Author: Dennis

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audio html5 video

Accessible HTML5 Media Players and More

Here’s a list a accessible HTML5 Media Players—I have not tested them all—and some articles on how to build one yourself. Know any others? Please leave info in a comment.

Existing Players

Do It Yourself

More

Categories
alt articles expert lists

Leave Accessibility to the Experts Please

There’s a fine line between inducing conversation and creating havoc. In the field of web accessibility (which is very complex and fragile already), it seems that this line has been crossed at least a couple times lately.

Recently, renowned CSS expert Chris Coyier (@chriscoyier) wrote the blog Navigation in Lists: To Be or Not To Be. The blog re-evaluates, again, whether lists (UL element) should still be used for navigation menus or just remove them and use only the remaining anchor text. Much unnecessary debate was generated from this. Most of it regarding use with screen readers, an area in which the author is not an expert.

The straight answer? Continue to use lists.

Just because one screen reader user gives an opinion, doesn’t mean that’s the way to go. Lists are beneficial in many ways: they’re semantic; they provide info to users of assistive technology; they provide hooks for developers to implement design and interaction; and it’s a convention.

A day after the Coyier blog, web standards guru Jeffrey Zeldman (@zeldman) on A List Apart published the blog titled on alt text about the use of the alt attribute and its impact on screen reader users. Topics in the comments include its use in HTML5, confusion with the title attribute, and using a space or not when empty value. This sparked a lengthy debate in the comments and on Twitter.

The straight answer? Use alt text; if an image is decoration then implement with CSS; if a decorative image is still inline or has no added value, use alt="", with no space. (Hint: repetitive content has no value.) If an image is linked, it must have alt text conveying the meaning of the link (and not necessarily the image itself).

Web celebs have created confusion when the answer was already agreed upon by most web accessibility professionals. So, I won’t write about NodeJS and Spring if you other experts stick with your area of expertise. Many times, we should leave accessibility to the experts. Agreed?

PS: I am indeed a fan of Coyier’s work and I greatly respect the invaluable foundation that Zeldman helped build for web standards.

Categories
jobs

Accessibility-Related Jobs and Resources

Several great job opportunities in accessibility to start the new year!

Resources

Categories
design interview mobile podcast

Podcast #97: Responsive Design and Accessibility

Dennis speaks with George Zamfir on his background, his activity in Toronto, and how Responsive Web Design (RWD) can benefit web accessibility. The conversation stems from George’s talk Responsive Web Design & Accessibility from the Accessibility Camp Toronto last fall. A notable quote from the 50-minute conversation:

Let go of fixed widths

George is a web accessibility consultant for Good W-ALLY (@good_wally) in Toronto, Canada. He and @Jennison co-host the Toronto Accessibility & Inclusive Design meetup.

As techniques for usability and accessibility have some cross-over, so do RWD and accessibility. Case in point, this recent article on Mashable, 6 Easy Ways to Make Your Website Tablet-Friendly. The main points of George’s presentation are that responsive web design:

  • is like a user’s custom stylesheet
  • adheres to web standards
  • thinks mobile first & uses progressive enhancement (PE)
  • caters to users’ needs

Download Web Axe Episode 97 (Responsive Design and Accessibility)

[transcript of podcast 97]

More reading

Sponsor

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event review roundup

Web Axe 2012 Year in Review

It was another great year for Web Axe and its creator Dennis Lembree.

Early in 2012, we published the Podcast 94: Women of CSUN12 featuring six female presenters (one of my favorite podcasts); then a quick review of the conference.

May was the month of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). Here’s the GAAD podcast and Reflecting on GAAD by guest author Jennison.

To address the most bothersome trend of the year, we wrote Placeholder Attribute Is Not A Label!

Mid-year, Dennis was fortunate enough to attend Google IO12; here’s the blog, Google IO12 Review and Accessibility.

In September, we published a extensive book review on Pro HTML5 Accessibility. Then, Dennis presented How To Build An Accessible Web Application virtually at the Boston Accessibility (Un)Conference.

In October, a huge change came to the New Web Axe Website! We moved from Blogger to WordPress. The RSS feed has also changed. Please update your links.

In November came Accessibility Camp LA and a podcast featuring great improvements in WordPress accessibility.

Lastly, here are some blog responses and website reviews over the year:

Looking forward to another big year in 2013!