Just because it was designed that way, doesn’t mean it was a good idea. As someone who started off in software testing over 30 years ago, and then transitioned into accessibility, I’ve seen some crazy bug closure statuses. Won’t Fix…
Accessibility best practices for screenreader testing
Things accessibility/product owners should be doing to decide what screen readers to test and how to test them. Chart description: The results of the annual WebAIM survey from 2019 shows the trendlines for Voiceover, NVDA, and JAWS as a primary…
Don’t just design accessible products, build accessible experiences
Use your user journeys to map out all employee and customer touchpoints and make sure they are all accessible. Design accessible products “What the heck is offensive about that, Sheri?” you are probably saying to yourself. Followed by “Duh, isn’t…
10 Reasons to switch to centralized budgeting for accessibility
Centralized budgeting is a key activity for creating an accessibility environment that will mature more quickly It is the second half of April, and in the accessibility world, that means three things: IEP season starts for the next school year…
Constructing an accessibility elevator pitch
Everyone in accessibility needs an accessibility elevator pitch Accessibility elevator pitches are essential for two reasons: Introducing yourself and explaining what you do. Immediate, pre-programmed come-backs to people who express disinterest in accessibility. What is an accessibility elevator pitch? An…
This week in accessibility: NFB v. EPIC
The inaccessible defendant won this round, but don’t count on their victory helping you in a similar situation. Recently, a Massachusetts district court decided in favor of a defendant who sold inaccessible software and dismissed a suit against them that was filed…
7 things that turn good accessibility into great accessibility
“It’s easy to pick on people who do a crappy job at accessibility. Why don’t you write an article on how to get people good at accessibility to up their game?” I was asked in one PM. Challenge accepted. The…
10 things that indicate designers have no clue about accessibility
Once you see more than one of the items below, you can be fairly sure that accessibility was not considered in design and development People frequently reach out to me* asking if a particular site is accessible. This happened last…
Documentation and Accessibility
What format needs to be accessible? PDF, HTML, or both?? Document generation engines are a big part of technical documentation these days, especially in enterprise software. Most enterprise organizations no longer use Adobe tools to create PDF files or edit…
Out-of-state ADA lawsuit revived by Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
Yeah, it’s a bathroom case. But digital accessibility stakeholders should pay close attention to this one There were two notable defendant wins in digital accessibility lawsuits in 2019. Mendez v. Apple and Diaz v. Kroger were tossed in no small part because the plaintiffs…