Categories
conference event roundup

Accessibility Toronto Conference a big success!

The inaugural Accessibility Toronto Conference was a big success! The event was held September 28-29, 2017 in the TELUS building in downtown Toronto. (Toronto has been a leader in conducting accessibility “camps” but this was the first “conference”.) Major thanks to the event organizers and sponsors.

#a11yTOConf

Addendum Nov 6, 2017: AMI Inside: a11yTO Conference (YouTube)

Presentation Resources

Here are resources for many of the presentations. Feel free to add any to the comments.

Notes

  • The 7th #a11yTOCamp is scheduled for November 18 at @OCAD. Follow @a11yTO for more info.
  • Great moment: Makoto strips off his flannel shirt and proudly displays a Toronto Blue Jays baseball jersey which was hidden underneath!
  • Personally, it was great meeting some folks in person for the first time whom I’ve know online for years, especially @vavroom. Also met some great new folks!
  • I also really enjoyed visiting Toronto—a very clean, fun, friendly, and diverse city!

Twitter

Below are some selected tweets from the conference. The event’s account is @a11yTO and the hash tag is #a11yTOConf.

https://twitter.com/aardrian/status/913434555410939910

https://twitter.com/jiwon_bang/status/913857498045669387

https://twitter.com/vavroom/status/913794060288225280

https://twitter.com/AidanA11y/status/913476868606763009

https://twitter.com/vavroom/status/913405306603999232

Categories
event

Upcoming Digital Accessibility Events

Here are some great Digital Accessibility events coming soon! One in Canada and the rest U.S. (Scotland appended.) Please feel free to submit more via comments.

For more follow @webaxe and @a11yevents on Twitter.

calendar icon says upcoming events

Categories
aria forms

Accessible Custom Select Dropdowns

In web development, creating custom select dropdowns is difficult. It requires a lot of resources to sufficiently design (annotating the interaction, etc) and develop (the Javascript is fairly complex and the ARIA isn’t easy) and then test. Additional requirements such as option groups and auto-suggest make it even more challenging and time-consuming, and usually frustrating.

Most often the result is not fully accessible; browser and assistive technology is inconsistent; and implementations vary across the web. This is why it’s always better to use native selects with HTML/web. (Native components is also a better choice for native apps.) Don’t forget that HTML selects can be styled with CSS; see these resources by Scott O’Hara, RTD, Filament Group, and LugoLabs.

If you must implement a custom select dropdown, you will most like need to use the ARIA listbox role, combobox role (which specifies a composite widget), and often a combination of those roles. The option role is also required and usually a few other ARIA attributes (for label, state, etc.).

Examples

Here are some great examples which will save many folks a lot of time—if you must customize!

screen shot of custom select; category dropdown and submit button

Other articles

Categories
jobs

Digital Accessibility Jobs, June 2017

Wow, many opportunities in digital accessibility opening! (U.S.)

Follow me, @a11yJobs, and @LyndonDunbar on Twitter for more!

newspaper icon says jobs

Categories
law

Landmark web accessibility ruling in U.S.

On June 12, a Miami federal judge ruled that Winn-Dixie violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to make its website accessible to blind and visually impaired users.

The lawsuit was filed by blind Florida resident Juan Carlos Gil who uses screen reader software to access websites. Winn-Dixie operates nearly 500 grocery stores in the southeast United States. Judge Robert Scola ruled that the Winn-Dixie website is a place of public accommodation because of its integration with its stores such as downloading coupons, ordering prescriptions, and finding store locations.

Winn Dixie logo

The court order states “the website must be accessible by individuals with disabilities who use computers, laptops, tablets, and smart phones,” and content from third party vendors must also be fully accessible.

The estimated cost of $250,000 to make the website accessible was not consider by the court as an undue burden and “pales in comparison to the $2 million Winn-Dixie spent in 2015 to open the website and the $7 million it spent in 2016 to remake the website for the Plenti program.”

This case is especially important because it’s an actual trial with a federal ruling, not a settlement, and thus sets a legal precedent.

Related:

Addendum: