Michele A. Williams, PhD

This article explores the structural elements of a paragraph and how it relates to screen reader accessibility. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/gTw4i4QH

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Check out the newest draft of the WCAG 3.0 Guidelines. It is currently in the exploratory phase and the final version will probably be ready sometime between 2026-2028. These new guidelines are meant to apply broadly to devices like wearables and mobile devices, which weren't part of the scope of WCAG 2.0. Content that meets WCAG 2.2 A and AA standards should meet the minimum requirements for WCAG 3.0. The rating system itself is changing too as WCAG 3.0 will use bronze, silver, and gold categories. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/dzQFBmzu

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If you really want to understand PDF accessibility in depth, then don't miss this glossary. A group of dedicated international experts (The PDF Accessibility LWG hosted by the PDF Association) has compiled this glossary. Does it help you to better understand accessible PDFs? Which terms are you missing? #PDFUA #AccessiblePDF

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This article provides guidance on the Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) standard 2.4.11, which requires items to not be obscured when they receive focus. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/gN8j9vEK

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This is an interesting talk highlighting some of the issues that can occur on a website when an accessibility overlay is used. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/gSyJF5WF

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#CoDesign according to the #NDIA #NDIS Doesn't look like #CoDesign. No mention of #UNCRPD in *OUR* (ie #NDIA's) #CoDesign principles. A little hint: the #UNCRPD is *THE* design determinant. #CoDesign *CAN'T* happen without explicit commitment to #UNCRPD. Explains why the #NDIS Bill breaches #HumanRights The #CoDesign Advisory Group - which "provides strategic advice to the NDIA on the implementation of co-design and engagement processes in the disability community" -  hasn't met in 9 months. As I explained in my recent article, #CoDesign has been weaponised. https://lnkd.in/d8VMKkvZ Take a look. #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #RoboNDIS #ClassAction #RoyalCommission robondis.org Mark Toomey Tony Ridley, MSc CSyP FSyI SRMCP Karen Kline Samantha Connor Mark Sweeney Nick Avery Graham Taylor Tara Hannon Muriel Cummins Georgia van Toorn Dr George Taleporos (GAICD, PhD) Shirley Humphris Peter Gregory Jordon Steele-John #BillShorten David Pocock Vinod Ralh Paul Flintoft 👇 👇👇 https://lnkd.in/dKq7mdzZ

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What a great little app this is! The ScreenReader app helps you with learning VoiceOver. https://lnkd.in/eig96kxS #Accessibility #iOS #Testing #Mobile #VoiceOver

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This article highlights the importance of providing users a choice and not forcing them into one type of visual experience. Also, there are so many system-level accessibility options that impact color contrast it is important to ensure the app or website is compatible with those accessibility settings too. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/g_3u4BN5

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When I was preparing for the #CPACC exam, I was super curious what others' experiences were and how they approached the exam. That's why now, that I am "on the other side" and have finally taken (and passed 🎉) the exam, I wanted to share my journey. It's definitely been a bit of a roller coaster ride, I was so nervous before taking the exam, you wouldn't believe it 🙈 But it all turned out for the best, I passed with 704 out of 800 points and am now officially a Certified Professional for Accessibility Core Competencies 🤓 Are you studying for CPACC? How are you approaching the exam?

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The W3C Accessibility Principles page breaks down the different principles of web accessibility. This includes perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. They also link to many helpful examples and design personas, which can help you consider a variety of users. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/gNj3y4aZ

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Monday Accessibility Design Tip Web Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) 3.1.3 Unusual Words (Level AAA) Readable Text (Language Complexity) ➜ Definitions should be provided for words that may be unfamiliar. ➜ Such as jargon, idioms, or words used in unusual ways. ➜ You might use tooltips, glossaries, or inline explanations to achieve this

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There are no silly accessibility questions - color contrast version! In accessibility we talk a lot about color contrast, and we assume everyone knows what that means. We usually think that if someone isn’t choosing colors with high contrast then they’re doing that on purpose. But none of us were born knowing what color contrast is, so here's a quick intro! When we talk about color contrast we mean the difference between two different colors. Sometimes we mean text and a background color, and sometimes we’re talking about an element (like a button, form field, or focus indicator) with the background color. Other times we might be talking about two colors that are next to each other in a pie chart. In accessibility we use a specific way of determining color contrast. The scores are written as __:1 (like 4.2:1). If the score is higher it means the contrast is higher, and lower scores mean lower contrast. The highest score is 21:1, which is the score black and white get when they’re compared to each other. The lowest score is 1:1, which is the score a color has with itself. There’s a formula to determine the ratio, but my brain shuts down when math is involved, so I’ll link a resource below in case you want to learn more. And we don’t need to know how to calculate the ratio, because there are tools that can do that for us! You can use the tools by getting the code for the colors (usually a hex or RGB code) and inputting it into the fields. The tool will calculate the ratio and tell you whether it’s high enough. If the contrast is between text and a background color then the size of the text matters too. To meet the accessibility standard most companies aim for, the ratio between the colors should be: - 3:1 for large text (it’s considered large text if it’s 18 pt or larger or bold text that’s 14 pt and larger) and also for non-text elements - 4.5:1 for regular or small sized text Generally higher contrast is better, but having white text with black text can be difficult to read, so the goal isn’t to just make everything white and black. Having a color that’s close to white and a color that’s close to black will help make sure lots of people can read it. People can't do something if they don't know it exists, so color contrast is important! Color Contrast Resources: - WebAIM Contrast Checker - https://lnkd.in/e6D6xNEb - Colour Contrast Analyzer (CCA) - https://lnkd.in/e_kAgShu - Contrast plugin for Figma - https://lnkd.in/eGzATeAA - Coolors Contrast Checker - https://lnkd.in/eX9upvSz - How to calculate colour contrast (article) - https://lnkd.in/e9ArEZ8Z - Accessible color palette generator from Venngage - https://lnkd.in/eHACA3Jm #Accessibility #A11y #ColorContrast

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Thanks so much to folks who came to my talk, Accessible UX: Design for the Rest of Us, last week at SIC! If you missed it, I'll be giving it again later this month at Web Accessibility in Mind: https://lnkd.in/gmQEYd-8 The talk focuses on design best practices to better support people with cognitive disabilities and chronic illnesses that impact information processing and fine motor skills. I don't do design talks often anymore, but this one is near and dear to my experience!

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AMAZING RESOURCES! How to write text descriptions (alt text) in BBC News articles Includes; Text Descriptions, Decorative Images, Informative Images, Functional Image, Image of Text, Complex Images, Describing People, Captions vs Text Descriptions and a final checklist. Great share Léonie Watson and amazing epic work done by the BBC! https://lnkd.in/eeBqsHd5 #Accessibility #AltText #Technology

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I'm adding a section on my site for case studies of accessibility work I've done and it's similar to a blog; i.e. list of case studies that lead to individual pages. I've used different CMSs but wanted something small that didn't require loads of config, login etc. I decided on a similar approach to what we used in the AO Design System for our docsite, rendering local mdx files in Next pages. Since this is Next v14, I'm using the app router architecture instead of page router. I think it's easier for dynamic routes but initially didn’t like the generically named 'page.tsx' in each route folder. The app router seems familiar and I can’t help thinking it reminds me of Vue2/Vue Router? When looking at the metadata, I came across the Frontmatter extension. It acts as a CMS within VSCode and is customisable, but I haven’t fully explored it yet. It has SEO recommendations, simple metadata fields that can be changed in the setting file, I can create content and preview the mdx pages while editing. Because this is my own site, I can be a bit more creative with what I use/how I do things. I’m sticking to mostly stable things for the main functionality, because I don’t want to have to totally rebuild in 6 months, but it’s interesting to try out a few new things here and there.

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Accessibility and inclusive design friends - what are your favorite videos to refer people to or use as resources? A lot of the things I use as references are articles or websites, and that means people who learn better from videos aren’t getting information in a way that works for them. If you have videos you recommend then I'd love to hear about them! Anything in the inclusive design or accessibility field is fine - they can be on any topic, for any audience, and they can be short or long. #Accessibility #A11y #AccessibilityMatters #InclusiveDesign

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This article by Adrian Roselli highlights why it is important to keep your alt text short and to the point. It also provides a lot of helpful articles with alt-text tips at the bottom of the page. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/gc8tg4Nk

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On the buildo blog, Sara Bianchini explains how you can ‘Discover how usability tests with users who have #Disabilities can enhance your product’s #Accessibility …’ https://lnkd.in/eDGfYS45

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