Know About Accessibility

  • Colorful mosaic of a tree with swirling branches, surrounded by birds, butterflies, and flowers against a vibrant blue and yellow background.

    All of us should know about accessibility.

    Welcome to Know About Accessibility. We’re happy you’re here! We are Sarah Horton and David Sloan, co-authors of the book, What Every Engineer Should Know About Digital Accessibility. We created this website to support and extend the themes and topics from the book. All of us have a role to… continue reading

  • Manifesto for Accessible User Experience

    By David Sloan and Sarah Horton — The idea of developing a “manifesto” as a rallying call and statement of intent for connecting accessibility with user experience was the theme of a workshop we held at the UXPA conference in London, UK, back in 2014. Following some intense and enthusiastic… continue reading

  • 5 simple fixes that make digital spaces calmer—for neurodivergent and all users.

    By Lē Silveus — When we talk about accessibility, most engineers think of screen readers, alt text, and color contrast. These are essential, but they’re only part of the picture. Digital spaces must also support people whose minds process information differently—people who are autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, or otherwise neurodivergent. In… continue reading

  • Operation and Input

    By Sarah Horton and David Sloan — Assistive technologies that support user accessibility needs relating to operating a user interface include both hardware and software solutions. Alternative input devices are hardware devices with supporting software that together perform a similar role to a standard mouse and keyboard but do not… continue reading

  • Content and Output

    By Sarah Horton and David Sloan — There is a range of assistive technologies that support user accessibility needs relating to access to content, including providing alternative ways to output content and adapting content to better address user accessibility needs. These are mainly software‑based solutions provided through dedicated applications and… continue reading

  • Programmatic Access to Accessibility Information

    By Sarah Horton and David Sloan — Visual user interface characteristics enable perception and understanding of content and the operation of functionality. A control may look like a button because of its shape and border and the presence of a text label or icon within the control. But this visual… continue reading

  • Chronic Illness

    By Sarah Horton and David Sloan — Some people have chronic illnesses, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and endometriosis, which limit the amount of physical and mental energy they may have in a given day. The impact of chronic illness may vary within and between days and is likely to… continue reading

  • Physical/Motor Disabilities

    By Sarah Horton and David Sloan — Some people have disabilities that affect the ability to move and control movement, in particular the use of the hands to operate a computer, smartphone, tablet, kiosk, or other hardware device. Within this category of disability, there are a range of diverse conditions… continue reading

  • Speech Disabilities

    By Sarah Horton and David Sloan — Some people have disabilities that affect speech, specifically the ability to produce speech that other people (and machines) can understand. This includes conditions that may cause: Some conditions, such as certain brain injuries, anxiety, or hearing loss, may result in a temporary or… continue reading

  • Auditory Disabilities

    By Sarah Horton and David Sloan — Some people have disabilities that affect the auditory channel and are not fully correctable through a hearing aid. The phrase “hard of hearing” categorizes conditions that cause people to have some hearing loss, which may reduce their ability to distinguish some sounds from… continue reading

  • Visual Disabilities

    By Sarah Horton and David Sloan — Some people have disabilities that affect the visual channel and are not fully correctable through glasses or contact lenses. The impact may range from loss of functional vision to reduced visual acuity, field of vision, or color perception.  Low vision and sight loss… continue reading