Your weekly frequent11y newsletter, brought to you by @ChrisBAshton:

We Analyzed 10,000,000 Pages and Here’s Where Most Fail with ADA and WCAG 2.1 Compliance

• Article by accessiBe, analysing mostly small US websites. They used automated tooling with AI to avoid false positives, e.g. avoid failing a non-compliant form if it’s never actually in view. 98% of sites failed WCAG 2.1 AA compliance with their menus alone (there are quite stringent requirements around using ESC and arrow keys to navigate the menu, which requires JavaScript rather than just good HTML markup). The next big fail was popups (89%), where most have no accessibility built in whatsoever, breaking the experience for keyboard users. 83% failed on buttons, mostly for not using <button> or role="button" markup. 76% failed on icons (often social media icons with no off-screen text). 71% failed on forms; most that passed were from ready-made systems such as Shopify.
• Aside: I chose this article to coincide with the International Day of People with Disabilities. This is an occasion “to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity.” It’s also a good opportunity to remind teams in the UK public sector of their responsibility to make sites conform to WCAG 2.1 by September 2020.

Walking On Egg Shells: Why Bosses Are Scared To Talk About Neurodiversity

• Article by psychologist Dr Nancy Doyle, highlighting that companies are increasingly attempting to improve their inclusivity, but are nervous about using the wrong language. “People with disabilities” vs “disabled people” represent two different models – the first being ‘people-first’ (we are people, not conditions) and the latter being the ‘social model’ (we are disabled by a non-inclusive society). Nancy advises following a consensus where there is one: for example, the term “autistic person” is commonly used as they see it as their identity, not something they have. Where there there isn’t a consensus, we should use multiple terms interchangeably, ideally with a brief explanatory footnote at the end of written communication so that people can see that you have thought about your choices.

18 WAI-ARIA attributes that every web developer should know

• Use aria-label when you can’t use generic <label>, and aria-describedby for supplementary info, such as to associate error messages with their corresponding inputs. Use role="heading" and aria-level="2" instead of <h2> if you can’t use the element (for SEO reasons, etc). Whenever there is a visible status message on the page, it must be announced to users, e.g. with role="status" or role="alert". Use role="search" for landmarking a region responsible for search – there is no HTML5 element for it.
• Aside: this article links to the incredibly useful aria practices document, which shows recommended implementations for common components like breadcrumbs and carousels.

Making a Better Custom Select Element

• A ‘how-to’ guide from accessibility expert Julie Grundy. It describes the drawbacks of the native <select> element – the lack of autocomplete, the inflexibility around what can appear inside each <option>. Julie talks us through building a custom select, avoiding the accessibility pitfalls that many custom select components fall down at. She starts from a baseline of <input type="text">, with progressive enhancement layered on to turn it into an autocomplete dropdown with keyboard functionality and total screen reader support. It links off to the ARIA 1.1 Combobox with Listbox Popup Example, which is also a good dev resource for this.

The Physics (and Economics, and Politics) of Wheelchairs on Planes

• A detailed article highlighting the stress of flying as a wheelchair-user, involving being picked up and strapped into an ill-fitting seat while your wheelchair is put in the hold (and subsequently lost or damaged in transit, as happens in a lot of cases). The principle reason cited is one of safety, but a lot of research has been done to show that wheelchair tests are actually more stringent and can withstand more G-force than the airline seats themselves. A new aircraft design is proposed where wheelchairs can be securely fastened into the floor, or an airline seat fitted at the last minute if there are no wheelchair-using passengers. It could be two years before the American Transportation Research Board releases its initial findings to “the feasibility of the restraint system”, bearing in mind the myriad of different wheelchair types and sizes. The final fight would be persuading each airline to adapt and get on board.

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