WebAIM Blog

This fall marks WebAIM’s 10th anniversary. During that time, the WebAIM team has evolved and changed a lot. The work WebAIM does is truly a team effort from a diverse group of men and women with whom it has been an honor to work and become friends.

I’m especially happy to see two employees that I helped hire get married this month. Congratulations Aaron and Stefanie!

The field of web accessibility is not a typical work field. I struggle sometimes to explain what it is I do every day. I know my mother doesn’t really understand it. In many ways, those of us in web accessibility are trying to work ourselves out of a job. If we were entirely successful at what we want to accomplish, we’d no longer have work to do. Of course, that’s not likely to happen any time soon. Yet we try.

When people ask me how I became interested in web accessibility, I usually tell them that I love it because I’m a geek and I like people. Web accessibility gives me a unique opportunity to play with cool toys, learn amazing new skills, stay on top of new technology, but most importantly, to truly make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities.

While WebAIM’s mission is to expand the potential of the web for people with disabilities, it’s interesting that most of our work is not with people with disabilities directly. While the friendships and acquaintances we’ve made with many people with disabilities is what inspires us to do what we do, most of our days are spent working with and influencing those who typically do not have disabilities. We’ve found that by empowering web developers, administrators, and others to make their web sites accessible, that we have a broader, more significant impact on the lives of people with disabilities – those who benefit the most from the accessibility of the sites we help influence.

When WebAIM began, few people were aware of web accessibility issues. One of our primary goals has been to increase awareness. Today, while there is still debate in some places whether accessibility is even a human right, awareness has increased. Most people that we work with are aware of the issues and are truly interested in seeing the web become a better place for people with disabilities – and not simply because some law or policy says they have to. The dilemma of the next decade will be increasing commitment to web accessibility and dispelling myths and misunderstandings about accessibility and people with disabilities. We also have the ongoing challenge of decreasing the gap between cutting edge and accessible.

And we’re not alone in doing this. Some of the smartest, most passionate people on the planet work in web accessibility. I dare not name names, but I am constantly amazed at those in this field who continue to advance technology and accessibility.

So, while the field of web accessibility is a bit anomalous and always adventurous, there is tremendous need for intelligent, dedicated people to help further our efforts. As technology continues to advance, we need to redouble our efforts in ensuring that people with disabilities are given the opportunity to enjoy a truly accessible web experience. Why don’t you come join us?

In the earlier years of web accessibility (pre-1999 to 2004), screen readers were buggy and temperamental. They would sometimes respond erratically to even simple content. Several of the out-dated recommendations of WCAG 1.0 were put in place to address these screen reader-specific issues (see almost any checkpoint that starts with “Until user agents…”), but problems remained and screen reader testing was often a necessity, even for relatively basic pages.

Since then, screen readers have improved. They are far from perfect, but they have fewer bugs and tend to reliably read correctly-structured content. If you build a simple web page following solid accessibility guidelines, you can be relatively confident that your page would be accessible to a screen reader without actually testing it with a screen reader. I think this was one of the main reasons that, between around 2004 and 2007, I relied less on screen reader testing as part of my accessibility evaluations. It was still important in some cases, but many pages could be evaluated using a good evaluation tool like WAVE (provided by WebAIM) and by performing a few other manual checks, such as testing keyboard accessibility.

The web is much more dynamic and interactive than it was just a few years ago. Some of these changes have promising implications for accessibility, but they also introduce new accessibility challenges. Highly dynamic content, which is becoming more common, needs to be tested in a screen reader. This means screen reader testing as part of a larger accessibility evaluation is becoming more common as well. Today, it is a key part of almost all my accessibility evaluation work. Not only is my screen reader testing more frequent, it is more focused. In addition to listening to a page being read from start to finish, I usually concentrate my testing on certain areas, such as forms and navigation.

I have heard, and likely said, that testing with a screen reader very difficult. That it takes weeks or months to learn even the basics. I don’t agree with this statement anymore. Basic screen reader testing really only requires familiarity with a few simple keyboard commands and an understanding of what to listen for. Resources are available (e.g., our articles on testing with JAWS and testing with NVDA) to help users learn the basic shortcuts. In my opinion, the knowledge required to implement accessibility is much more difficult to acquire than knowledge of how to actually use the screen reader. If anyone feels like screen reader testing is an unnecessary or overly difficult part of accessibility testing, I hope you give it another chance.

We are happy to announce that an updated version of WAVE web accessibility evaluation tool (wave.webaim.org) launched yesterday. This version includes several updates and bug fixes, and a couple of new rules. Most importantly, it is also available in Spanish.

WebAIM has been interested in translation of WAVE for years. We are very happy that this has finally become a reality and hope that this translation is the first of many. Thank you to those who have offered translation into other languages, including Portuguese, German, Japanese, Thai, Turkish, and Russian. We are currently seeking volunteers to help with these and other languages. We are also pursuing funding to support these internationalization efforts. If you would like to help, please contact us.

For more information about the new launch and the translation, visit the WAVE blog.

I’m a bit of a newcomer to Twitter. In the few months I’ve been online (follow me at @jared_w_smith), Twitter has become an indispensable tool for networking, communicating, and information gathering and sharing. There is a strong accessibility community on Twitter. In the spirit of The Accessibility Blog Roundup, below are 30 of the tweeple twits twitterers tweeters Twitter users I follow and know of that post frequent and insightful messages on web accessibility (in no particular order).

• peterkz_swe
• v
• csunwebmaster
• shawn_slh
• hanshillen
• suzrobitaille
• cynthiawaddell
• steveofmaine
• kliehm
• wendyabc
• MarcoZehe
• ppatel
• jfc3
• kelsmith
• stcaccess
• dotjay
• sarahebourne
• dennisl / webaxe / AccessibleTwitr
• awkawk
• joedolson
• j9t
• AccessForAll
• lloydi / accessify
• mpaciello
• brucel
• patrick_h_lauke
• codepo8
• gezlemon
• feather
• stevefaulkner
• GlendaWH

Limiting this list to just 30 was very difficult. There are many wonderful people on Twitter, but if you’re looking to expand your Twitter network to include the best of accessibility, following the folks listed above is a great place to start.

Two years ago I published The Great Accessibility Blog Roundup. At the time, I was relatively new to following blogs and thought it would be helpful to post the most useful and informative blogs I had found. Now, it’s time to update the list. Below are many of the accessibility blogs I currently follow. While you’re here, be sure to check out The Accessibility Twitter Roundup.

456 Berea Street

Roger Johansson gives informative, useful accessibility tips in short, easy-to-understand blog postings.

A List Apart

Their RSS feed is still broken 2 years later (you often get duplicate and repeated entries), but ALA is a must read for any web developer.

Accessibility Tips

Mike Davies has posted this excellent collection of tips, guidance, and practical suggestions for developing accessible websites.

Accessify

Ian Lloyd and the folks at Accessify post many accessibility items, particularly ones relevant to the UK crowd.

Accessites.org

The goal of Mike Cherim and his “Team Access” is to prove that accessible web sites can function well and look beautiful. The feed features highlights of accessible web sites and insightful articles on accessible web design.

Adobe Accessibility

The Adobe Accessibility team’s blog on accessibility in Adobe products.

All Access Blogging

Skye Kilaen provides valuable tips for making your blog more accessible.

AniktoBlog

Kel Smith’s User-Centered Design and Web Accessibility Blog.

box of chocolates

“You never know what you’re going to get” is the tagline, but with Derek Featherstone you get a true Accessibility Ninja Jedi Knight.

Bruce Lawson

Bruce Lawson’s blog offers a mix of very interesting humor (you’ve been warned), personal experiences, and in-depth accessibility and standards info.

Digital Likeness

Andrea Hill, an accessibility and social media Wonder Woman, writes on a variety of topics.

Do It Myself Blog

Glenda Watson Hyatt provides vast, first-hand insight into accessibility, assistive technology, and living with a disability.

iheni :: making the web worldwide

Henny Swan, a web evangelist from Opera, blogs about efforts to make the web worldwide.

Joe Dolson Accessible Web Design

Joe is a freelance accessible site designer that shares his immense knowledge though his blog and many articles.

Juicy Studio

Gez Lemon provides some of the most influential research and writing in the accessibility field, particularly on the technical aspects of accessibility and assistive technologies. He writes infrequently, but when he does, it’s best to read carefully.

Learning the World

Martin Kliehm’s blog about web standards and accessibility.

Marco’s accessibility blog

Marco Zehe, Mozilla’s accessibility QA and assistive technology wunderkind, blogs on all aspects of accessibility, disability, and assistive technology, with a focus on open source and Mozilla products.

Max Design

Russ Weakley’s blog on web design and web development focusing on Cascading Style Sheets, usability, accessibility and web standards. His weekly “Links for light reading” are awesome!

splintered

Patrick H. Lauke is a very vocal accessibility expert. He’s active on about every accessibility project and mailing list there is, is a prolific author and blogger, and is now Opera’s newest web evangelist.

Standards Schmanders

As the blog subtitle suggests, Peter Krantz’s writings provide a pragmatic approach to web accessibility.

The Paciello Group Blog

The Paciello Group is comprised of some of the smartest, most influential accessibility experts on the planet. TPG’s Steve Faulkner posts a vast wealth of information to their blog.

The Web Standards Project

WaSP is a grassroots coalition fighting for standards. The Accessibility Task Force membership, of which I’m proud to be a member, include many of the brightest minds in web accessibility. The news feed represents just a small portion of the work that goes on behind the scenes at WaSP.

Wait till I come!

Chris Heilmann of Yahoo! has turned out some of the best writing and presentations on web standards and programming in recent years. He has a unique ability to push the very edges of innovation while focusing on standards and accessibility in everything he does.

Web Axe – Accessibility Tips

Web Axe is a podcast and blog featuring practical web design accessibility tips. There are currently 70 podcasts available for download and every one of them provides useful accessibility information. Dennis Lembree’s site provides loads of useful information and interviews with the who’s who of web accessibility. Dennis is also the creator of Accessible Twitter.

What have I missed?

Several blogs that I follow were not listed here because posts are made infrequently or they don’t have a strong web accessibility focus. I’m sure there are many excellent accessibility blogs that I’m unaware of or overlooked. If you write or are familiar with an accessibility-focused blog that’s not listed above, please post the URL in a comment below.