It started the way a lot of side projects these days seem to, with a “What if…” sent absent-mindedly over Slack. My teammates and I were about to attend a large meeting and were guessing at which common phrases would come up: words like “roadmap,” “innovation,” and the noun form of “ask.” What if we […]
Accessible Development
Explore 24 Accessibility’s Accessible Development articles covering accessible coding practices, semantic HTML, ARIA, JavaScript, web components, mobile development, and accessibility testing. Learn how developers can build inclusive digital experiences by integrating accessibility into design systems, workflows, and everyday development practices.
Tables and Beers
In the last article for the 2018 series, Steve Faulkner provides the results of one beer worth of screen reader testing of simple tables.
ARIA 1.1 – What’s New?
In today’s article, Birkir Gunnarsson tells us what’s new in ARIA 1.1, the new roles and properties that excite him, and the others that disappoint, due to their lack of support.
Benefits of a Single Text Field Versus Multiple Text Fields
In today’s article, Zoë Bijl explains how it’s easier for users to enter a phone number or a credit card number into a single field, but other scenarios may require properly labeled multiple fields.
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Web Components Still Need to be Accessible
In today’s article, Eric Bailey explains why developers need to consider accessibility when creating custom web components and use semantic HTML when it makes sense, as to not needlessly reinvent the wheel.
Accessibility and Inclusion with the World’s Most Popular Communication Tool: Email
In today’s article, Jason Rodriguez shares some best practices on creating more accessible and inclusive email campaigns, routinely ranked as one of the world’s most valuable marketing channels, yet very little work has been done to make it more accessible for under-represented groups.
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I Threw Away my Mouse
In today’s article, Manuel Matuzovic shares how he ditched his mouse, going keyboard-only. He shares the results of his research on 200 different pages and the issues that impact keyboard-only users.
A New Day: Making a Better Calendar
Gerard Cohen explores how to build accessible and usable calendar widgets. He covers efficient date selection, keyboard navigation, semantic controls, accessible labels, screen reader feedback, and responsive design, offering practical guidance for creating better calendar experiences for everyone.
Accessible SVG Icons with Inline Sprites
Marco Hengstenberg explains how to create accessible SVG icons using inline SVG sprites. Learn when to label icons, hide decorative graphics, use ARIA attributes, and build reusable SVG symbols that provide meaningful information to screen reader users and other assistive technology.
Stories from the Trenches: What I’ve learned from Working as a Blind Developer for a Sighted Dev Team
Florian Beijers shares his experiences as a blind developer on a sighted development team, exploring employment, screen readers, inaccessible developer tools, productivity challenges, workarounds, and the importance of building more inclusive technology that enables developers with disabilities to thrive.
Giving Back to the Community
Mike Gifford challenges accessibility professionals and developers to give back by improving accessibility in open source projects. He explains how contributing to issue queues, testing software, sharing expertise, and advocating for users can help make accessibility the default across the web.
Congrats! You Just Received an Inaccessible Gift Card
Dennis Deacon examines how inaccessible gift card emails and redemption pages can exclude people with disabilities. He identifies common HTML and keyboard accessibility issues, including missing alt text, unassociated form labels, and inaccessible help content, then shows how simple fixes restore access.
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Accessibility Testing Tools for Desktop and Mobile Websites
Paul J Adam reviews accessibility testing tools for desktop and mobile websites, including WAVE, aXe, a11yTools, tota11y, and HTML_CodeSniffer. He explains how automated tools complement manual keyboard and screen reader testing to identify accessibility issues earlier.
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How to Build a Cloud-Hosted Accessibility Testing Windows Computer using Amazon WorkSpaces
Eric Bailey explains how to build a cloud-hosted Windows computer with Amazon WorkSpaces for accessibility testing. The guide addresses barriers to Windows access, explains why browser testing services may be insufficient, and provides step-by-step instructions for creating a virtual accessibility testing environment.
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Web Accessibility in the Corporate World
Donna Maddox examines the practical challenges organizations face when implementing accessibility. She explores over-compliance, redundant content, ARIA misuse, competing requirements, and why access matters more than a perfect solution for users today.
SVG, Icon Fonts, and Accessibility: A Case Study
Dennis Lembrée examines the accessibility of SVG icons, icon fonts, sprites, and images, comparing their strengths and limitations. Using Easy Chirp as a case study, he explores screen reader support, keyboard access, performance, styling, and the practical tradeoffs of each approach.
Writing Automated Tests for Accessibility
Marcy Sutton explains how automated accessibility testing can strengthen development workflows, prevent regressions, and free teams for complex testing. She explores unit and integration tests, keyboard interactions, axe-core, and why automation must complement manual and user testing.
Accessibility in Resizing Text
Tim Wright explores why text resizing and zooming are essential for people with low vision. He examines WCAG 1.4.4, the impact of disabling user scaling, and how small development changes can significantly improve accessibility and create a better experience for users.
A Developer’s Guide to Better Accessibility
Melanie Sumner and Sean Massa explain how developers can build more accessible web applications through semantic HTML, appropriate ARIA, keyboard support, accessible names, automated testing, and screen reader testing, while integrating accessibility into their teams and development communities.
Providing Alternate Content for Screen Reader Users
Sam Joehl explores techniques for providing equivalent content to screen reader users when visual information lacks a direct programmatic alternative. The article covers visible alternatives, ARIA, visually hidden text, and choosing appropriate techniques to create more accessible web experiences.
The Three Developers and the Insightful User Tester
Scott O’Hara uses a Three Little Pigs-inspired story to show how developers can create accessibility barriers through poor HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and ARIA choices. He highlights semantic HTML, keyboard access, accessibility testing, and learning from users with disabilities.