Accessibility Awareness

Helping you better understand web accessibility for people with disabilities, whether you're a student, teacher, journalist… whomever!

Run by [@patrickmgarvin](https://mastodon.social/@patrickmgarvin )

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Last Notes

2026-03-17 03:10:36 GMT

The No Mouse Challenge is a global effort to raise awareness about accessible web design. Try using your website without a mouse. Use the keyboard instead. Is it possible to access all features and operate all buttons, sliders, and other controls?
https://nomouse.org/

2026-02-13 02:11:04 GMT

Chartability is a resource to help make data visualizations and charts more accessible. It's organized into principles with testable criteria aimed at making sure people with disabilities are able to access data.
https://chartability.fizz.studio/

2026-02-08 04:30:49 GMT

You don't necessarily need to say "image of" in your alt text for users to know it's an image. Screen readers will announce that it's an image. But it can help readers to specify if it's a hand-drawn image, Polaroid, infographic, screenshot, chart, map, diagram, or so on.

2026-01-29 14:50:17 GMT

Sighted users often use bold or large fonts to create the appearance of headings in documents. People using screen readers have no way of understanding these visual cues. Use heading styles from the styles menu to correctly format headings.

2026-01-22 14:40:13 GMT

YouTube uses automatic speech recognition to automatically generate captions for videos when they are uploaded. These might need some editing and tweaking before publishing, but it's possible to edit these captions directly in YouTube.
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2734705#zippy=%2Cedit-caption-text%2Cedit-caption-timing

2026-01-15 21:09:34 GMT

When using Microsoft Word or Google Docs, don't just make text bigger and bolder to make it a heading. That will work for sighted users, but screen reader users will miss that and just hear it as normal paragraph text. Use actual heading styles, like level 1 through 6.

2026-01-07 04:41:15 GMT

"Can I Play That?" is a website focusing on the intersection of web accessibility and video games. The site is a resource of reviews, features, and news coverage of accessibility within video games. The site is aimed at both players and developers.
https://caniplaythat.com/

2026-01-05 23:00:01 GMT

2025-12-26 06:31:45 GMT

Do not cram alt text with keywords just to improve search engine optimization. This will hinder alt text’s true purpose: improving accessibility. Focus on describing the photo's content. Search engine optimization should not be the goal for writing good alt text.

2025-12-23 23:11:48 GMT

2025-12-17 19:50:51 GMT

An accessibility statement lets your users know you're committed to web accessibility. These statements usually include the accessibility standard applied, such as WCAG 2.1 AA or 2.2 AA. They also include contact information in case users encounter problems.
https://www.w3.org/WAI/planning/statements

2025-12-16 19:50:59 GMT

Beware of companies promising to make sites completely accessible, compliant, and immune from lawsuits with just a few lines of code. This just isn't possible. Disabled users have long said these tools don't actually help them, and can often make things worse.

2025-12-16 15:03:43 GMT

Many struggle with writing alt text for charts and other other data visualizations. Amy Cesal's "Writing Alt Text for Data Visualization" hammers home the importance of explaining the chart type, the type of data, and the reason for the chart.
https://medium.com/nightingale/writing-alt-text-for-data-visualization-2a218ef43f81

2025-12-13 00:39:01 GMT

When creating PDFs, avoid using "Print to PDF." A screen reader user may still be able to access the text of PDFs created this way, but heading structure, alternative text, and any other tag structure will be lost. Using "Save As" or "Export" can preserve these tags.

2025-11-27 15:21:56 GMT

Some are suggesting you deliberately write inaccurate or confusing alt text, because they say this confuses AI scrapers that are analyzing images.
The purpose of alt text is to help people who cannot see the image. Deliberately misrepresenting the image is a gross misuse of alt text. Don't do it.

2025-11-21 15:01:59 GMT

2025-11-20 21:40:14 GMT

You don't necessarily want to use the exact same alt text each time a specific image is used. Alt text must consider the context of the image and why it's being included on a site, post, article, etc. In other words, alt text depends on where you're including the image and why.

2025-11-13 03:32:35 GMT

2025-10-27 20:56:09 GMT

Did you know each emoji has a coded description that gets read aloud by screen readers? This demo by Alexa Heinrich shows what happens when a screen reader encounters a post that uses an emoji to function as a bullet point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSMsSPT4__A

2025-10-22 02:50:29 GMT

2025-10-17 16:38:57 GMT

2025-10-15 14:20:58 GMT

Automatic captions make it difficult to watch videos because the viewer is forced to decipher misspelled or mistranslated words that appear in a string of text without any punctuation. These can be distracting and disorienting. Always edit your captions before publishing.

2025-10-03 16:00:02 GMT

Alexa Heinrich's Accessible Social is a free resource for digital marketers, communication professionals, content creators, everyday social media users, and anyone who wants to learn how to make their content accessible for people with disabilities.
https://www.accessible-social.com/

2025-10-01 13:58:35 GMT

Hyperlink text should make sense when read out of context. Screen reader users can navigate from link to link, and can listen to links in a list. When navigating this way, only the link is read. So "click here" or "read more" won't make sense.

2025-09-18 19:14:43 GMT

Avoid emoji icons in alt text. Emoji icons are a visual element, so it's counterintuitive to add them to non-visual content. You'll likely confuse people with messages that don't make sense. In alt text, use plain text, free of symbols, icons, or any weird special characters.

2025-09-17 02:02:40 GMT

2025-08-26 02:57:34 GMT

For beginners, it can be difficult to know what to put in alt text, as well as when alt text is needed and when it isn't. This decision tree helps you determine what to do, based on specific situations.
https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/decision-tree/

2025-08-05 21:00:37 GMT

Sharing a meme on social media? Don't forget to include alt text! This resource from Veronica With Four Eyes (Veronica Lewis) will help you.
https://veroniiiica.com/2018/11/29/how-to-write-alt-text-for-memes/

2025-07-16 03:39:45 GMT

2025-07-11 19:15:15 GMT

Some people have disabilities that are directly based on the way they understand and interpret numbers. In this post, Ricky Onsman explains some of these disabilities, who is affects and how, and what web creators can do about it.
https://www.tpgi.com/making-numbers-in-web-content-accessible/

2025-06-26 20:46:29 GMT

2025-06-26 14:15:44 GMT

When you make the pitch for accessibility, be prepared for pushback. There are several myths and misconceptions, so it's good to be aware of what they are and how to dispel them.
https://a11ymyths.com/

2025-06-11 19:03:24 GMT

People who want to make the web accessible need to understand the many different ways that people with disabilities use the web. This W3C resource offers a good introduction to how disabled people navigate the web, and barriers they commonly encounter.
https://www.w3.org/WAI/people-use-web/

2025-05-27 18:26:29 GMT

2025-05-13 19:59:50 GMT

Manual testing with a screen reader will help you catch and fix accessibility issues that can't be identified by automated tests. Sara Soueidan has a great guide on various screen readers and how to set them up on your computer.
https://www.sarasoueidan.com/blog/testing-environment-setup/

2025-04-25 15:04:17 GMT

2025-04-18 01:04:42 GMT

2025-04-15 02:04:47 GMT

The NoMouse Challenge is a global effort to raise awareness about accessible web design. Try using your website without a mouse. Use the keyboard instead. Is it possible to access all features and operate all buttons, sliders, and other controls?
https://nomouse.org/

2025-03-06 18:01:50 GMT

Overlays are widgets or technologies that promise to improve a site's accessibility with third-party source code. More than 900 accessibility advocates and web developers have signed an open letter to explain the limitations and dangers of these products.
https://overlayfactsheet.com/

2025-02-27 22:14:37 GMT

2025-02-11 03:31:11 GMT

2025-01-29 19:05:41 GMT

The #NoMouse Challenge is a global effort to raise awareness about accessible web design. Try using your website without a mouse. Use the keyboard instead. Is it possible to access all features and operate all buttons, sliders, and other controls?
https://nomouse.org/

2025-01-18 23:29:03 GMT

2025-01-11 21:31:50 GMT

People often ask what accessibility considerations to keep in mind when creating data visualizations. For guidance and advice, check out Sarah L. Fossheim's list of 10 things to do (or not do) when designing accessible data visualizations.
https://fossheim.io/writing/posts/accessible-dataviz-design/

2025-01-05 05:04:42 GMT

Some people need to change the way text is displayed in order to read it. This includes changing size, spacing, font, color, and other properties. When people customize text, the text should re-flow so they don’t have to scroll horizontally to read.
https://www.w3.org/WAI/perspective-videos/customizable/

2024-12-19 22:20:00 GMT

2024-11-28 20:32:26 GMT

Avoid writing text that has every letter alternating between uppercase and lowercase. This is difficult for sighted readers to comprehend, especially users with reading or cognitive disabilities. Some screen readers won't know to read this, so it could sound like gibberish.

2024-11-28 04:01:20 GMT

2024-11-22 17:47:06 GMT

2024-11-21 04:53:44 GMT

2024-11-21 01:43:41 GMT

2024-11-17 04:12:05 GMT

2024-11-16 04:21:47 GMT

2024-11-11 15:31:44 GMT

2024-11-05 02:37:53 GMT

Consider your audience's tech literacy level. Define technical terms that may be unfamiliar. Consider adding a glossary if the content contains many potentially unfamiliar terms. Include inline definitions for scientific, legal, or technical terms you can't avoid and must use.

2024-09-22 01:15:40 GMT

The same photo could appear on three different pages and require different alt text for each instance. The alt text for an image can vary, depending on the context of the image, its role on the page, and the intended message.

2024-09-19 01:14:02 GMT

2024-09-18 04:14:25 GMT

Ensure text is readable in data visualizations and information graphics. Small text is generally harder to read, and should be avoided where possible. Make sure the text is not obstructed by other chart elements, and has sufficient contrast against its background.

2024-09-12 03:17:12 GMT

Generic descriptions don't convey the information or context sighted users get from the image. Examples like "election results," "group of people," "screenshot from Google," or "city skyline" may be technically be true, but they don't provide information and context.

2024-09-08 03:42:25 GMT

2024-09-04 23:01:06 GMT

An emoji has a coded description that gets read aloud by screen readers. Putting emoji in between text could cause confusion or make content less clear. Putting an emoji after each word could be especially confusing. It's best to put emoji at the end of written content.

2024-08-15 23:37:10 GMT

Cognitive load refers to how much working memory or short-term memory someone is using at a time. Minimizing the cognitive load it takes to use your site makes it more accessible for people with cognitive disabilities. Limit what you're asking users to remember to use your site.

2024-08-11 02:53:56 GMT

For audio-only content like podcasts, provide a transcript. For videos with audio, provide both transcripts and captions. In the transcripts and captions, include the spoken information and sounds that are important for understanding the content.