Digital accessibility watch December-January 2025

A quick hello to a guy I like for his frankness, Heydon Pickering; his a11y principles are in French, and so, a big hug for one of the translators, S. Deschamps and bravo to the others (fr) https://github.com/Heydon/principles-of-web-accessibility/blob/main/LISEZ-MOI.md.

And a quick update on WCAG 3.0, well it's moving forward but the pace of W3c (laughs):D: https://www.w3.org/news/2024/updated-drafts-for-review-w3c-accessibility-guidelines-wcag-3-0/ and https://whollyaccessible.org/2024/12/11/wcag-3-december-24-update/.

Accessibility in laws, standards and recommendations #

All about the EAA (European Accessibility Act): https://digitalaccessibilitycentre.org/blogs/NewEAA-20241217.html
New techniques for accessible PDFs, the bible: https://pdfa.org/techniques-for-accessible-pdf/
Website control, Arcom is out of breath (fr): https://www.yanous.com/pratique/informatique/pointsdevue241206.html
The new legal framework following the EAA (European Accessibility Act) (fr): https://www.usine-digitale.fr/article/services-numeriques-et-accessibilite-que-change-le-nouveau-cadre-juridique.N2225167

Accessibility implementation strategy #

SUC-o-meter, a new way to measure accessibility - Aashutosh Kulkarni (A11yTalks - January 2025): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMfNK91_eeY&si=dRVDwIPLT_RkhYma
Captcha and a11y, again... (fr): https://design.numerique.gouv.fr/articles/2024-11-28-captcha-et-accessibilite/
Improving the a11y of authentication: https://cerovac.com/a11y/2024/12/improve-accessibility-of-user-authentication/

Testing accessibility #

Using bookmarklets in a11y, package review: https://www.digitala11y.com/definitive-guide-to-accessibility-bookmarklets/
AI and testers, it can help, but...: https://www.tpgi.com/putting-ai-to-the-accessibility-test/
Manual and automated testing in a11y, together is better: https://blog.pope.tech/2025/01/09/automated-and-manual-accessibility-testing-work-best-together/
Checklist for writing accessible content: https://digital.accessibility.princeton.edu/checklist
Andrew Hick had the very good idea of classifying WCAG criteria in order to facilitate testing. A tool now available in several languages, including French: https://www.andrewhick.com/accessibility/wcag-map/fr/

Technical points #

The links between SEO and a11y: https://www.a11y-collective.com/blog/seo-and-accessibility/
Doing your dynamic regions right: https://access42.net/quand-utiliser-live-regions-aria/
Aria-label(ledby), not to be used with any tag, important: https://benmyers.dev/blog/dont-use-aria-label-on-static-text-elements/
Status messages, even accessible ones, can cause problems: https://cerovac.com/a11y/2024/12/potential-dangers-of-status-messages/
Aria-description does not translate: https://adrianroselli.com/2025/01/aria-description-does-not-translate.html
Putting alternative texts to images in BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/oedipusnj.bsky.social/post/3jywm7v5vtl2y
The WCAG criterion "1.4.10-Reflow" should soon evolve, with many examples to explain the cases of compliance or not: https://deploy-preview-4055--wcag2.netlify.app/understanding/reflow
As always, Julie Moynat shares her good advice, this time it concerns the accessibility of links that open in a new window or tab (fr): https://www.lalutineduweb.fr/lien-ouverture-nouvelle-fenetre-accessible/

Feedback #

Still the same observation: https://carmemias.com/why-are-we-so-rubbish-at-accessibility/
Annotation kits are not everything, read: https://ericwbailey.website/published/accessibility-annotation-kits-only-annotate/#so%2C-what-can-we-do-about-this%3F
Evolution of the a11y of Luxembourg public sites (fr): https://accessibilite.public.lu/fr/news/2025-01-15-rapport2024.html
Thoughts on the profession of a11y specialist: https://blog.hello-bokeh.fr/2025/01/07/accessibility-operations-reflexions-sur-le-metier/
A screen reader user facing a french governement website, to read (fr): https://www.sylduch-conseil.fr/creer-espace-pro-site-impots/
Front devs and a11y, the base: https://martijnhols.nl/blog/accessibility-essentials-every-front-end-developer-should-know

Mobile app, mobile web #

Since you can never be better served than by yourself, let's start by recalling that Orange has just published essential checklists for the self-assessment of projects: the 11 essential criteria Android and the 11 essential iOS criteria
Android unveils 6 new features, an update on the changes: https://www.frandroid.com/android/2432052_android-devoile-6-nouvelles-fonctionnalites-le-point-sur-les-changements
You can't reach certain parts of the UI using keyboard navigation? Maybe you forgot about the "Keyboard Navigation Clusters": https://cerovac.com/a11y/2024/12/testing-navigation-with-physical-keyboard-on-android-hint-keyboard-navigation-cluster/
Daniel Devesa iOS Advent Calendar Compilation: https://dadederk.github.io/post/2024-12-06-01/
Pragma Conference 2024 Video - From Zero to Accessible in 30 Minutes - by Robin Kanatzar: https://youtu.be/r6eQZJJYf_o?si=SbNe7P6u_MzlnGLS
Good news, starting with Android 16, it will no longer be possible to block orientation, Google will start by applying this rule on large screens, including foldable screens: https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/01/orientation-and-resizability-changes-in-android-16.html?m=1
How to address common accessibility issues in iOS mobile apps using SwiftUI: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-to-address-ios-accessibility-challenges-using-swiftui
Top 5 accessibility issues in iOS apps: https://dev.to/steady5063/top-5-ios-mobile-app-accessibility-issues-pt-1-51g8
A11Y audit feedback on mobile apps at gov.uk: https://accessibility.blog.gov.uk/2025/01/14/accessibility-audit-of-the-met-office-app-outcomes-and-learnings/
Another interesting Mobile Advent Calendar (3 articles) by Mark Steadman:

Assistive technologies #

Some points sometimes ignored on AT and a11y: https://ericwbailey.website/published/truths-about-digital-accessibility/
VoiceOver MacOS is not VoiceOver iOS: https://adrianroselli.com/2025/02/which-voiceover.html

Ergonomics, UI & UX #

User testing tools not moderated: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/unmoderated-user-testing-tools/
Designing "beautiful" and accessible focus: https://medienbaecker.com/articles/focus-outlines
Thoughts on UX tools and a11y: https://uxdesign.cc/to-create-more-accessible-outcomes-we-need-better-design-tools-a113fe57576c

Resources #

Introduction to a11y costs and ROI: https://purplebyte.io/blog/costs-roi-metrics-web-accessibility
A11y personas with tasks to perform to understand their challenges, excellent: https://personas-prototype.herokuapp.com/
An interactive way to explore WCAG 2.2 (levels A and AA) with key categories: https://wcag-2-point-2-explorer.notion.site/6d8f6cb4081349e99e7bcd85770cca00?v=4f93e67af3c6459593354a480a5db354

Others #

Thoughts on generative AI and a11y: https://htmhell.dev/adventcalendar/2024/7/
AI and a11y, we need humans with disabilities, period, strong opinion: https://ashleemboyer.com/blog/how-to-dehumanize-accessibility-with-ai