Accessibility

Following coments on Twitter, one might think that the case of the National Federation of the Blind v. Target lawsuit ended up with a big win for accessibility. On the face of it, this may appear to be true - sure, it's cost Target $6 million to finally put this ...

It almost slipped my mind - I was too busy marvelling at the speed and efficiency with which Firefox 3 handle multiple open tabs compared to Firefox 2 - but with that browser's v3 release last week came a big accessibility enhancement in the form of WAI-ARIA (Web Accessibility ...

There are some web sites that, when they start to use certain certain technologies, it becomes a 'seal of approval'. When a massive site like the BBC starts using technology X, it's a fairly good indication that the technology involved has gone through various assessments before being declared safe. The ...

The RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People), in conjunction with The Paciello Group (pronounced 'pass-ee-ello', not 'patchy yellow' as I'd always assumed!), has announced a beta release of the Surf Right toolbar, an addition for Internet Explorer that reveals numerous settings that are tucked away in various options in ...

If you happen to find yourself in the lovely surrounds of Boulder, Colorado in November, you may want to make a note of this event taking place (details quoted from press release with some minor editing): The 11th Annual Accessing Higher Ground: Accessible Media, Web and Technology Conference for ...

So, I'm a bit late in posting about this, as the site was launched earlier in the week, but you still may not know that Captioning Sucks. Joe Clark would like you to know why this is. The site itself looks like an explosion in a paint factory - something ...

It was not long ago that we learnt of John Slatin's passing. As a long-time active member of the accessibility world who worked with the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative and co-authored a book on the topic, John was passionate about the topic. In his memory is a ...

I almost forgot to put a mention on this site about something that I have been working on over the last few months, namely SitePoint's HTML Reference. While it is not specifically an accessibility resource it does cover the basics of accessibility, highlighting the various HTML elements and attributes that ...

Rest in peace, John Slatin. Your work in the field of accessibility will not be forgotten, and nor will the friendship and kindness to all who had the pleasure of knowing you or meeting you in person.

If you've just come back from another annual SXSW Interactive and the thought of returning so soon fills you with a sense of dread (and not just a little amount of concern for your poor, battered liver), look away now. For anyone still reading, here's the deal: Knowbility are running ...

User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) provides guidance on designing Web browsers, media players, assistive technologies, and other 'user agents' to increase accessibility of the Web to people with disabilities. Plans for new work on a second generation of UAAG was published in the UAAG 2.0 Requirements Working Draft on 31 October 2007. WAI encourages you to review this document, submit any comments, and consider participating in the UAAG Working Group. See: Call for Review: UAAG 2.0 Requirements;UAAG Overview;How WAI Develops Accessibility Guidelines through the W3C Process: Milestones and Opportunities to Contribute. Please send comments by 14 December 2007. (2007-10-31)

WAI has published an updated Working Draft of WAI-ARIA, the Accessible Rich Internet Applications technical specification. We especially request review of how WAI-ARIA is implemented in host languages, such as HTML, XHTML, and SVG. See: Call for Review: Updated WAI-ARIA Specification announcement e-mail; WAI-ARIA Overview, which links to WAI-ARIA FAQ and related documents for Web site developers. Please send comments by 3 September 2008. (2008-08-06)

WAI has just published an updated draft of Shared Web Experiences: Barriers Common to Mobile Device Users and People with Disabilities. This document is particularly useful for demonstrating the overlap between accessible and mobile-friendly Web content, for developing a business case for accessibility, and for more efficiently developing your Web site for both accessibility and mobile devices. See: Call for Review: Shared Web Experiences: Barriers Common to Mobile Device Users and People with Disabilities announcement e-mail,Web Content Accessibility and Mobile Web: Making a Web Site Accessible Both for People with Disabilities and for Mobile Devices introductory page. Please send comments by 20 August 2008, if possible. (2008-07-29)

Web Accessibility: WCAG 2.0 at a Glance provides a summary of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. We welcome your comments on this draft, preferably by 15 July 2008. (2008-07-07)

Web sites can be designed more efficiently to be accessible for people with disabilities and also for people using mobile devices when developers understand the significant overlap between the two design goals and guidelines. W3C recently published updated material describing this overlap. See: Call For Review: Relationship Between Mobile Web and Web Content Accessibility Updated announcement e-mail;Web Content Accessibility and Mobile Web: Making a Web Site Accessible Both for People with Disabilities and for Mobile Devices introductory page;Relationship between Mobile Web Best Practices (MWBP) and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Working Draft. We welcome your comments on the documents, preferably by 15 August 2008. (2008-07-07)