Easy ARIA tip #8: Use aria-roledescription to selectively enhance the user experience

In WAI-ARIA 1.1, the aria-roledescription attribute has been added to give web authors the ability to further describe the function of a widget. Here are a few tips for usage.

tagged with: #Ariaroledescription

Rediscovering blindness products

In recent months, I have discovered a tendency within myself that longs for more focused, hassle-free environments or niches, where distractions are reduced to a minimum, and I can immerse myself in one thing, and one thing only. And that has lead to rediscovering the merits of some blindness-specific products.

tagged with: #Assistivetechnology, #Blindness, #Braille, #Daisy

Introducing the Accessibility Inspector in the Firefox Developer Tools

The built-in Firefox Developer Tools just received a new family member. The Accessibility Inspector allows you to inspect your website’s exposure to assistive technologies.

tagged with: #Developertools, #Devtools

Rethinking Web Accessibility On Windows

For the past 18 years, screen readers on Windows have had a particular way of presenting web content to their users. This model no longer scopes well in light of modern web applications and dynamically changing web sites. The model, therefore, needs to be reimagined and modernized.<!— more —>

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JavaScript is not an enemy of accessibility!

When I started making my social media rounds this morning, I came across Jeffrey Zeldman’s call to action for this year’s Blue Beany Day on November 30th. But I respectfully disagree with a number of points he is making in his post about JavaScript frameworks and their accessibility implications.

tagged with: #Javascript

Firefox 49 supports the HTML5 and elements

As you may or may not have heard, Firefox 49 supports the HTML5 <details> and <summary> elements. Both full keyboard support and support for assistive technologies is also available right from the start.

tagged with: #Details, #Html5, #Summary

The Firefox developer tools Inspector Panel is becoming accessible

A few months ago, I wrote about the efforts to make the built-in Firefox developer tools more accessible. That work started in January and is now carrying first far-reaching fruits. Here’s an update!

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How to: Add image descriptions to pictures you tweet

On March 29, 2016, Twitter announced that description of images is now available when tweeting photos. This helps first and foremost the blind and visually impaired who cannot see images, but may also help people with certain cognitive disabilities who cannot interpret photos, but can make use of descriptions. Here’s how describing your tweeted images works!

tagged with: #Alttext, #Imagedescription, #Twitter

Microsoft are stepping up their accessibility efforts considerably

Have you also noticed an increased buzz around Microsoft’s accessibility efforts lately? You probably have if you, like me, are on Twitter and other social media channels and are following the MSFTEnable Twitter account. But in case you haven’t, here are some exciting pointers for you to keep an eye on.

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Making the Firefox developer tools accessible

In the first quarter of 2016, Yura, who is part of the accessibility team at Mozilla, and I are starting on a journey to make the firefox developer tools accessible. The majority of the tools are currently a very mouse-driven environment, and our goal is to make them equally accessible for keyboard users and those using assistive technologies such as screen readers. This blog post marks the beginning of that journey.

tagged with: #Developertools