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

  • Shared Responsibility for Accessibility

    By Sarah Horton and David Sloan — There’s been a trend over the years to see accessibility as overwhelmingly the responsibility of development. As the people writing the code that will run the digital resource, it’s true that developers have a significant responsibility to ensure the code they write meets… continue reading

  • Principles of Universal Design

    By Sarah Horton and David Sloan — Some accessibility principles emerged from efforts to create accessible and inclusive physical environments and products. The Principles of Universal Design were developed in 1997 by a multidisciplinary team at North Carolina State University and remain a useful resource for digital product engineers. Universal… continue reading

  • Those who have been marginalized get it.

    By Jonee Meiser — All too often, I run into development teams that continuously treat accessibility solely as technical bugs that they will address whenever they get to them. The impact of those existing bugs is perceived as minimal. And that is when I have been known to lose my… continue reading

  • You can’t rely on testing tools. They can test only 20%–30%.

    By Makoto Ueki — We need to clarify the accessibility requirements that the content should ensure in the requirements definition phase. Then we design and develop the content following the requirements. Once the content is developed, we need to verify that it meets the requirements set forth in the final… continue reading

  • Not all user needs or barriers will be addressed by the “current” WCAG guidelines at any given time.

    By Erich Manser — One thing I consider essential for engineers who are concerned with digital accessibility to understand is that the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) Standards, while foundational and extremely important, are also quite limited in scope and coverage. Even as WCAG continues to evolve and expand, there… continue reading

  • Everyone should know about neuro‑inclusive digital accessibility.

    By Lē Silveus — In the ever‑evolving world of web development, crafting online experiences that are accessible and user‑centered is vital. However, the concept of accessibility extends beyond complying with WCAG guidelines. We’re going to dive into an important aspect that often gets overlooked: neurodiversity. As product creators, understanding and embracing… continue reading

  • Custom UI components need extra information to be accessible.

    By Kate Kalcevich — Interactions on the web are notorious for being inaccessible to people with disabilities and are often part of the most critical functions, such as: When you use HTML form elements like <input>, <select>, and <button>, information about the element is passed to the DOM (Document Object… continue reading

  • Content and functionality must be machine readable.

    By Makoto Ueki — An important keyword for making digital content more accessible is “machine readability.” In this context, “machine” means the user agents such as browsers, assistive technologies like screen readers, search robots, and so on. Take a website, as an example. A web page has several headings: a… continue reading

  • People with disabilities use a variety of assistive technologies and accessibility strategies.

    By Jonathan Avila — Engineers should know how assistive technologies operate and how users with disabilities interact with them. People with disabilities may use various techniques, accessibility features, and assistive technologies throughout the day and may switch to different ways of using technology in different contexts. Familiarize yourself with the… continue reading

  • Disabled people are digital creators and consumers. We need accessibility in design and development tools.

    By Yasmine Elglaly — People with disabilities are not solely end‑users of software; they also create software and digital content. Therefore, it is crucial to consider accessibility during the development of all types of software, including software development tools like integrated development environments (IDEs), version control systems, build tools, and… continue reading