The Click-Away Pound Survey 2019 This 32 page report (ironically only available as Word/PDF documents) of last year’s survey has some highlights. There are 7.15 million internet users in the UK that have access needs (an increase of 1 million since 2016), with a spending power of £24.8 billion. Around 70% will click away from… [Read More]

Due to a scheduling error, this is coming out almost two weeks late – apologies! Progressive React A surprisingly quick read despite its length: Houssein Djirdeh details several techniques for improving performance and accessibility of React applications. Use pre-rendered or server-side rendered (SSR) React, ideally hydrated in Node ‘streams’ rather than en-masse. Use streams for… [Read More]

Gaming Needs Some Basic Accessibility Improvements in 2020 Article by Laura Dale, explaining some of the most commonly requested accessibility features for console gaming (controls remapping, colour blindness support and the ability to adjust text size). A cautionary note about the new PS5 controller, which will have a “resistive trigger” (become harder to press under certain… [Read More]

7 Predictions for Accessibility in 2020 and Beyond A UsableNet article that is full of optimism for the future: Jason Taylor predicts that a rise in a11y-related lawsuits will drive a more proactive approach to building accessible websites. Companies will no longer settle for agency-built sites or CMS templates that are inaccessible, and many will… [Read More]

Sony’s new Back Button Attachment brings customizable paddles to the DualShock 4 Sony are releasing a $30 attachment for the DualShock 4 controller which slots into the back and provides two extra large buttons. These can be mapped to any of the other buttons on the controller, and could be a (literal) game changer for… [Read More]

Playing with state Article by Sarah Higley, exploring how best to denote the state of a Play/Pause video button for screen reader users. Most ‘toggle buttons’ for a binary state should have an aria-pressed attribute with value “on” or “off”; screen readers communicate this ‘state change’ more quickly than a change in property (such as… [Read More]

New in iOS 13 Accessibility – Voice Control and More Voice Control is a brand new feature on iOS that lets you interact with on-screen elements using your voice (like Dragon NaturallySpeaking for Windows). It overlays numbers or labels on clickable elements – users can then say things like “Tap 1” to click the first… [Read More]

The Myths of Color Contrast Accessibility This article refutes some common accessibility guidance, such as the need to use more than just color to denote information (it argues that contrast alone can be sufficient if denoting toggle state. But for something like error state, an additional cue such as icon is required). There’s a really… [Read More]