a11y (digital accessibility)

This study highlights the benefits of consistent homework reminders for students. About 80% of students were watching the required lab videos. The professor began sending out consistent email reminders and the adherence jumped to around 90%. LMS platforms should include a feature that can push out weekly homework reminders directly to each student's email or through a text message. I have ADHD and I can see these types of reminders being very beneficial. #accessibility

This report by the Center for Democracy and Technology highlights the risks of using AI for crucial benefits like Medicaid, Medicare, unemployment, and Social Security Disability. These AI tools need to be more transparent and explain their decision making to the beneficiary. AI algorithms can have unknown biases and are more likely to base their decisions on a person's diagnosis rather than the person's actual needs. Check out the full report for more info.

This article profiles how ETS created an accessible rebrand of their website in about two months. I appreciate how from the start they ensured the theme colors and text were accessible. The WebAIM Million study highlights that color contrast is the most common accessibility error. Check out the full article for all the details.

Check out the newest draft of the WCAG 3.0 Guidelines. It is currently in the exploratory phase and the final version will probably be ready sometime between 2026-2028. These new guidelines are meant to apply broadly to devices like wearables and mobile devices, which weren't part of the scope of WCAG 2.0. Content that meets WCAG 2.2 A and AA standards should meet the minimum requirements for WCAG 3.0. The rating system itself is changing too as WCAG 3.0 will use bronze, silver, and gold categories.

For GAAD (Global Accessibility Awareness Day) the A11Y Collective is organizing a 'Pay what you want' discount on all accessibility courses.

20% of all purchases go to Sense (https://sense.org.uk), a charity supporting people who are deafblind or have other complex disabilities.

With a minimum amount of $25, an 85% discount on some of the courses, you can decide how much you want to contribute.

The discount is only available on May 16.

Read more about the GAAD discount.

Disclosure: I work for the A11Y Collective, and am glad I can bring some extra attention to Global Accessibility Awareness Day. If you have any questions let me know!

Sometimes we forget to celebrate the wins and remember the past. AIM HE Act did not gain traction and pass, unfortunately. The original update to the ADA that introduced Web Content Accessibility Standards (WCAG) had an exception for password-protected instructional materials. This meant that instructional content would once again be inaccessible. Yet, people and organizations from all over wrote to encourage the government to remove this exception. The final rule does not have an exception for password-protected instructional content. This means that public higher education institutions need to make their instructional materials accessible and are working to be compliant when the rule takes effect in about 2-3 years. Hopefully, this will eventually apply to all higher education institutions in the future.

This article highlights the benefits of captioning videos.

This article provides guidance on the Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) standard 2.4.11, which requires items to not be obscured when they receive focus.

This article highlights the challenges people with disabilities face in the workplace when trying to access digital content. It references a study exploring the assistive technologies being used in the workplace to support employees who are blind or have low vision. As awareness increases we can solve common digital accessibility barriers and promote the use of assistive technologies so that more people with disabilities can find meaningful employment.

I like the principles being promoted in this manifesto. Hopefully, websites will prioritize principles like accessibility, security, independence, and transparency in the future.

Screen reading software cannot handle unlimited heading levels. JAWS and TalkBack in particular have difficulties with heading levels beyond 6. Narrator has issues with heading levels beyond 9. Basically, try to avoid using heading levels beyond 6 if possible.

This is an interesting dissertation that explores digital accessibility by analyzing higher education institutions in Colorado. The study finds the most common digital accessibility barriers on the websites of public and private institutions. Private and vocational schools had more accessibility errors. The overall error (2.5%) rate was calculated by comparing a small fraction of inaccessible elements to all the web elements on a webpage.

This article provides tips for creating accessible highlighted text on a webpage.

This article highlights how to access the speech view using different screen readers like NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver.

This is an accessibility checker that can help web authors ensure their content is accessible. The plugin works with Drupal, WordPress, and SquareSpace.

I just used this demo homepage for an accessibility presentation. If you're looking for a webpage to demo inaccessible and accessible content this can be a helpful resource.

This article provides more information about the European standard EN 301 549. This standard includes WCAG 2.1 requirements but extends to platforms like authoring tools and adds additional accessibility standards.

This is a free tool that can provide image descriptions and alt text for images. It uses ChatGPT 4 and is provided by Arizona State University.

This article by Adrian Roselli highlights why it is important to keep your alt text short and to the point. It also provides a lot of helpful articles with alt-text tips at the bottom of the page.

These are some best practices for creating accessible content that is easy to read.

Senators are considering the accessibility of their websites and kiosks. This shows that there is more awareness about digital accessibility and a desire to be compliant with laws like the ADA and Section 508.