How to Avoid Boiling the Accessibility Ocean
Swirling ocean containing a pot of boiling water Accessibility is often framed as a gigantic task that requires attention to everything at once. People...
Accessibility and Usability: Inline Field Validation vs. Constantly Active Submit Button
AI-generated image of a hand against a dark background, holding a circle containing a light blue checkmark against a dark background. User researchers have...
When Accessibility Progress Plateaus: How to Regain Momentum
Desert mesas with scrub brush and high plateaus Most of the time, accessibility programs usually don’t fail suddenly; they quietly stall. Fewer people are...
Why You Need to Close Open Objects When Users Navigate Away
AI-generated image of five interior doors, all partially open Imagine opening a dropdown, expanding an accordion, or opening a dialog box, then following a...
Why Separate Guest and Logged In States Create Accessibility Barriers
Blue-themed simulated circuit board covered in shopping cart icons Do you have differing logged-in and logged-out experiences for your users? Do you merge...
Sometimes the Best Accessibility Fix is a Usability Fix
AI cartoon of woman with long dark hair struggling to open a bottle, a common form of usability failure. Teams often arbitrarily divide work into two piles:...
Why training alone is never the solution to ableist behavior
There is a three-party storyline that frequently appears in social media: Disabled person goes to a retail outlet (or school, hospital, restaurant, church or...
Why Every Search Needs an Announced Empty State
Turquoise background with a white search functio,n with a finger poised over the magnification icon to execute the search We’ve all done it; Run a search and...
Designing for Dyslexia: Accessibility Requirements and Best Practices
Male-appearing child standing in front of a blackboard containing chalk letters in different colors. Some are blurry and difficult to read, others are...
Why Americans with Disabilities Should Consider Entrepreneurship During Economic Upheaval
Stacks of coins getting smaller and smaller with a red arrow pointing down over them Economic downturns affect people with disabilities more severely than...
Why Sticky Navigation Can Undermine Accessibility
A woman standing at a whiteboard in front of numerous pieces of paper and sticky notes, displaying a design that incorporates sticky navigation. “Sticky...
When an airline breaks your wheelchair you lose more than equipment
Picture of a Whill CI Model 2 wheelchair joystick with the protective plastic still attached. The LED display, which is supposed to show the amount of...
Disability Inclusion Requires More Than a Lanyard
Hand dragging a rolling suitcase with a sunflower bracelet around the traveler’s wrist The Sunflower Lanyard program started with good intentions. It’s meant...
Do you know your ADA Digital Accessibility Risk?
5 by 5 color matrix labeled Risk Assessment with green representing low (6 segments), yellow representing medium (13 segments), and red indicating high risk...
Nested Scroll Bars Are the One of the Biggest Accessibility Evils, Ever
AI-generated image of a scrollable table inside a dialog inside a scrollable browser window. You can violate many WCAG Success Criteria and still have your...
Adapting ChatGPT to Meet Neurodivergent Communication Needs
Man sitting at table with laptop, being overwhelmed by different forms of data from people standing next to them. ChatGPT can be challenging for some...
True Disability Inclusion Requires Planning for the Unexpected
AI-generated image of four elevators with various signage about evacuation, one is out of service. When we talk about accessibility, people often focus on...
When “Neutral” Isn’t Really Neutral: 12 Everyday Practices That Disproportionately Impact People with Disabilities
Car dashboard showing the car is in neutral. Policies don’t need to mention disability to be discriminatory and ableist. Many systems, requirements, and...
The Many “Blindnesses” of Neurodivergence That Have Nothing To Do With Sight
AI generated images of a red brain surrounded by teal and orange gears When people hear the word “blindness,” they often think of vision loss. But for many...
Embedding Accessibility SMEs in Remote Teams
Four irregularly-shaped pieces of amber containing parts of bugs. The longer I work in accessibility, the more convinced I become that organizational...