Web Axe – Page 37 – blog and podcast on web accessibility

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Accessibility Twitter Lists

Post author By Dennis
Post date May 10, 2011
5 Comments on Accessibility Twitter Lists

A list of lists! Here are some great Twitter lists relating to accessibility.

Web Accessibility list by Me @WebAxe
Accessibility list by Michael Mistak @MichaelMistak
Accessibility list by Sandi Wassmer @SandiWassmer
Accessibility list by A11Y @A11Y
HTML5 Accessibility Task Force list by Laura Carlson @laura_carlson
Accessibility list by Angela Hooker @AccessForAll
Accessibility list by STCAccess @STCAccess
Bonus! This is interesting. Here’s a Twitter list of blind users: Vision list by @STCAccess

Know any others?

Resources for Writing for Web Accessibility

Post author By Dennis
Post date May 3, 2011
1 Comment on Resources for Writing for Web Accessibility

UPDATED MARCH 2017

A large part of web accessibility is creating content which can be easily understood, and writing is often times an overlooked factor. Like coding a website, writing must account for a variety of user conditions and abilities. It’s tricky! Here are some great articles to help.

From 4 syllables

Some great advice from @Writing4Web. This was originally a 7-part series; the articles were restructured since.

More great resources

Tips on Writing for Web Accessibility by W3C WAI
Writing Clearly and Simply by WebAIM
Writing for Global Audiences – Web Standards Sherpa
Web Writing Guidelines for Content Contributors – Meet Content
I Don’t Want to Read More or Click Here – by Karen Mardahl
WCAG 2.0 for writers – SlideShare
Sidestepping Ableist Language – web slides by Ashley Bischoff

Techniques from WCAG 2.0

screenreader testing webaim yahoo

Learning How to Test with Screen Readers

Post author By Dennis
Post date April 21, 2011
4 Comments on Learning How to Test with Screen Readers

Although accessibility checklists are important, testing for web accessibility requires more than that. Some testing requires tasks which can only be done by a human including testing with a screen reader. It’s best for a regular screen reader user to do the testing, but it’s also good for a developer or designer to do at least the basics (there was a big discussion on this last fall in Should Sighted Developers Use Screenreaders To Test Accessibility?).

Here are some good articles to help learn how to use a screen reader to test for web accessibility:

Using NVDA to Evaluate Web Accessibility (WebAIM)
Using JAWS to Evaluate Web Accessibility (WebAIM)
Setting up a screen reader test environment (by Henny Swan)
Easy Accessibility Testing with the NVDA Screen Reader (Yahoo)
How to use NVDA and Firefox to test your web pages for accessibility (Marco Zehe)
Establishing a screen reader test plan (by Henny Swan on spotlessinteractive.com)
Testing with Screen Readers: Questions and Answers (WebAIM)

Podcast #90: Articles, Events, Jobs, Twitter

Post author By Dennis
Post date April 15, 2011
No Comments on Podcast #90: Articles, Events, Jobs, Twitter

Dennis and Ross discuss a variety of topics including recent articles, conferences and events, some accessibility-related job openings and resources, and updates on Accessible Twitter.

Download Web Axe Episode 90 (Articles, Events, Twitter)

Transcript of podcast 90

What’s New

About Ross’ book deal!
TweetList now free with ad support (accessible Twitter iPhone app).
Fixing Alt
- 6 Reasons Bacon Is Better Than True Love
- How one decides to build a web browser

Articles

How blind people see the Internet (MSNBC)
Font Resizing Widgets: A Help or A Hindrance to Accessibility? (Glenda Watson Hyatt)
Accessible Tabs – Part 2: The Solution (Nomensa)
Keyboard Accessibility For Web Applications (Jonathon Snook) Todd Kloots, Yahoo Mail
21 PDF Techniques for WCAG 2.0 (W3C)
Web Accessibility: 10 Common Developer Mistakes by Joe Dolson

Conferences & Events

CSUN Wrapup: Tweetup, student contest, Web Axe Post-CSUN Resources.
John Slatin AccessU Accessibility Conference from Knowbility, May 17-19, Austin, Texas.
Free presentation on Evolving Standards in Accessibility, Wed, May 25, London, UK. A half-day event covering the new British Standard for web accessibility, BSI8878, and the international accessibility standards from W3C, together with practical examples.
jQuery ARIA Hackathon, July 11-12, Toronto.
Future Midwest – April 28th – 29th (UX focus).
Next year no overlap between CSUN and SXSW.

Jobs

Deque Systems seeks 508 Tester on-site in Washington, DC (on WebAIM)
WCAG2 Content & Compliance Officers (Australia)
Dartmouth college seeks an Experience Designer – Accessibility in Boston (on LinkedIn)
AbilityNet seeks Head of Accessibility and Accessibility/Usability Consultants (London, UK)
More:
- New! AT Work job board for accessibility and assistive tech specialties.
- On Twitter, follow @Accessible_jobs and @a11yjobs.

Accessible Twitter Updates

Accessible Twitter over 2 years old!
Accessible Twitter receives AFB 2011 Access Award.. Other recipients are CBS, Lexmark and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.
Speech from AFB Awards

"fixing alt" alt

Fixing Alt – How one decides to build a web browser

Post author By Dennis
Post date April 7, 2011
1 Comment on Fixing Alt – How one decides to build a web browser

This is the next blog in a series titled “Fixing Alt” where I supply alternative text to graphics on the web that badly need it.

This time it’s How one decides to build a web browser, an hilarious comic which makes fun of Google and takes a (deserved?) low blow at Internet Explorer 6. So here is the text version (a definition list seemed to work semantically):

How one decides to build a web browser

Simple illustration with three panels, one for each browser.

Mozilla Firefox: Two people at a computer. One with a pensive look on his face, and the other says “Let’s create a better Internet experience that everyone can use.”
Google Chrome: Three people at a computer. One says “How else can Google control the Internet?” Another says “Let’s make a web browser!”
Microsoft IE6: A man squatting over a laptop computer with his pants half down and saying “I’m ganna shit on the keyboard and see what happens.”