March 16 is Global Accessibility Awareness Day. When working towards making digital technology universally accessible, it is important to remember that every small detail counts - there is no one absolute “100% correct” in accessibility, but there is a huge difference between not considering it and giving it the best possible effort.
Or, as Charlie Owen put it:
I’ve always used the analogy of security when talking to tech people about
#A11y: you can make something more secure, but will probably never make something 100% secure. Similarly with a11y.
Designing accessible technology is not something one can ultimately master, as discussing with seasoned a11y experts at A11yClub Düsseldorf yesterday illustrated once again. It is a continuous learning process.
This is my selection of insights from the past year I wrote about on this blog:
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Nothing beats testing with real people, but automated testing has its place
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The basics of creating an accessible PDF are surprisingly straightforward (both: A11Y Berlin #6)
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There are more people relying on CC than is often thought and these groups deserve consideration
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Over designing for all, we shall not forget we are still designing for every one of them
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Customers of the German railway company DB are important beneficiaries of image alt texts
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It’s so easy to forget a11y in internal work processes
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Identifying exclusive thinking is the first step to design more inclusively (both IxDA Berlin 69)
