Notices by Accessibility Awareness (a11yawareness@disabled.social)

When considering rainbow text, don't forget to consider readability and legibility. Text filled with rainbows can be difficult to read. Same with complex rainbow backgrounds. Putting each word or letter in a different color of the rainbow could force readers to work harder.

When writing alt text, ask yourself if you would picture an approximation of the image if it was described to you over the phone using the alt text you've written. Doing that exercise can be a good way to determine if you're on the right track.

When creating PDFs, avoid using "Print to PDF." A screen reader user may still be able to access the text of PDFs created this way, but heading structure, alternative text, and any other tag structure will be lost. Using "Save As" or "Export" can preserve these tags.

Get in the habit of bringing up accessibility at meetings, in stand-ups, and in demos. Bring up things you've done to address accessibility. Likewise, don't be afraid to ask, "Have we tested this on a keyboard?" or "What's the experience like on a screen reader?"

Make sure that interactive elements that can be accessed by using a mouse, pen, trackpad or touch are at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels. This helps people with low vision and/or limited motor control select the intended element without accidentally selecting nearby elements.

Alt text should be as long as it needs to be in order to effectively describe the content. In some cases, this will be a few phrases. In other cases, it will take a few more sentences. Aim to be as efficient as possible without leaving out key details.

Manual transcription is more accurate than automatic transcription. Humans can catch errors that software may miss because of background noise or audio quality. Humans can interpret a speaker's tone and emotions, which can be lost in an automated transcript. Always review and edit before publishing.

You don't necessarily need to say "image of" in your alt text for users to know it's an image. Screen readers will announce that it's an image. But it can help readers to specify if it's a hand-drawn image, Polaroid, infographic, screenshot, chart, map, diagram, or so on.

Sharing a meme on social media? Don't forget to include alt text! This resource from Veronica With Four Eyes (Veronica Lewis) will help you.

https://veroniiiica.com/2018/11/29/how-to-write-alt-text-for-memes/

Many people would love to start a digital accessibility program at their organization but don't know how or where to begin. If you're feeling overwhelmed and want some tips on how to get going, this primer from TPGi can help.

https://www.tpgi.com/a-guide-to-creating-a-successful-digital-accessibility-program

Hyperlink text should make sense when read out of context. Screen reader users can navigate from link to link, and can listen to links in a list. When navigating this way, only the link is read. So "click here" or "read more" won't make sense.

The NoMouse Challenge is a global effort to raise awareness about accessible web design. Try using your website without a mouse. Use the keyboard instead. Is it possible to access all features and operate all buttons, sliders, and other controls?

https://nomouse.org/

Color contrast affects readability on the web and in print. It is especially important for users who are low vision or for users who are colorblind. Good color contrast means all users can see your content no matter the device they’re using or the lighting of their surroundings.

Sighted users often use bold or large fonts to create the appearance of headings in documents. People using screen readers have no way of understanding these visual cues. Use heading styles from the styles menu to correctly format headings.

Some will publish podcasts but wait up to 24 hours before adding transcripts instead of publishing them together. The end goal should be to have the transcript ready at the same time as the podcast. This will require multiple teams working together toward that goal.

Automatically updating content can be extremely distracting, especially for users with vestibular disorders or attention difficulties. This could force users to scroll through page content to not see the animation, or to just look away. Allow animations to be paused or stopped.

When using Microsoft Word or Google Docs, don't just make text bigger and bolder to make it a heading. That will work for sighted users, but screen reader users will miss that and just hear it as normal paragraph text. Use actual heading styles, like level 1 through 6.

If your organization has Slack, Teams, or any other messaging program, you should have a dedicated accessibility channel. This would be a great way for everyone on your team to learn together by sharing links, posing questions, and reviewing alt text, among other things.

Automated accessibility testing involves running a page through tools and software to detect errors. Manual testing involves humans testing pages. Automated testing can be faster, but automated tests can't catch every error. Thus, use both automated and manual testing.

"Can I Play That?" is a website focusing on the intersection of web accessibility and video games. The site is a resource of reviews, features, and news coverage of accessibility within video games. The site is aimed at both players and developers.

https://caniplaythat.com/