The article explains that the HTML `<dl>` (description list) element, along with its child elements `<dt>` (description term) and `<dd>` (description detail), is an underused but semantic way to mark …
The article explains that the HTML `<dl>` (description list) element, along with its child elements `<dt>` (description term) and `<dd>` (description detail), is a semantic way to mark up lists of nam…
The author started blogging to share resources they created while teaching new web developers, particularly addressing gaps in existing documentation. They currently use the Eleventy static site gener…
The article explains that using `aria-label` or `aria-labelledby` on static text elements like `<div>`, `<span>`, `<p>`, or `<strong>` is an accessibility antipattern, as these attributes are only per…
The article explains that while "captions," "closed captions," and "subtitles" are often used interchangeably in everyday language, they have distinct professional meanings. Subtitles transcribe only …
The article provides practical guidance for implementing multilingual web accessibility, emphasizing the importance of using the `lang` attribute to declare content language for screen readers and tex…
The article describes how the author built a blogroll for their Eleventy-based website, featuring each blog's favicon and latest post. They chose to schedule daily site rebuilds to keep the "latest po…
The article discusses Kipekee, a spotless reticulated giraffe born at Brights Zoo in Tennessee, who is only the fourth brown spotless giraffe in recorded history. The author draws a parallel between t…
The article explains best practices for writing alt text for code snippet screenshots on social media, emphasizing that the goal is to provide a text alternative that conveys the same information as t…
The article discusses the accessibility challenge of the logical abbreviation "iff" (short for "if and only if") being pronounced identically to "if" by screenreaders, which can cause confusion in for…
The article argues that the web needs a native HTML or CSS method to visually hide elements while keeping them accessible to screen readers, replacing the current reliance on a "copypasta" utility cla…
Web Captioner was a website that used Google Chrome's built-in speech recognition to generate automatic captions for live online events, but it has since been sunset and is no longer functional. The t…
The Websites and Software Applications Accessibility Act, introduced by Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Rep. John Sarbanes, aims to build on the Americans with Disabilities Act by establishing clearer, enfor…
The article explains that using CSS classes to visually indicate element states (like `.is-invalid` or `.current-page`) creates an accessibility gap because screenreaders cannot interpret these visual…
The article describes how the author improved their website's Lighthouse performance score from 48 to nearly double by optimizing web fonts and refactoring a YouTube embed. They reduced font file size…
The article explains that low-contrast text is the most common web accessibility defect, affecting nearly 84% of popular homepages according to the 2022 WebAIM Million report. It introduces color cont…
The article explains how to build a Twitch chatbot that uses Algolia search to instantly return links to a streamer's past content based on keyword commands like `!stream` or `!blog`. It outlines the …
This article by Ben provides a humane and flexible approach to technical blogging, emphasizing that it is perfectly acceptable to blog just for fun without focusing on maximizing readership. Key advic…
A roundtable discussion at San Francisco State University explored methods for adapting comics for blind and low-vision readers, emphasizing that there is no single correct level of detail for descrip…
At Axe-Con 2021, Deque Systems presented data showing that automation can surface 57.38% of accessibility defects, with color contrast issues accounting for 30% of those. Anna E. Cook highlighted that…