Web life

The subject of screen reader detection has been under discussion lately. It isn’t something I’m comfortable with, so I’d like to share the reasons why.

The Cyber Streetwise website was launched by the UK Home Office in January. Developed by Nudge Digital, Cyber Streetwise is a high profile website intended to change attitudes towards online security. It is also a complete travesty when it comes to accessibility.

The Image Description extension re-introduces the longdesc attribute to HTML. Although most people recognise that longdesc is flawed, finding a viable alternative has proved surprisingly difficult. For now longdesc is the best solution we have, but in the interests of finding a better option perhaps it’s helpful to take a step back and look at […]

Inclusive design is an aspirational concept. It isn’t particularly inspirational though. Inclusive design is a phrase for client meetings and government papers. No harm in that, but it isn’t a phrase that rocks the world and inspires us to challenge the accepted status quo.

This article was first posted in 2007 on the eAccess blog. Three years later and I still believe that emotion rich images are important to blind people, particularly those who once had sight (and that’s most of us). Results from the third WebAIM screen reader survey suggest I’m not alone, so I’m reposting the article […]

Contacting an organisation to explain why you find their website difficult to use, can seem a bit daunting. Who should you talk to? What should you say? How should you approach it? Contacting Organisations About Inaccessible Websites is a splendid new resource from the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).