada/a11y-tips-hide-elements-for-all-users-3f9m
• Everything you need to know about content headings and the a11y, complete: https://www.a11yproject.com/posts/how-to-accessible-heading-structure/
• Accessible DOM and chrome devtools: https://developer.chrome.com/blog/full-accessibility-tree/
• Interesting WCAG valid or invalid field label examples: https://www.tpgi.com/labeling-the-point-scenarios-of-label-misuse-in-wcag/?utm_source=swlinks-tw
• Difference between HTML and ARIA boolean attributes, all explained: https://hiddedevries.nl/en/blog/2022-01-12-boolean-attributes-in-html-and-aria-whats-the-difference

Mobile app, mobile web #

• Mobile app and accessibility, the basics: https://increment.com/mobile/best-practices-for-building-accessible-mobile-apps/
• A series of articles on IOs and VoiceOver apps: https://www.basbroek.nl/improving-voiceover
• mobile and a11y, 4 points to correct: https://mashable.com/article/mobile-apps-accessibility-fixes
• Mobile developers, why a11y is important: https://www.deque.com/blog/why-you-a-mobile-developer-should-care-about-accessibility/

Ergonomics, UI & UX #

• More designers trained in accessibility, video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQVrfS74xyM
• A11y recommendations for designers, classic but well done: https://uxdesign.cc/accessibility-guidelines-for-a-ux-designer-c3ba775539be
• A pdf doc on design and a11y: https://accessibility.uxdesign.cc/
• Universal Design and Design: https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/universal-design-the-need-for-assistive-accessible-technology-63090b452cc1
• Moderating usability testing sessions with people with disabilities: https://tetralogical.com/blog/2022/01/04/moderating-usability-testing-sessions-with-people-with-disabilities/

Resources #

• Semantic HTML, the basement: https://hiddedevries.nl/en/blog/2022-01-23-more-to-give-than-just-the-div-semantics-and-how-to-get-them-right
• CSS art and a11y: https://alvaromontoro.com/blog/67979/creating-accessible-css-art
• Several videos on web browsing with assistive technologies, instructive: https://www.lireo.com/how-people-with-disabilities-browse-the-web-using-assistive-technologies-video-series /
• Reminder for an accessible web dev: https://dev.to/codegino/web-accessibility-cheat-sheet-3774
• Alternatives to images, the basics: https://tetralogical.com/blog/2022/01/24/text-descriptions
• Better web and email links, SmashingMagazine, so good stuff: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2021/12/designing-better-links-websites-emails-guideline/
• Site to start an accessible development and other resources: https://convergeaccessibility.com/2021/12/21/first-steps-to-an-accessible-website-part-6/
• Navigate with the keyboard in browsers under MacOS, recap: https://www.a11yproject.com/posts/macos-browser-keyboard-navigation/
• Make React apps accessible, video course, nice: https://egghead.io/courses/develop-accessible-web-apps-with-react
• E-learning video on digital accessibility and in Microsoft tools, well done: https://docs.microsoft.com/fr-fr/learn/paths/accessibility-fundamentals/
• Voice control for blind people: https://makeitfable.com/article/how-to-design-voice-controlled-smart-devices-for-blind-people/
• Quick start of NVDA to test the a11y (fr): https://www.tanaguru.com/guide-et-raccourcis-nvda-pour-les-tests-daccessibilite/
• First and also last of the class in a11y, instructive: https://www.tooltester.com/en/blog/accessible-websites/
• Data visualization and a11y, a mine: https://github.com/dataviza11y/resources

Others #

• The different alternatives to emojis in screen readers: https://html5accessibility.com/stuff/2022/01/17/short-note-on-emoji-text-alternative-variations/
• Media Queries preferences, the base: https://12daysofweb.dev/2021/preference-queries/
• Find profiles in a11y, to read: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2022/01/how-hire-digital-accessibility-roles/