@a11yawareness.bsky.social - Accessibility Awareness

14 May 2026 03:06 +0000

Get in the habit of bringing up accessibility at meetings, in check-ins, and in demos. Bring up things you've done to address accessibility. Likewise, don't be afraid to ask, "Have we tested this on a keyboard?" or "What's the experience like on a screen reader?"

14 May 2026 02:51 +0000

Overlays are widgets or technologies that promise to improve a site's accessibility with third-party source code. More than 1,000 accessibility advocates and web developers have signed an open letter to explain the limitations and dangers of these products. overlayfactsheet.com https://overlayfactsheet.com/

14 May 2026 01:35 +0000

Intentional misspellings of words can confuse people. This includes people with cognitive and reading disabilities, and those learning the language. Depending on how much the word is misspelled, screen readers might not pronounce it like the actual intended word.

14 May 2026 00:48 +0000

Alexa Heinrich's Accessible Social is a free resource for digital marketers, communication professionals, content creators, everyday social media users, and anyone who wants to learn how to make their content accessible for people with disabilities. www.accessible-social.com https://www.accessible-social.com/

13 May 2026 23:32 +0000

Don't use color alone to convey information. Marking required fields by only using colored labels won't help people who use screen readers or who can't distinguish colors. If using color, also add text like asterisks and/or "required." https://www.w3.org/WAI/tips/designing/

13 May 2026 03:31 +0000

For audio-only content like podcasts, provide a transcript. For videos with audio, provide both transcripts and captions. In the transcripts and captions, include the spoken information and sounds that are important for understanding the content.

13 May 2026 02:15 +0000

People often have difficulty reading content when there isn’t sufficient contrast, so it's important to have high color contrast. TPGi’s free color contrast checker tool allows you to determine the contrast ratio of two colors by using an eye-drop tool. https://developer.paciellogroup.com/color-contrast-checker/

13 May 2026 01:01 +0000

Manual testing with a screen reader will help you catch and fix accessibility issues that can't be identified by automated tests. Sara Soueidan has a great guide on various screen readers and how to set them up on your computer. https://www.sarasoueidan.com/blog/testing-environment-setup/

13 May 2026 00:13 +0000

Don't use headings to arbitrarily style text. If you apply “Heading 4” style, you add a

heading tag to the item. When screen reader users navigate from heading to heading, the item will be treated as a heading. This will be confusing. Only treat actual headings as headings.

12 May 2026 23:57 +0000

Audio descriptions are necessary for making videos accessible. They narrate the crucial visual elements that would be necessary for understanding the plot without the ability to see the screen. They describe non-verbal cues like gestures, facial expressions, or eye contact.

12 May 2026 17:23 +0000

When creating PDFs, avoid using "Print to PDF." A screen reader user may still be able to access the text of PDFs created this way, but heading structure, alternative text, and any other tag structure will be lost. Using "Save As" or "Export" can preserve these tags.

12 May 2026 02:44 +0000

Automatically updating content can be extremely distracting, especially for users with vestibular disorders or attention difficulties. This could force users to scroll through page content to not see the animation, or to just look away. Allow animations to be paused or stopped.

12 May 2026 01:28 +0000

Many struggle with writing alt text for charts and other other data visualizations. Amy Cesal's "Writing Alt Text for Data Visualization" hammers home the importance of explaining the chart type, the type of data, and the reason for the chart. https://medium.com/nightingale/writing-alt-text-for-data-visualization-2a218ef43f81

11 May 2026 23:33 +0000

Sighted users often use bold or large fonts to create the appearance of headings in documents. People using screen readers have no way of understanding these visual cues. Use heading styles from the styles menu to correctly format headings.

11 May 2026 22:22 +0000

Avoid using emoji as bullet points in social media posts. An emoji has a coded description that gets read by screen readers, and thus could confuse users who think that's part of the content. If you can't use standard lists, use dashes for bullet points or add line breaks.

11 May 2026 17:23 +0000

Some will publish podcasts but wait up to 24 hours before adding transcripts instead of publishing them together. The end goal should be to have the transcript ready at the same time as the podcast. This will require multiple teams working together toward that goal.

09 May 2026 21:21 +0000

Capitalization affects how people read hashtags or how people hear them on screen readers. Use #camelCase or #PascalCase in hashtags instead of lowercase. You could have #DoctorWhoRewatch ("Doctor Who Rewatch") or #doctorwhorewatch ("doctor whore watch.")

09 May 2026 17:23 +0000

Chartability is a resource to help make data visualizations and charts more accessible. It's organized into principles with testable criteria aimed at making sure people with disabilities are able to access data. chartability.fizz.studio https://chartability.fizz.studio/

09 May 2026 14:01 +0000

Hyperlink text should make sense when read out of context. Screen reader users can navigate from link to link, and can listen to links in a list. When navigating this way, only the link is read. So "click here" or "read more" won't make sense.

09 May 2026 03:27 +0000

The #NoMouse Challenge is a global effort to raise awareness about accessible web design. Try using your website without a mouse. Use the keyboard instead. Is it possible to access all features and operate all buttons, sliders, and other controls? nomouse.org https://nomouse.org/

09 May 2026 02:43 +0000

The term "overlay" refers to any product using third-party source code to change a website's front-end code to attempt to improve accessibility and avoid legal risks. But no overlay can truthfully promise it can make a website fully conform with existing accessibility standards.

09 May 2026 01:58 +0000

When using Microsoft Word or Google Docs, don't just make text bigger and bolder to make it a heading. That will work for sighted users, but screen reader users will miss that and just hear it as normal paragraph text. Use actual heading styles, like level 1 through 6.

08 May 2026 22:22 +0000

Avoid forcing users to memorize information. For example, use field labels instead of placeholder text. Placeholder text disappears when users begin typing. This forces them to memorize placeholder text or delete information so they can see placeholders again.

08 May 2026 17:23 +0000

Avoid having animations, sliders, videos, or rapid movement start automatically. Give an indicator of what movement will happen on the site when someone takes action. Allow the option to turn off any animation and movement at any point in the process.

08 May 2026 03:02 +0000

If you pair light colors (yellow text on white background) or dark colors (dark blue text on black background), users will struggle to read your content. Understanding color contrast will help you better serve all users, especially those with low vision. https://webaim.org/articles/contrast/

08 May 2026 02:18 +0000

For screen readers to recognize headings, heading text can't just be body text or normal text that's been made to look bigger and bolder. It must be formatted as a heading. In Microsoft Word and Google Docs, this can be done in the styles box. In HTML, use the tags h1 through h6.

08 May 2026 01:33 +0000

Automated captions and transcripts can save time so that you don't have to manually transcribe on your own. But automated captions and transcripts aren't 100% accurate, so they need manual editing before you publish them. https://www.w3.org/WAI/media/av/captions/#positioning-and-styling-captions

07 May 2026 22:22 +0000

When you can, avoid number-only date formats. Sighted users could be confused on whether the first number is the month or day. If you've incorrectly designated your document's language, screen reader users might hear the wrong date. Writing out the month prevents this confusion.

07 May 2026 17:23 +0000

Looking for a digital accessibility job? Or looking to hire someone for an accessibility role? A11yjobs is a digital accessibility job board. www.a11yjobs.com https://www.a11yjobs.com/

07 May 2026 03:06 +0000

The Game Accessibility Guidelines have been put together by game studios, specialists and academics. While they are not an official set of standards or documents, they are a collection of tips and techniques to help developers make games more inclusive. gameaccessibilityguidelines.com https://gameaccessibilityguidelines.com/