Explore the 2019 24 Accessibility series featuring 25 expert articles on WCAG, ARIA, inclusive design, accessibility testing, CSS, content strategy, cognitive accessibility, web standards, and real-world development practices. Essential reading for designers, developers, testers, and accessibility leaders.
Sara Soueidan reflects on lessons from learning and teaching web accessibility. She explores semantic HTML, ARIA, progressive enhancement, inclusive design, and user-centered development, offering practical guidance for building more accessible and resilient web experiences.
Read What a Year of Learning and Teaching Accessibility Taught Me …
Carolyn MacLeod explains how accessibility considerations in the HTML specification connect developers to ARIA rules and accessibility API mappings. Explore how HTML elements, roles, states, and properties are mapped to support accessible web development and assistive technology.
Kathleen McMahon explains why the choice between pixels and relative CSS units such as em and rem still matters for accessibility. Learn how CSS units affect text scaling, responsive design, and users’ ability to control their browsing experience.
Read Pixels vs. Relative Units in CSS: Why it’s Still a Big Deal …
Christopher Schmitt explores color theory, color perception, color blindness, and accessible web design. Learn how WCAG addresses color, contrast, relative luminance, and contrast ratios, plus techniques and tools for evaluating color accessibility and creating more inclusive digital experiences.
Shell Little explains why accessible code alone cannot create an accessible product. The article explores cognitive accessibility, inclusive design, cognitive load, assistive technology, and the importance of involving disabled people throughout the product development lifecycle.
Devon Persing explores how organizations can build accessibility literacy by borrowing ideas from Dungeons & Dragons. Rather than expecting everyone to become an expert, teams can develop shared knowledge, collaborative processes, and role-specific skills that make accessibility part of everyday work.
In “<select> Your Poison Part 2,” Sarah Higley tests native select, combobox, and multi-select patterns with people using assistive technologies. The study shows why native selects generally provide the best single-selection experience, while custom controls require careful design and real-user testing.
Sarah Higley explores the challenges of building accessible custom select controls, comparing native <select> behavior across platforms with ARIA combobox and listbox patterns. The article examines semantics, keyboard interaction, multi-select, autocomplete, and the accessibility tradeoffs of custom UI.
Sara Tabor explains why digital agencies are uniquely positioned to improve accessibility across diverse projects. She explores shifting accessibility left, integrating WCAG into workflows, reducing remediation costs, strengthening QA, training teams, and building scalable accessibility practices.
Read Why is an Agency the Perfect Place to Observe and Improve Digital Accessibility? …
For the past three years, I have been working in the Cloud +AI division of Microsoft as a subject matter expert, advising teams on how best to fix accessibility bugs and promoting accessible design. I find the work very fulfilling and look forward to continuing to make an impact on disabled people’s ability to seek […]
Paul Grenier explains how teams can automate inclusive documentation using accessibility testing, plain language tools, linters, and continuous integration. Learn how automated checks can improve readability, approachability, consistency, and accessibility while reducing barriers for contributors and users.
Catharine McNally explores how customer-service experiences can exclude people with disabilities. From inaccessible contact forms to phone-only support, she advocates for multiple, consistent communication pathways, including email, chat, video, and human assistance, so every customer can get help.
Melanie Sumner explores the future of digital accessibility, focusing on the tools developers need to build accessible websites more easily. She examines gaps in accessibility testing, developer tooling, semantic HTML, ARIA, and assistive technology, and challenges the industry to create better solutions.
Ian Pouncey explores how design, development, and product decisions shape the web experience. He argues for simpler, accessible, usable, performant websites that prioritize real people, native controls, thoughtful design, and reduced complexity over unnecessary features and technical complexity.
Matthew Atkinson explores game accessibility and the web, examining barriers faced by disabled gamers and how screen readers, HTML, WebAssembly, and browser accessibility APIs can make game interfaces more accessible. The article presents a practical approach to bridging games and assistive technology.
Cordelia McGee-Tubb explains how she built an accessible bingo web app with React and Firebase, using ARIA grids, keyboard navigation, toggle states, live regions, responsive design, and user testing to create an inclusive experience for keyboard, touchscreen, and screen reader users.
Melanie Richards guides developers through the world of W3C specifications, explaining how to navigate web standards and find authoritative guidance. This practical introduction helps developers better understand specifications related to HTML, accessibility, WCAG, and the technologies that shape the web.
Becky Gibson explains why people with disabilities should be active participants in accessibility testing. The article explores how blind, low vision, cognitive, and other testers identify barriers that automated tools and nondisabled testers may miss, while promoting inclusive testing teams.
Homer Gaines explains how the WCAG POUR principles, Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust, provide a foundation for digital accessibility. The article explores practical examples involving alternative text, keyboard access, clear forms, semantic HTML, and assistive technology compatibility.
Ather Sharif explores the challenges of making visual content accessible, from images and alternative text to GIFs, graphs, and interactive visualizations. The article examines how screen reader users experience visual information and why accessibility should be built into emerging technologies.
David A. Kennedy explores how HTML markup, content, and context work together to create accessible web experiences. Learn why semantic HTML, meaningful labels, form structure, alternative text, and contextual controls matter for people using screen readers and other assistive technologies.
Read The Intersection of Markup, Content and Context in Accessibility …
Erik Kroes exposes 8 misguided accessibility tips with humor, challenging common assumptions about WCAG, ARIA, automated testing, focus indicators, accessible alternatives, and inclusive design. Learn why meeting technical requirements is only part of creating truly accessible digital experiences.
Read 8 Weird Tips Accessibility Specialists Don’t Want You to Know! …
Dennis Deacon explores why WCAG Level AA compliance should be a starting point, not the finish line. The article examines headings, link text, focus indicators, abbreviations, and other areas where going beyond minimum requirements can create more usable and accessible digital experiences.
Léonie Watson explores the accessibility challenges of Web Components and how the Accessibility Object Model (AOM) could address them. Discover how AOM features such as default semantics, ARIA reflection, assistive technology events, and virtual accessibility nodes could make accessibility first-class.
Read Web Components and the Accessibility Object Model (AOM) …
One of the biggest barriers to accessibility is awareness. We often hear how diversifying our workforce is good for business. I would like to examine why disabilities should be a part of that formula. When developers are tasked with making something accessible, chances are none of them has ever encountered someone with a disability, so […]
Read What Adding People with Disabilities to Your Team Brings to the Mix …