UX Design For Accessibility Compliance

💎 Accessibility For Designers Checklist (PDF: https://lnkd.in/e9Z2G2kF), a practical set of cards on WCAG accessibility guidelines, from accessible color, typography, animations, media, layout and development — to kick-off accessibility conversations early on. Kindly put together by Geri Reid. WCAG for Designers Checklist, by Geri Reid Article: https://lnkd.in/ef8-Yy9E PDF: https://lnkd.in/e9Z2G2kF WCAG 2.2 Guidelines: https://lnkd.in/eYmzrNh7 Accessibility isn’t about compliance. It’s not about ticking off checkboxes. And it’s not about plugging in accessibility overlays or AI engines either. It’s about *designing* with a wide range of people in mind — from the very start, independent of their skills and preferences. In my experience, the most impactful way to embed accessibility in your work is to bring a handful of people with different needs early into design process and usability testing. It’s making these test sessions accessible to the entire team, and showing real impact of design and code on real people using a real product. Teams usually don’t get time to work on features which don’t have a clear business case. But no manager really wants to be seen publicly ignoring their prospect customers. Visualize accessibility to everyone on the team and try to make an argument about potential reach and potential income. Don’t ask for big commitments: embed accessibility in your work by default. Account for accessibility needs in your estimates. Create accessibility tickets and flag accessibility issues. Don’t mistake smiling and nodding for support — establish timelines, roles, specifics, objectives. And most importantly: measure the impact of your work by repeatedly conducting accessibility testing with real people. Build a strong before/after case to show the change that the team has enabled and contributed to, and celebrate small and big accessibility wins. It might not sound like much, but it can start changing the culture faster than you think. Useful resources: Giving A Damn About Accessibility, by Sheri Byrne-Haber (disabled) https://lnkd.in/eCeFutuJ Accessibility For Designers: Where Do I Start?, by Stéphanie Walter https://lnkd.in/ecG5qASY Web Accessibility In Plain Language (Free Book), by Charlie Triplett https://lnkd.in/e2AMAwyt Building Accessibility Research Practices, by Maya Alvarado https://lnkd.in/eq_3zSPJ How To Build A Strong Case For Accessibility, ↳ https://lnkd.in/ehGivAdY, by 🦞 Todd Libby ↳ https://lnkd.in/eC4jehMX, by Yichan Wang #ux #accessibility

How to use JAWS on a real time application for accessibility testing?#testing JAWS (Job Access With Speech) is a popular screen reader used for testing accessibility, especially for users with visual impairments. let me share step-by-step process on how to use JAWS for accessibility testing on a real time application: Install JAWS: First, you need to install JAWS on your computer. Once installed, you can enable it by pressing the JAWS key (usually Insert or Caps Lock) along with the desired command. Enable JAWS: When testing websites or applications, launch JAWS and start navigating through the content. JAWS reads aloud the text on the screen and announces elements like headings, links, form fields, etc. Press the JAWS key and use arrow keys to move through the page. Check Keyboard Navigation: Ensure that all interactive elements, such as forms, buttons, and links, are accessible using the keyboard. JAWS will announce any interactive elements as you tab through them. Verify that users can navigate and interact without a mouse. JAWS relies on proper HTML semantics (e.g., headings, lists, and ARIA roles). Test the structure by using commands like the "H" key to skip to headings or "L" to navigate through links. Ensure the structure is logical and that headings are used correctly. Test Images and Alt Text: JAWS reads alternative text (alt text) for images. Test this by navigating to images and ensuring that meaningful descriptions are provided in the alt attribute. if not, this could be an issue/defect which you can raise with development team. If images lack alt text, JAWS will either read nothing or default to the image filename. Evaluate Forms and Controls: Check how JAWS announces form fields, labels, and error messages. Ensure that each form field has an associated label and that error messages are read when validation fails. By following these steps, you can use JAWS to assess the accessibility of web pages and applications successfully and ensure they are usable by individuals with visual special abilities. This is based on my realtime experience of testing some web based apps. #JAWS #sharingexperience #learnandgrow

Inclusive design is not just about the font you choose. It is about how your content behaves when it meets a different nervous system. Last week, we pruned your typography. This week, we are looking at the soil. We are auditing your media and structure. In our rush for "engagement," corporate communications often rely on visual shortcuts like flashing GIFs, color-coded alerts, and walls of emojis. Marketing calls these "hacks." I call them Barriers. When you rely on a color change to signal "danger," you lock out the colorblind. When you replace words with a string of emojis, you create chaos for a screen reader user (hearing "Face with tears of joy" five times in a row). When you post a video without captions, you tell the Deaf and Auditory Processing communities that they are not your audience. Accessibility is not a "feature" for a minority group. It is an indicator of Organizational Health. If your content requires perfect vision, perfect hearing, and neurotypical processing speed to understand... your content is flawed. Below is The Inclusive Content Audit (Part 2). We moved beyond fonts to look at media, structure, and interaction. Here are 9 Ways to Operationalize Inclusion in your content: 1. The Emoji Restraint ❌ Barrier: Emojis read aloud via screen readers as clunky descriptions. ✅ Fix: Use clear words to convey tone. Keep emojis at the end of sentences rather than in the middle. 2. The Caption Mandate ❌ Barrier: Audio/Video posted "naked." ✅ Fix: Burned-in open captions. (This helps ADHD brains like mine focus just as much as it helps Deaf users). 3. The Contrast Rule ❌ Barrier: Text over busy, semi-transparent backgrounds. ✅ Fix: Solid color backgrounds behind text blocks to reduce visual noise. 4. The "Color + Shape" Rule ❌ Barrier: Using only color to convey meaning (e.g., Red = Error). ✅ Fix: Pair color with a distinct shape or icon label. 5. The Alt-Text Discipline ❌ Barrier: Images with file names like "IMG_5920.jpg". ✅ Fix: Descriptive, concise Alternative Text. 6. The Header Hierarchy ❌ Barrier: Manually bolding text to look like a header. ✅ Fix: Using actual "Heading Styles" (H1, H2) so screen readers can navigate the structure. 7. The Motion Control ❌ Barrier: Auto-playing GIFs or flashing content. ✅ Fix: Static images or user-controlled "Play" buttons. (Protect your team from vestibular triggers). 8. The Data Summary ❌ Barrier: Complex charts with no text explanation. ✅ Fix: A simple text summary beneath the visual. 9. The Permanent Label ❌ Barrier: Form field labels that disappear once you start typing. ✅ Fix: Labels that remain visible above the field. (Reduces cognitive load and working memory strain). The Verdict: Low-friction content is high-impact content. Stop making your audience fight your design to get to your message. #Accessibility #InclusiveDesign #WCAG #Neurodiversity #Leadership #ClinicalStrategy

My design passed accessibility checks with 7:1 contrast, while a user measured 3.37:1 on Linkedin. Both of us were right at the end, do you know how? I recently had a very interesting discussion under one of my posts and it turned into a great reminder of how complex accessibility can be in the real world. For the post, I created a graphic and checked that the color contrast of every text element is safely above the 4.5:1 minimum recommended by WCAG. Then a follower commented that some of the text was hard to read on the phone and he shared a screenshot from a contrast checker showing 3.37:1 for one of the colors. That raised an interesting question: how can a design that passes accessibility checks suddenly fail a user? There are several things happening between the moment we design something and the moment someone sees it: 1️⃣ Platform compression When we upload images to social platforms, they are usually compressed automatically to reduce file size. Compression can slightly change colors and blur the edges between text and background. If the contrast was already close to the limit, this can lower the effective contrast. 2️⃣ Image resizing The graphic I designed was quite large, but platforms often resize images for different screens, especially on mobile. When the image becomes smaller: • text strokes become thinner • edges get softened by scaling • readability decreases 3️⃣ Thin fonts + antialiasing Even with sufficient contrast ratios, thin fonts can reduce perceived contrast. When text is scaled or compressed, the browser blends text pixels with the background (antialiasing). That means the visible color becomes a mixture of text and background. Contrast tools inside design software measure pure colors, while the final rendered image contains blended pixels. 4️⃣ Screens and real-world conditions People view content on: • phones in bright daylight • different screen technologies • different brightness levels • sometimes without glasses All of this affects how readable something feels. 5️⃣ Measuring the uploaded image Another important detail: the contrast was checked on a screenshot of the uploaded image, not on the original design. That means the tool measured pixels that were already affected by: • compression • scaling • antialiasing So the measured 3.37:1 might actually be correct for the rendered version of the image. Accessibility does not only happen during design, it also depends on how the design is exported, processed by platforms, and displayed on real devices. That’s why it's helpful to: ✔ aim for contrast higher than the minimum ✔ avoid very thin fonts in images ✔ check the exported file, not only the design tool ✔ test how it looks after uploading to the platform Have you ever experienced something similar where a design technically passed accessibility checks but still caused issues for users? #WebAccessibility #Accessibility #InclusiveDesign #UXDesign #UXAccessibility #WCAG #DesignForAll

🖥️ Screen Reader Testing ≠ Keyboard-Only Testing Think you’re “screen reader testing” a website by hitting TAB? You might actually be testing something else entirely. As someone who is blind and uses a screen reader every day, I can tell you—that’s not how screen reader users navigate web pages. TAB navigation simulates a keyboard-only user—someone navigating with a keyboard due to a motor/dexterity disability. It jumps between focusable elements like links, buttons, and form fields… and skips over important web content like: 📄 Paragraph text 📄 Headings 📄 Images without links 📄 Lists Screen reader users, on the other hand, move through all content—whether it’s clickable or not. If you’re testing a website with a screen reader, try: 🎯 JAWS/NVDA (Windows): Down arrow 🎯 VoiceOver (Mac): VO + Right Arrow 🎯 VoiceOver (iOS) / TalkBack (Android): One-finger swipe left → right These commands let you move line-by-line (or element-by-element) and hear the entire page—just like an actual screen reader user would. It’s not enough to test with a screen reader—you have to test like a screen reader user. This is why it’s essential to test with native screen reader users and other people with disabilities to get a complete, authentic perspective on accessibility. #Accessibility #A11y #ScreenReader #InclusiveDesign #AssistiveTech #WebAccessibility #DigitalInclusion

🔍 My Process for Testing a Web Page for WCAG Conformance Ensuring web accessibility goes beyond automated testing—it’s about a detailed, methodical approach. Here’s how I test a webpage for WCAG conformance: 1️⃣ Start with the Basics - Double-check I’m testing the correct URL, component, and page state. - Open the page in my browser, set the screen width to 1280px, and open developer tools. (I live in developer tools!) 2️⃣ Inspect Elements - Work top-down, element by element, component by component. - Use developer tools to inspect elements and select shortcut “Expand recursively” to easily view the complete code structure. -Check each element’s HTML semantic structure, name, role, value, aria and functionality. ***Ask questions like: *What is this element? *What’s its role? *What is it's name and where is the name coming from? *Does it have supporting attributes for different states? *Does it pass color contrast requirements? *Is this an interactive element? 3️⃣ Interactivity and State Testing - For interactive elements, test with a mouse first, then the keyboard (Tab, Enter, Space) to ensure equitable functionality. - Ensure all interactive elements have a non-obscured color contrast conforming focus indicator. - Check hover, focus, active, pressed, selected, expanded, and collapsed states. - Ensure the element remains conformant, maintains color contrast, and performs its intended functionality in all states across all input devices. 4️⃣ Comprehensive Component Review Apply this process to all elements within a chosen component or page. Switch to Accessibility Tree View for new fresh perspective. 5️⃣ Screen Reader Testing Use NVDA to do a pass-through, ensuring I haven’t missed anything important. 6️⃣ Responsive Testing Test at 1280px for desktop, zoom to 200% for resizing, and zoom to 400% for reflow to check responsiveness and look for cutoff or missing meaningful content. 7️⃣ ARC Toolkit Analysis - Use ARC Toolkit to run tests with all topics selected. Manually review errors, alerts, and best practices by toggling disclosure panels. - Use highlight tools to quickly check: Page titles, iframes, lists, forms, tables, language attributes, buttons, links, tab order, tab index values, landmarks, and headings. - Leverage the text spacing tool at 1280px, 200%, and 400% to ensure compliance with resizing and reflow requirements. Accessibility isn’t just a checkbox—it’s a commitment to inclusivity and usability for all. This thorough (but not exhaustive) testing process ensures every page and component is tested against the WCAG success criteria. Now knowing how to fix the failures... DM me for help! What’s your favorite step or tool for accessibility testing? Let’s discuss in the comments! #AccessibilityTesting #WCAG #WebDevelopment #Accessibility #A11y

Your design might look clear and organized, but if that structure isn't in the code, assistive tech users miss out. Headings, lists, form groups, required fields, tables - they all need proper HTML to be meaningful. This carousel breaks down how to meet 1.3.1 and why it's important. Check it out 👉 #Accessibility #A11y #InclusiveDesign #WebDev #WCAG #SemanticHTML #DesignWithIntention If you prefer your content as text, read on: When design isn’t enough. Understanding WCAG 1.3.1. What is WCAG 1.3.1? Your design communicates meaning and relationships. But if it’s not in the code, assistive technology users can’t access that information. Why it matters. If you rely only on how things look, you leave out people who use screen readers, rely on braille displays, or can’t see layout or hear audio cues Common mistakes. These may look fine, but aren’t coded accessibly: Bold text as a heading Asterisks or red text for required fields Dashes for lists Tables made with spaces or tabs instead of HTML Do it right with semantic HTML. Use the correct HTML tags and attributes to convey meaning to assistive technologies. Reinforce style with structure. If color, sound, or placement communicates something, back it up with code. Code grouped form fields. Wrap form fields that go together in a fieldset and use a legend to describe the purpose of the set of fields. Code headings correctly. Use semantic heading tags in a logical order. Use h1 for the page title, h2 for section headings, h3 for subsection headings, and so on. Mark up lists correctly. Use ul or ol elements to code lists. Don't fake it with dashes or emojis. Mark up (and use) tables correctly. Use tables for tabular data, not for layout. Use a caption to describe what the table is about. Use th elements for table headers and define their scope. Use td elements for table cells. Label it or lose the meaning. Programmatically associate labels with form fields by using a for attribute on the label that refers to the ID of the input. Required field? Code it that way. Use the aria-required="true" attribute to mark required fields. No landmarks? No map. Provide page landmarks such as header, main, footer, aside, and nav to help users find their way. The big picture. WCAG 1.3.1 is one of the most common success criteria to have failures...and many of those are some of the easiest to fix! Learn more. Want more clear and actionable WCAG breakdowns? WCAG in Plain English is available now!

Ensuring your documents are accessible matters more than ever. The team at Digital Accessibility Services, Ohio State has published a comprehensive guide on “Evaluating PDFs for Accessibility” that walks you through the crucial checks, from automated tools to manual verification of headings, tables, images, and reading order. Whether you create PDFs from scratch or audit existing ones, this is a powerful resource to make your content inclusive for all users. https://buff.ly/F4oZs06 #Accessibility #InclusiveDesign #PDF #PDFAccessibility #DigitalInclusion #A11y #DocumentAccessibility