a11y (digital accessibility)

If you are looking to track accessibility features or bugs in Jupyter Notebooks, I recommend checking out this GitHub page. There is also one for Jupyter Lab too. #accessibility

The Marrakesh Treaty has led to countries opening up their copyright laws and allowing the reproduction of accessible books. However, there are still many limitations. For example, 18.7% of the participating countries have a commercial availability check, and 38% have a secondary law that might require a check. Hopefully, the European Accessibility Act fully taking effect in June, 2025 will lead to a proliferation of accessible books provided by publishers. #accessibility

This study explores Finnish higher education institutions' websites to determine if they comply with recent web accessibility legislation that requires them to meet AA WCAG 2.1 standards. After 1.5 years of transition time, Finnish institutions are still not fully compliant. There are major accessibility gaps between different institutions. This research may predict what will occur when the ADA's new rule comes into effect.

This article by Lainey Feingold highlights companies that have taken advantage of Structured Negotiation and have collaboratively worked with the blind community to improve the accessibility of their mobile applications. This includes businesses like Major League Baseball, Bank of America, Weight Watchers, and WellPoint. #accessibility

This article helps highlight why trying to improve screen reader pronunciation can create more problems than it solves. #accessibility

I think Toyota's assembly line vs General Motors's assembly line is an analogy that relates to the importance of being proactive about digital accessibility. Toyota revolutionized the assembly line because its workers were encouraged to stop the line if a problem occurred. GM had a policy that the line could never stop and they'd fix the car's issues after it was built. GM struggled to remediate its cars, while Toyota's cars became world renowned for being of high quality. This can be applied to digital accessibility. Teams should prioritize ensuring their product is accessible from the start rather than creating an inaccessible product that needs to be remediated afterwards. #accessibility https://www.thisamericanlife.org/561/transcript

This is a great article on why accessibility audits are inefficient, time consuming, and expend more resources. This is because accessibility audits are part of a reactive approach that focuses on fixing issues after the webpage, app, or course is created. It is much easier and efficient to be proactive and make accessibility a priority from the start. This will lead to higher quality content that can be accessed by a wide range of users. #accessibility https://yatil.net/blog/the-infuriating-inefficiency-of-accessibility-audits#fn-2

Newsweek included an option piece about the importance of digital accessibility on the eve of the passage of the ADA. I'm glad digital accessibility is being covered by more mainstream sources. It should be on everyone's radar. #accessibility

Check out the University of Wisconsin's accessibility and usability information. They share a summary of the accessibility barriers they have found from their accessibility evaluations of different vendors. This can be beneficial if you are a smaller institution that can't afford to do your own testing or are curious about the accessibility of a specific product.

When you turn on wheelchair accessible routes in Google Maps it will notify you of any accessibility barriers on your route like a broken elevator. The article also highlights other new features Google has rolled out recently.

This documentary highlights the horrible treatment people with disabilities experience when they try to fly. It is common for people with disabilities to have their mobility devices broken by the airline or to be manhandled into a seat. We need an Ed Roberts-like figure to take on the big airline corporations to make them provide a humane experience. Each airline should offer an accessible wheelchair seat and train their staff to value all their customers.

JAWS has added an AI feature that can describe images. Users can activate the feature by Pressing INSERT+SPACEBAR, P, then ENTER. It can be used to describe what is being displayed on the screen. It is not perfect but a way of getting additional information when no alt text is available. I believe this kind of AI feature may eventually become standard across screen reading software.

This podcast explores the intersection of accessibility and cybersecurity. #accessibility

This talk is a little older but Adrian does a great job highlighting how to make digital accessibility relevant to the designer.

I saw this trending on Lemmy. I'm glad that Wikipedia is focusing on using color accessibly and introducing a dark mode.

This article explores how the updated Americans with Disabilities Act will require public K-12 schools, universities, and vendors to make their digital content accessible. I think the biggest takeaway is that the updated legislation will raise awareness about the need for accessible digital content. As institutions work to become compliant students with disabilities should encounter more accessible course materials and fewer instructional barriers.

This new article examines digital accessibility in higher education by conducting interviews. It highlights how higher education relies on digital accessibility champions to raise awareness about best practices. Yet, many departments are siloed so that only extends so far. Institutions focus on remediating inaccessible content rather than implementing processes to ensure new content is accessible. Trainings usually fail to reach new members.

This is a session from last year's arXiv Forum. The forum focuses on making research and math accessible. Lucas Nadolskis highlights barriers he encountered as a blind doctoral student in one of last year's sessions. The 2024 arXiv Forum is in September. Check out ArXiv Accessibility Forum for more information.

This case study explores how a team made a character counter more accessible for The UK Government. The character counter announced the number of characters too frequently. This could be distracting for a person using screen reading software trying to enter a response. The team broke down the roles of the character counter and created multiple accessible components. It now only announces the number of characters when it is relevant and unintrusive.

This article examines 4 separate arguments for digital accessibility. This includes moral/ethical, user experience, business, and legal arguments supporting digital accessibility. The author explores how these arguments connect and the need to use multiple approaches to garner support for creating accessible digital content.

This article provides helpful tips for creating an accessibility statement. It includes indicating the accessibility standard your website is trying to meet, providing an accessibility contact, and a mechanism for reporting an accessibility barrier. It is important to ensure that the accessibility statement is in the footer of each page on your website.

Google Scholar now lets you search cases. I searched "WCAG" and found cases relating to web accessibility. This is a proposed judgment issued against GEOLOGIE. It is better to be proactive about digital accessibility rather than waiting for a lawsuit, which can allow the court to dictate how you address the issue. Also, making your website accessible is the right thing to do.

Masahiro, a blind gamer, shared their experience using ChatGPT to get guidance when walking to a destination. ChatGPT currently does not have access to map data but if it gains that feature it may be able to provide useful walking directions tailored to each user's individual needs. AI assistants have the potential to help users with a variety of disabilities by making content more accessible and guiding users through complex tasks like crafting a resume. #accessibility https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/technology/ai-accessibility-blind-gamer-puts-chatgpt-to-the-test/ar-BB1pNWJZ

This literature review explores the implementation and impact of universal design at higher education institutions. One of the key findings was that students with disabilities are more likely to succeed in classes that are implementing universal design strategies. However, faculty need more training and supports so that they can feel comfortable adapting their coursework to incorporate universal design strategies.

This article highlights why it is important to include people within the disability community to help guide the development of new AI technologies.