Author Archives: dnw

Always provide a text link to the home page

User Experience One of the first things I learned in my user experience classes was to always provide a text link to the home page. Do you offer both text link and linked logo for the home page? Curated by (Lifekludger) Read full article at Source: October 12, 2018 Weekly Roundup of Web Design andContinueContinue reading “Always provide a text link to the home page”

Bad Practices on Birthdate Form Fields

Asking users for their birthdate on a form is complicated. Birthdates have formats that vary depending on the country and they consist of three separate data strings. It’s easy to confuse and frustrate users if the birthdate field doesn’t use simple controls and isn’t in a clear format. … The Clear and Easy Way WritingContinueContinue reading “Bad Practices on Birthdate Form Fields”

Schedule / Inclusive Design 24 (#id24) 11 October 2018

Inclusive Design 24 (#id24) is a free 24-hour online event for the global community.  It celebrates inclusive design and shares knowledge and ideas from analogue to digital, from design to development, from planners to practitioners, and everything and everyone in between. Source: Schedule / Inclusive Design 24 (#id24) 11 October 2018

Reprogrammable braille could shrink books to a few pages

                      Harvard’s concept for reprogrammable braille Braille displays have made the digital world more accessible to those with vision issues, but readers who prefer the portability of a book haven’t had that upgrade. Even a typical book might require over a dozen volumes of braille paper,ContinueContinue reading “Reprogrammable braille could shrink books to a few pages”

Short note on the accessibility of styled form controls 

Sticking with a native form control will almost always give your users a more accessible experience than trying to recreate one from scratch. Though the issue with native form controls is that they have an infamous reputation for being problematic to style. Outside of some of the HTML5 form controls, which have browser prefixed CSSContinueContinue reading “Short note on the accessibility of styled form controls “

10 Ways to Improve Accessibility on Websites and Social Media -rtp

Here it is! 1. Use Semantic HTML.   … 2. Write Short Paragraphs and Short Sentences. … 3. Explain Acronyms and Abbreviations on First Use.   … 4. Add Alternative Text to Your Images.   … 6. Write Descriptive Text for Your Links.   … 7. Increase Color Contrast   … 8. Add Captions toContinueContinue reading “10 Ways to Improve Accessibility on Websites and Social Media -rtp”

How to write helpful reviews for people with acces…

More than 65 million people worldwide need wheelchairs to get around. Yet, information about accessibility isn’t always easy to find. From sharing photos of wheelchair-friendly entrances to answering questions about accessibility, Local Guides like you can help make life easier for many people by adding this important info on Google Maps. This doesn’t just help peopleContinueContinue reading “How to write helpful reviews for people with acces…”

Remote Work to Accommodate Workers with a Disability

… Remote Work is about Accessibility, Not Exclusion Remote work may be seen as exclusion. However, it is really meant to do the opposite. Remote work allows businesses to take advantage of a larger talent pool. Also, it allows more people with disabilities to enter the workforce. Hiring workers with disabilities ensures that your business gets the benefits,ContinueContinue reading “Remote Work to Accommodate Workers with a Disability”

Email Studio for Gmail – Mail Merge, Send Later, Auto-Responders

Just putting this here for #ron Introducing Email Studio, our new open-source Gmail add-on that brings powerful capabilities like mail merge, email scheduler, copier and more to your Gmail mailbox. Unlike other solutions, Email Studio works directly in Gmail and you can even use it inside the Gmail App on your Android phone (with supportContinueContinue reading “Email Studio for Gmail – Mail Merge, Send Later, Auto-Responders”

Why GOV.UK content should be published in HTML and not PDF

GOV.UK exists to make government services and information as easy as possible to find and use. For that reason, we’re not huge fans of PDFs on GOV.UK. Compared with HTML content, information published in a PDF is harder to find, use and maintain. More importantly, unless created with sufficient care PDFs can often be bad for accessibility and rarelyContinueContinue reading “Why GOV.UK content should be published in HTML and not PDF”

Mount your phone on your Laptop screen with Mountie

When in bed I use my phone almost entirely by voice, not being able to have a specific stick for touch in addition to my mouthstick as well as reaching being an issue. This works reasonably well and gets me through the night. However I’ve been looking for away to mount and hold the phoneContinueContinue reading “Mount your phone on your Laptop screen with Mountie”

Assistive Technologies I Test With

Based on a Q&A question on how I (a non-accessibility professional) test accessibility July 19, 2018 After a recent talk on Accessibility, I was asked during the Q&A about what Assistive Technologies (AT) I test with while I’m developing. Such a good question! I hadn’t ever thought about what I actually test with and asContinueContinue reading “Assistive Technologies I Test With”

Everything You Need to Know About HTML5 Video Captioning

Everything You Need to Know About HTML5 Video Captioning With HTML5, video captioning is a whole lot easier.HTML is the markup language used to render almost every page on the web. HTML5 is the latest version, and it’s replete with incredibly useful features, including a universal video standard that lets developers add video to aContinueContinue reading “Everything You Need to Know About HTML5 Video Captioning”

Firefox makers working on voice-controlled web browser called Scout

… Mozilla, the organization behind Firefox, is exploring a very different web browser called Scout that’s operated by voice rather than keyboard, mouse or touch-screen taps. The nonprofit revealed the Scout project in an agenda item for an all-hands meeting taking place this week in San Francisco. “With the Scout app, we start to exploreContinueContinue reading “Firefox makers working on voice-controlled web browser called Scout”

Report: Accessibility in Digital Learning Increasingly Complex

The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) has introduced a series of original reports to keep people in education up-to-date on the latest developments in the field of digital learning. The first report covers accessibility and addresses both K-12 and higher education. The series is being produced by OLC’s Research Center for Digital Learning & Leadership. TheContinueContinue reading “Report: Accessibility in Digital Learning Increasingly Complex”

My response to yet another survey – Is your train station accessible? – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

So.. ABC are running a survey on accessible train stations. If you’re a wheelchair user or care for someone in one, maybe you’re a parent using a pram or you just have trouble with stairs, take our survey and tell us your experience using your local train network. Source: Is your train station accessible? WeContinueContinue reading “My response to yet another survey – Is your train station accessible? – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)”

Here are the ways AI is helping to improve accessibility

Smart home speakers and voice assistants Smart home speakers like Google Home, Amazon’s Echo series, and Apple’s HomePod have given digital voice assistants a new lease on life — and they aren’t just a lazy way to queue up your favorite podcasts. For people with certain disabilities, they’re a godsend. … Speech-to-text and text-to-speech SmartContinueContinue reading “Here are the ways AI is helping to improve accessibility”

‘Chat gadget’ to help deaf people with speak-to-text conversation device

… Jari Hazelebach created his SpeakSee system of colour-coded microphones to look like sleek iPhone accessories, which clip onto clothing and transcribe words via wifi into text on a tablet or smartphone screen via an app. … The first hard-of-hearing Londoner to try the £300 device said it could help make business meetings and conversationsContinueContinue reading “‘Chat gadget’ to help deaf people with speak-to-text conversation device”

WebAIM: Constructing a POUR Website – Putting People at the Center of the Process

Motivations to Create Accessible Web Content There are at least three main kinds of reasons that might motivate people to create accessible web content: To improve the lives of people with disabilities (human-centered motivations) To capitalize on the a wider audience or consumer base (marketing or economic-centered motivations) To avoid lawsuits and/or bad press (publicContinueContinue reading “WebAIM: Constructing a POUR Website – Putting People at the Center of the Process”

Color Contrast Crash Course for Interface Design

There are an estimated 285 million people in the world who are visually impaired. This number includes anyone from legally blind, to those with less than 20/20 vision. This short guide, written during the creation of the Contrast MacOS app, will help you achieve the accessibility standards outlined in the WCAG 2.0, specifically with foreground and background color when it comesContinueContinue reading “Color Contrast Crash Course for Interface Design”