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Deprecated: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /var/www/virtual/outline/modernwebaccessibility.com/kirby/lib/kirby.php on line 2597 Using icon fonts and demystifying speak:none;

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I just listened to the talks of Responsive Day Out from last march as a Podcast. And the talk of Josh Emerson of Clearleft about asset fonts (Slides on Speaker Deck) caught my interest. Asset fonts is just a more fancy, yet more fitting, name for icon fonts. He makes a very convincing case about those fonts and shows how to create them and using them. But then there is one large myth coming up: He uses speak:none because he thinks that would hide the icon from the screen reader, but that isn’t true. As I wrote my A better way to use icon fonts article back in 2012 that property isn’t interpreted at all. It is only defined by the aural media type, too. I think it would be great if it worked, but it doesn’t and many icon font tutorials are dependent on it, so here’s how to make your icon font accessible in three easy steps: Don’t ever use “regular letters” for icons. Use a service like Icomoon and use the private use area (PUA) of the font. Those areas are specifically made for this usage and don’t have any letters attached to it. Screen readers won’t read letters in the PUA. Use colors with enough contrast for your icons. Never use an icon without a text (that you may hide). As icons are not read out, we don’t have any hint for a screen reader user what actually is on the screen, an alternative text is important as long as the content doesn’t make sense without an icon at all. I generally use the HTML5Boilerplate solution, which is very robust. Icons, if in fonts or not, should be very descriptive, especially if they stand on their own. If in doubt, add a descriptive text so users can find out what it means. (In the pre-touch era of web design I’d just have recommended a `title attribute, but those times are over.)

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Deprecated: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /var/www/virtual/outline/modernwebaccessibility.com/kirby/lib/kirby.php on line 2597 We have to stop FUD accessibility

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Yesterday, the Web Standards Project announced that its work is done. Mission accomplished. What they did is create a collaborative environment where everyone could get help in terms of web standards and how to use them. They provided precise help and thus led to a new understanding of the web as a whole. We’d still be in tables and font land without them. The accessibility community (read: people who care about accessibility so much that they speak up on the topic) is different. We’re bad communicators. We tell people “You’re wrong!” instead of leading them to new insights. Or we complicate the situation by quoting different, slightly related use cases. We should stop that. Take the A List Apart alternative text decision blog post as an example. Jeffrey Zeldman points out why they decided to use an empty alt attribute for images. They really gave thought to the issue and came to their conclusion. Then hell broke loose. Several accessibility people argued about the implementation (that is, I say it again, totally reasonable), no less than 86 comments on that fairly simple post happened. Of course I had my say as well: The alt text should never been empty if it adds to the content of the page. In this example the image should come after the h1, as this is how an optimal document outline looks like. Then you’d have the h1 “Faruk Ateş” then an alternative text of “Portrait” (which is read as “Image: Portrait”) and then the paragraph.Having an empty alternative text is OK in that case, but it would prevent a blind person to share the image, as it would be ignored. Leaving out the alt attribute completely is no choice. A screenreader would read it as “Image: photo_126110_120_120_c1.jpg”. Nothing anyone would like to listen to. (Yes it is valid to leave it out, and yes that sucks.) The relevant techniques according to WCAG2 is can be found here.— Eric Eggert on On Alt Text I think a comment like this clarifies the situation and doesn’t add confusion, which is important. But the discussion goes on, and on, and on until very different use cases are described. Instead of encouragement, we casted doubt. Instead of creating positive vibes about the subject, we decided to tell them they are wrong, we told them to leave accessibility to the experts, please. Additionally we use complicated language that is only understood by insiders. I know that I’m not perfect in this regard, and I don’t want to reproach anyone here. Accessibility people are enthusiastic about this topic. That’s good. But we’ll get more people to start with thinking about accessibility if we welcome them instead of alienate them. If we stop the FUD that we use to teach people about accessibility, no matter what: Fear: “You will be sued if your site isn’t accessible.” Uncertainty: “You will have missed something in the process anyway, see my totally different example here!” Doubt: “You don’t have enough knowledge anyway.” We need to be an open, welcoming community, providing solutions, not problems. I didn’t start out as someone who knows everything about web accessibility, and in some regards I’m still learning every day. I wouldn’t be here if I were alienated when I started out. We shouldn’t alienate people that are starting out. If they think about accessibility they should be welcomed, although their conclusions may be wrong or imprecise sometimes. That’s what learning is all about.

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Deprecated: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /var/www/virtual/outline/modernwebaccessibility.com/kirby/lib/kirby.php on line 2597 Everyone should be an accessibility expert

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Accessibility is one of the fundamental concepts of the web as invented by Sir Tim Berners Lee: The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect. That’s why accessibility knowledge should, too, be universally taught and known. And while there are a lot of resources available online, many are out of date and much advice is contradicted by other experts. Long story short, as with every topic, from politics to JavaScript, the world of accessibility isn't black or white. As Tomas Caspers boilt it down in 2007: Unfortunately, the biggest hurdles on the way to a more accessible web are myths that are based on outdated assumptions or, worse, by hearsay. To change this, we provide the workshop and this blog which should be regularly updated, as well as the documentation. The documentation will have short articles that support the workshop contents. Most articles will be available to attendees only, but I will make them available to the general public over time. Book the workshop :-)

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