Re-evaluating px vs em in media queries
An overview of the state of media queries and accessible overrides (page zoom, text zoom, min/max font size settings etc.), seeking to determine which of em, rem, or px is the best option. Turns out […]
Archives
Browsing with assistive tech
A fantastic series of short, introductory videos put together by the folks over at Tetralogical. Each one provides an insight into how assistive technologies and alternative browsing methods […]
Screen readers don't convey emphasis
Like Matthias, I had always assumed that assistive tech (e.g. screen readers) would have some method of translating <strong> and <em> HTML elements into emphasised content. A change in […]
Lost in translation
A wonderful talk from Manuel on the hidden complexities of HTML. There's a huge amount of interesting stuff going on here in terms of writing accessible, semantic websites, but I particularly liked […]
Actual CSS breakpoints you need to know
An excellent overview of why the typical "listicle" style tweet purporting to show you the "only breakpoints you'll ever need! 😎👇🧵" is not just silly, but actively missing the […]
aria-label is a code smell
A very interesting breakdown of why accessibility auditors often see ARIA labels as red flags, deftly explained (as ever) by Eric. (I also must admit that the interactive-only aspect of ARIA labels […]
Visit for a surprise
How should a Rick Roll link (obviously hidden from sighted users) be marked up for assistive technology? That's the question Eric is answering, and the result can be summed up as: preserve the […]
Live Regions, React, & VoiceOver
Apparently, ARIA live regions don't play nicely with React. Whilst they work fine in many browsers, they simply don't function in VoiceOver without some workarounds.
Enabling keyboard navigation in macOS
I was not expecting to find browsing the web with a keyboard so damn tricky on macOS, but here we are 😂 The tl;dr of the situation […]
A new accessibility icon
The Accessible Icon Project are an interesting group of designers and disability advocates that have developed an alternative, modernised take on the standard "disabled access" icon. The result is […]
You don't need a UI framework
An excellent overview from Josh of the pitfalls of using UI frameworks. I particularly enjoyed their focus on why developers often advocate for these tools, and how those needs are often […]
Making writing readable
How do you make your writing as accessible as possible? Plain text – a system of simplifying the words and phrases used to reduce overall complexity – is an "easy" solution, and I've never seen […]
Debunking the alt text character limit
I've basically ignored this "rule" for years because I've never been able to replicate it myself. I test with a handful of screen readers, and none of them have ever cut alternative text short, but […]
Starling & The UX Nightmare
Starling Bank frustrates and impresses me in equal measure. Their technical solutions are magical – when they work – but their service is steeped in a privileged bias that makes them hard to truly recommend.
Time to update your theme-color meta tag
I have mixed feelings about the inclusion of Safari's new editable browser chrome, but love it or hate it, more and more iOS and OSX users will end up seeing it. Andy hasn't touched on any of the […]
A11y style guide
A great resource for finding accessible patterns for common UI requirements, as well as including stacks of accessibility best practices […]
Design for reading
A very clever article (as ever) from Sara on how to ensure the content you create is accessible through RSS feeds and Reader modes (and a host of other […]
Colour safe
Another excellent tool for checking colour accessibility, but with the added bonus of creating viable palettes for you. These can then be filtered based on various criteria such as minimum WCAG […]