Contents

Introduction to Digital Accessibility

• Inaccessible software does not only eliminate or limit access, but it can also cause harm to some users.

  By Yasmine Elglaly — Inaccessible software prevents users from accessing the digital information or the functionality it provides. This can result in limited or no… continue reading

Disability and Digital Inclusion

• Digital Inclusion

  By Sarah Horton and David Sloan — As someone designing and building digital products, you have a responsibility to avoid introducing barriers that might inhibit… continue reading

• Disability Language and Representation

  By Sarah Horton and David Sloan — A deeper understanding of disability involves an awareness of how disability is represented in everyday life. In particular,… continue reading

User Accessibility Needs

• 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.… 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… continue reading

• Cognitive Disabilities

  By Sarah Horton and David Sloan — Some people have disabilities that affect cognitive functioning, including the ability to read, learn, process, remember, and communicate… 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… continue reading

• People with disabilities have a wide and diverse range of user needs.

  By Jonathan Avila — It is essential for people who design, create, and validate technology to understand the needs of people with disabilities, get feedback… 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… 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)… 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… continue reading

Assistive Technology

• 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… 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… 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… continue reading

Core Attributes

• 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… 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… continue reading

Guiding Principles

• 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… continue reading

Accessibility in Practice

• Accessibility is a team effort. It is not exclusive to user research or front‑end development.

  By Yasmine Elglaly — Accessibility is still often viewed as a niche area in software development, where only a select few individuals—such as user researchers… continue reading

• Product managers have a pivotal role in accessibility implementation.

  By Jonee Meiser — Anyone and everyone who is an accessibility professional or expert will say everyone on a software development team has a role… 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… 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… continue reading

Requirements Specification

• 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… continue reading

Core Requirements

• 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… continue reading

Design and Development

Accessibility Personas from A Web for Everyone.

• 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… 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… continue reading

• Everyone should know accessibility requirements for neurodivergent people.

  By Lē Silveus — While adhering to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is a significant step, it’s not the whole picture. Neurodivergent individuals often face… continue reading

Testing and Evaluation

• 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… continue reading

• You need to bake layers of accessibility testing into your process. 

  By Kate Kalcevich — Accessibility testing is critical to ensure that what you build will work for all users. This includes people with disabilities and… continue reading

Documentation and Support

• Inaccessible design is the problem, not the user who raises the issue.

  By Erich Manser — Another thing I’d encourage engineers who are concerned with digital accessibility to understand is that when barriers exist, the issue lies… continue reading