So, you’re a Web developer and you want to get started with accessibility? It seems overwhelming, right? It doesn’t have to be. But you’ll need to do some homework. Luckily, there are a lot of amazing resources out there. Here are a few that I’ve curated which are essential to your journey.
Semantics
First of all, it’s important to understand the relevance of writing semantic code. The article Semantics to Screen Readers written by Melanie Richards dives into how your code will be handled all the way to the end-user via a screen reader. Here’s a tip: Study the HTML Living Standards, it details the specs of expected HTML markup.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
Next up is an Overview of WCAG. These standards are widely recognised and included in numerous accessibility laws all over the world. They are extensive, so my suggestion is to go through them slowly, but diligently. They have a wealth of precious information. Note that at the time of writing this article, the recommended WCAG version was 2.1, but WCAG version 2.2 was in the process of being officially approved and should be the official version in early 2023.
Web Accessibility Initiative – Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA)
You should be aware of ARIA specifications in order to build efficient and reliable interactive components. WAI-ARIA basics by MDN is a great source that will explain everything you need to know.
Automated testing tools
Once your code is built, there needs to be a testing phase. Any automated testing can be done while you’re coding, but in case you cannot add an accessibility checker within your building process. A good place to start learning about automated tests is with the Accessibility Insights for Web extension available on Edge and Chrome. The Assessment process will help you through a range of WCAG success criteria. Each topic has a related “How to test” section. It may take you a while to go through them all, but the bonus is that it will give you a better sense of what to avoid in the future.
Testing with Screen readers
Last but not least, it’s crucial that you familiarise yourself with how screen readers work and, most importantly, how screen reader users interact with them. The article Browsing with a desktop screen reader written by Henny Swan will guide you through what is a screen reader, what are the most common ones and what they tend to announce. You’ll also get a video example of a screen reader navigation on a website and other pertinent information that will help you understand how these tools serve the people that need it. I strongly encourage you to test them yourself.
Other recommendations
Every link in this article comes from a reliable source. I recommend you read any related articles included in them too. Accessibility is not static, it also evolves along with web development. Follow some accessibility specialists, they will give insights on many different accessibility related topics. Here are a few that I follow: Adrian Roselli, Scott O’Hara, and Marcy Sutton. Happy reading!