46 Accessibility tips, tutorials, techniques & resources
Accessible Data Visualization with Web Standards
"I’m going to cover three basic techniques for incorporating some simple data visualization into standards-based navigation patterns. All of them start with the building block of HTML navigation: an unordered list of links."
Top 10 accessibility mistakes
"Here's a nice top ten of things not to do when building accessible sites."
Common Accessibility Issues
"For more than a year, we’ve been reviewing readers’ sites from an accessibility point of view. A few issues are cropping up regularly, so it’s time to look at some preventive medicine. One of the best tools for digging into a site is the Web Developer’s Toolbar for Firefox, and in a few minutes you can check all the common accessibility issues. Here are the main ones:"
Seven Accessibility Mistakes (Part 2)
"This week we’ll wrap up with four more scenarios to avoid and how. If budgets or client relationships constrain you, these ideas might at least inspire you to nudge the client in the direction of user-centric development or provide ammunition in meetings."
Seven Accessibility Mistakes (Part 1)
"Here are some of the major mistakes I encountered during my years as a professional Web developer. If we keep an eye open for them in the future, we are a lot more likely to create accessible, beautiful Web products without much hassle—and make both clients and visitors happy."
Accessibility and usability
"At the moment we Web developers are learning the basics of accessibility, as once we mastered the basics of usability. However, in my last column I hinted at a potentially dangerous “accessibility vs. usability” question. The time has come to study this question in more detail."
More usability frosting for your accessibility cake
"Some of you may remember my last article for A List Apart, in which I discussed separation of JavaScript into self-limiting functions that leave pages usable and accessible whether they run or not. This is another take on that concept, applied to a form."
What does Accessibility mean?
"Many people see accessibility as affecting a small group of people — a group of people that can be ignored. In actuality, accessibility is a spectrum. On one end, there are those with the most extreme mental or physical disabilities that I couldn't even begin to assume I know how to accomodate for. And on the other end... well, what is the other end?"
Overdoing accessibility
"Sometimes when people first learn about Web accessibility they look for quick ways of improving the sites they build. This often leads to misuse or overuse of certain HTML features that are meant to aid accessibility, but when used wrongly have no effect and can actually have the opposite effect by making the page less accessible and less usable."
Accessible can be Beautiful
"I aim to show you examples of brilliant and accessible design, and show that it is all a myth after all. Accessibility and design are not mutually exclusive. They walk hand in hand."
11 Accessibility Tips
"When developing a site we all sometimes overlook simple methods that we can use to make our site more accessible. Here's a list of tips that should really be used by all of us, myself included."
Accessible By Design
"Good Web design is accessible Web design. Despite popular belief, the two do not have to be at opposite ends of an aesthetics spectrum. Accessible sites can appeal to all users."
Dive Into Accessibility: 30 days to a more accessible web site
"This book answers two questions. The first question is "Why should I make my web site more accessible?" If you do not have a web site, this book is not for you. The second question is "How can I make my web site more accessible?" If you are not convinced by the first answer, you will not be interested in the second."
Building Accessible Websites
Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design
"Improve your websites, software, hardware, and consumer products to make them more useful to more people in more situations. Develop effective accessibility solutions efficiently."
It's in the Details: Seven Secrets of a Successful International Website
"In a world where web sites are the calling cards of most companies, localizing web content for your international audience is the key."
10 Reasons Clients Don't Care About Accessibility
"Our clients simply don’t care about accessibility as much as we’d like them to, and there are several reasons for that."
Accessibility From The Ground Up
"Following accessible design practices as a part of everyday design ensures that you will reach more users, both with and without disabilities."
Making Compact Forms More Accessible
"Tightly designed forms can look great on paper, but they often ignore accessibility issues altogether."
The Accessibility Hat Trick: Getting Abbreviations Right
"...abbreviations and acronyms stand out as one of the trickiest areas of AAA to implement well. In order to meet our three-part goal of standards compliance, backwards compatibility, and full accessibility, we need to give this aspect of our content a bit of thought."
High Accessibility Is Effective Search Engine Optimization
"I have been a search engine optimizer for several years, but only recently have become infatuated with web accessibility. After reading for weeks until my eyes became sore, and painstakingly editing my personal website to comply with most W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, I have come to a startling revelation: high accessibility overlaps heavily with effective white hat SEO."
Accessible Pop-up Links
"Sometimes we have to use pop-ups — so we might as well do them right. This article will show you how to make them more accessible and reliable while simplifying their implementation."
Prettier Accessible Forms
"I wanted to create something that anyone could easily reuse on any project: a style sheet that, when applied to a correctly marked up HTML form, would produce the basis of the required layout."
A More Accessible Map
"Is there a way to display text-based data on a map, keeping it accessible, useful and visually attractive?"
Big, Stark & Chunky
"You’ve designed for the screen and made provision for blind, handheld, and PDA browser users. But what about low-vision people? Powered by CSS, “zoom” layouts convert wide, multicolumn web pages into low-vision-friendly, single column designs. Accessibility maven Joe Clark explores the rationale and methods behind zoom layouts. Board the zoom train now!"
Power To The People: Relative Font Sizes
"Relative font sizes may make websites more accessible — but they’re not much help unless the person using the site can find a way to actually change text size. Return control to your audience using this simple, drop-in solution."
Facts and Opinion About Fahrner Image Replacement
"Fahrner Image Replacement and its analogues aim to combine the benefits of high design with the requirements of accessibility. But how well do these methods really work? Accessibility expert Joe Clark digs up much-needed empirical data on how FIR works (and doesn’t) in leading screen readers."
Accesskeys: Unlocking Hidden Navigation
"Your favorite applications have shortcut keys. So can your site, thanks to the XHTML accesskey attribute. Accesskeys make sites more accessible for people who cannot use a mouse. Unfortunately, almost no designer uses accesskeys, because, unless they View Source, most visitors can’t tell that you’ve put these nifty navigational shortcuts to work on your site. In this issue, Stuart Robertson unlocks the secret of providing visible accesskey shortcuts."
This HTML Kills: Thoughts on Web Accessibility
"Activist Jim Byrne sounds off on the importance of web accessibility, and the difficulty of doing it right."
Color Theory for the Color-Blind
"I’m going to give a brief overview of color theory and provide practical advice for the color-blind designer."
A CSS styled table version 2
"This article is about the proper usage of tables, for tabular data. How you can implement them with accessibility in mind and how to make them appealing for the eye using CSS."
How To Sell Accessibility
"By now, we've all heard about Web accessibility and how important it is to us Internet users. You may think so, too. But how can you persuade your client, or your boss, that accessibility is worth it?"
10 Accessibility Blunders of the Big Players
"Major sites - from Amazon to Google – can and do make usability blunders. Learn from their mistakes with this quick round-up of prime offenders!"
Secret Benefits of Accessibility Part 1: Increased Usability
"Trenton reveals how increased accessibility can also improve a site's usability."
Secret Benefits of Accessibility Part 2: Better Search Ranking
"Think accessibility is just about helping human visitors use your site? Think again! As Trenton reveals, many accessibility techniques can aid search spiders, to help boost your search rankings, too."
Beyond the Guidelines: Advanced Accessibility Techniques
"While the W3C guidelines are important, if you want your web site to be truly accessible, you'll need to venture beyond these guidelines. Trenton explains all in this hands-on technical tour!"
Seven Screen Reader Usability Tips
"Who says making a site usable to screen reader users is a pain? Trenton provides 7 quick, easy fixes that boost your site's usability for all visitors, including those who use screen reader technology."
Beware the Automated Accessibility Tool Trap
"If you've been happily using automated accessibility checking tools to ensure the accessiblity of your site, listen up! As Trenton explains, these tools should never be used as a sole solution to accessibility. They're often innaccurate, unspecific, outdated -- and in some cases, they're simply incorrect!"
Improve Usability for Older Users
"A growing portion of the population is over 60 -- and online! Tim reveals his first-hand research into the ways people aged 60+ use the Internet, and what it means for designers and developers."
Essential Colour Checklists For Web Design
"This article introduces the basics of cognitive psychology around colour and patterns -- what you need to know, and how it affects Web design in a nutshell."
Essential Navigation Checklists for Web Design
"These checklists pull together best practice in the disciplines of information design, usability and accessibility, into an easy to apply format."
Accessible Dynamic Links
"Mike Davies kicks off a mini-series on Accessibility and JavaScript by considering a number of techniques for hiding links, yet keeping them accessible."
Hide And Seek in The Head
"Peter-Paul Koch continues our focus on JavaScript and Accessibility by demonstrating how fall-back HTML elements can be convincingly hidden when their functionality is to be replaced by Ajax."
Showing Good Form
"James Edwards takes the good stuff down off the shelf and illustrates how forms can be built to be both highly stylable and remain accessible to all comers."
Improving Form Accessibility with DOM Scripting
"Ian Lloyd looks at how DOM Scripting can help out with an uncomfortable accessibility issue. Form field labels can be tricky to implement in some cases, but with a little ingenuity Ian demonstrates how a balance can be struck."
CSS for Accessibility
"Ann McMeekin decks the halls with some practical CSS techniques that can help in making your site design as accessible to as many different users as possible."