Accessibility in Digital Media

💎 What a gem! Stark’s Web Accessibility Library (https://lnkd.in/eistWYpN), with handpicked design patterns, guides and collections on accessibility — from articles and books to checklists and tools. Just in time for European Accessibility Act — for designers and engineers. One for the bookmarks! To many companies, accessibility is still a highly specialized, technical, and confusing term. They often relate it to technical implementation details and optimizations for specialized tools such as screen readers — rather than designing a resilient and clear experience that everybody can benefit from. I always try to make accessibility more relatable to people who might have a wrong perception of it. For example, I explain that glasses and magnification are assistive technologies. That accessibility isn’t an on/off condition but a spectrum. I show that it can be temporary or situational — when you are holding a baby, or get stuck in a noisy airport. And I show how real people who happen to colorblind, deaf or neurodivergent use real products in real situations. Products are rarely accessible by accident. There must be an intent that captures and drives accessibility efforts in a product. And the best way to do that is by involving people with temporary, situational and permanent disabilities into the design process. Accessibility doesn’t have to be challenging if it’s considered early. No digital product is neutral. Accessibility is a deliberate decision, and a commitment. Not only does it help everyone; it also shows what a company believes in and values. And once you do have a commitment, it will be so much easier to retain accessibility, rather than adding it last minute as a crutch — because that’s where it’s way too late to do it right, and way too expensive to make it well. And yet again, a kind word of support to everyone speaking for and supporting accessibility work, often with a lot of resistance, with very little budget and with a lot of care and persistence — to help people who often need help most, and add benefits for everybody else. You are my heroes. 👏🏼👏🏽👏🏾 #ux #accessibility #design

😇 Bookmark This: A Free Accessibility Resource Just for Designers If you're a designer working on digital product, —this is one of the best starting points out there. WebAIM's Designers' Accessibility Resource offers a crystal-clear breakdown of inclusive design principles made specifically for designers. No overwhelming jargon. Just clear visuals and best practices that make your work better and more inclusive. 🔹 What’s Covered? ✳️ Text and typography ✳️ Color and contrast ✳️ Layout and structure ✳️ Images and graphics ✳️ Focus and visual indicators ✳️ Controls and touch targets ✳️ Icon accessibility ✳️ Animation and motion ✳️ Forms and error messages ✳️ Responsiveness and flexibility ✳️ Links and clickables ✳️ Readability and plain language This resource pairs perfectly with your design system and should be in every creative team’s toolbox, especially before handoff to dev. 💡 Accessibility is not a “dev task.” It starts with your Figma file, your color palette, your typography. That’s why this resource is so valuable. 🔗 Check it out: https://lnkd.in/gDSeep_B #Accessibility #WebDesign #UXDesign #InclusiveDesign #A11y #DigitalInclusion #DesignSystems #GracefulWebStudio #DesignWithGrace #WCAG #AccessibleDesign #WebAIM

1 in 6 people globally live with a disability. Add family members and caregivers, and the influence grows dramatically. This is one of the largest underserved consumer markets. Ask yourself: → Can someone use your website without a mouse? → Are your videos captioned? → Are your PDFs readable by screen readers? → Is your checkout usable without precise clicking? These details affect who can engage with your brand. The UK Click-Away Pound research found that 71% of consumers with disabilities leave websites that are hard to use. Inclusive campaigns deliver results too (study by Unstereotype Alliance, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, Unilever): → 62% likelihood of being a consumer’s first choice → 3.5% higher short-term sales and 16% higher long-term sales → 15% higher consumer loyalty Simple changes like adding keyboard navigation, captioning videos, making PDFs readable, and structuring your copy make things easier for everyone. Customers spend more time, make purchases more easily, and return more often. Run a basic accessibility check on your website. Review your video library for captions. Test your checkout with only a keyboard. Look at your PDFs through a screen reader. If you find gaps, fix them. If you’re not sure where to start, bring in expertise. Accessible marketing is good business. Companies that get this earn loyalty and stand out in the market. How easy is it for someone with a disability to buy from you? #AccessibleMarketing #DigitalAccessibility #CustomerExperience #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityAwareness

I’m truly happy to see more and more people getting interested in web accessibility - checking their own websites, apps, blogs, and sharing what they find. That’s a big step forward. 🚀 But… there are also many misconceptions connected to the basic knowledge of accessibility. I get a lot of questions about it from my followers. These are things you only discover with experience or with the help of an accessibility specialist. Do you know about these, for example? 🔹 “I have no color contrast issues automatically detected on my site.” Automated tools are useful, but they don’t always check the background color. If no background is explicitly set, text may end up as white on white (depending on user settings or high contrast modes). 🔹 “All my links have sufficient color contrast.” It’s not just about the default state. You also need to check focus, hover, and visited states. A link that turns low-contrast after focus can make navigation impossible for keyboard users. 🔹 “Accessibility is only about my website, not external documents.” According to RGAA, you are responsible for the accessibility of every PDF or document linked from your site, even if you didn’t create it. 🔹 “If the automated checker shows green, I’m done.” Automation can only catch about 30% of issues. Things like focus order, logical heading structure, or the relevance of alt text require manual testing (including with screen readers). 💡 Accessibility is not just a checklist. It’s about the entire user journey, across states, contexts, and even external content. I work as a web accessibility specialist, and I help teams go beyond surface-level checks to uncover these hidden barriers. If you want to make sure your product is really accessible, not just “green in the report”, I’d be glad to help. #a11y #webaccessibility #digitalaccessibility #inclusivity #accessibilityissues

Accessibility has undergone a significant evolution over the last decade. In the past, companies often reacted after accessibility issues were identified—usually through lawsuits or failed audits. This reactive process took weeks, even months, to resolve, and by that time, the damage was done—compliance failures, legal risks, and lost user trust. Today, forward-thinking organizations are taking a proactive stance, incorporating accessibility into their development cycles from the start. Just like security has become a key part of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), accessibility is being woven into each phase: - Requirement Phase: Ensuring accessibility is part of your initial design discussions. - Design Phase: Evaluating new features for potential accessibility barriers. - Implementation Phase: Running automated accessibility checks during development to catch violations early. - Testing Phase: Conducting thorough accessibility testing before deployment. - Procurement Phase: Ensuring that even vendors are hitting digital accessibility compliance in order to be considered as a software tool. This proactive integration reduces the risk of costly, last-minute fixes while making digital experiences more inclusive from day one. 🌍 In 2024, the number of legal actions related to accessibility non-compliance skyrocketed, a reminder that waiting until issues are flagged isn’t an option anymore. Organizations that embed accessibility into every release cycle and procurement process are leading the way, creating accessible, inclusive digital environments—and avoiding the costly pitfalls of being reactive.

What’s the FIRST thing you do before visiting a venue or purchasing a service or product? You research online? You read online reviews? You search the apps? But what if the digital space, the apps and websites weren’t accessible? Meaning you weren’t able to navigate or find the information you needed? What is digital accessibility? The UAE has made it clear: digital platforms must be accessible — no excuses. Through the National Digital Accessibility Policy, led by TDRA, the focus is on ensuring people of determination and senior citizens can access every online service and piece of information, without barriers. The Authority’s platforms are built on the UAE Design System and comply with WCAG 2.2 AA — the latest international accessibility standards — setting the benchmark for a seamless and user-friendly experience for all users. This is not a “nice to have.” It’s a mandate. Here’s what that actually means: • If someone is blind, they should be able to navigate a government site with a screen reader just as easily as anyone else with a mouse • If content is in a PDF, video, or form, it must have captions, alt text, and formats that don’t lock people out. Accessibility isn’t just about design — it’s about whether the information itself can actually be used • Moving services online only works if everyone can use them. If a senior citizen can’t renew their license, or a person of determination can’t pay their bills through an app, then it’s not transformation — it’s exclusion. Now the real question: is your organisation ready? There isn’t one industry that doesn’t require digital accessibility. Accessibility is not something to add later. It’s something to design from the start. It’s how you prove that innovation is genuinely for everyone. If you’re building digital services in Abu Dhabi — or anywhere in the UAE — it’s time to audit, adapt, and act. The policy is here. The standard is clear. The responsibility is ours. Disabled people are your customers. #Accessibility #DigitalInclusion #AbuDhabi #UAE #PurpleTuesday #DigitalAccessibility Purple Tuesday #TDRA

Are you lighting 25% of your marketing budget on fire? In a recent interview, Neil Milliken and I welcomed Rochelle Ratkaj Moser of Ratkaj Designs to AXSChat. Rochelle shared a powerful reframe for leaders who say accessibility isn't in the budget. With 1 in 4 adults (26%) in the US having a disability, a campaign, product, or website that isn't accessible is actively ignoring a massive part of its potential audience. It’s not just an ethical imperative; it's a huge market opportunity. But here's the insight that every tech and marketing leader needs to hear right now: Clients often say, "We don't have the budget for accessibility," but in the next breath ask, "How can we optimize for AI and SEO?" Rochelle brilliantly pointed out that they are often the same thing. AI, search engines, and screen readers all "read" the web in a similar way. They rely on the same structural elements to understand content: - Clean H tag hierarchies - Descriptive alt text - Logical tabbing and read orders - Clear document structure This led us to a sobering question: Why are so many organisations prioritising a bot over a human? We've all seen alt text "keyword-stuffed" for SEO, rendering it useless for an actual screen reader user. This is a backward approach. My key takeaway: When you design for human accessibility first, you are inherently creating the clean, high-quality, structured content that AI models and search engines crave. Accessibility isn't a "bolt-on" feature or a line item to be cut. It's the foundation of good design. As Rochelle put it, the cost is minimal when you "bake it in" from the start. The real cost is in retrofitting it later (or worse, in the 25% of the market you never reached). How are you ensuring your work serves humans first (and, as a bonus, the bots too)? #AXSChat #InclusiveDesign #Accessibility #a11y #AI #SEO #DEI #DigitalInclusion #BusinessStrategy

A founder once told me “accessibility isn’t about me.” I asked him to walk through a day with me: At 8:10 a.m., he’s outside, sun hitting his screen at the wrong angle. He shades the phone with his hand, squints, gives up. . At 12:25 p.m., he’s on a noisy train watching a demo video. No captions. He bookmarks it for “later” (which never comes). . At 3:40 p.m., he tries to tap a tiny link while juggling a bag and a latte. Misses three times. Closes the tab. . At 9:15 p.m., he lands on a site with clever navigation and no clarity. Gets lost. Bounces. He looked at me and said, “Okay… I’ve lived all of that.” Those moments have a name: situational or temporary disabilities. They last minutes or hours. For millions, the barriers don’t “go away.” Accessibility is for all of us. And when we design for the edges, the center gets better too. It’s not just ethical, it’s effective: Research shows inclusive design see up to 28% higher revenue and up to 60% higher customer loyalty. Design like everyone matters, because they do. #Accessibility #InclusiveDesign #UX #TemporaryDisability #DigitalInclusion #WebAccessibility #BusinessCaseForAccessibility

Accessibility tip: Accessibility isn’t a one-time checkbox—it’s an ongoing commitment. This includes: ● Regularly assessing digital content for usability ● Ensuring physical spaces are accessible to all ● Actively seeking feedback from people with disabilities Ignoring accessibility needs limits your reach and impact. It’s not just about compliance—it’s about respect. But is your commitment to accessibility actually working? ↳ Focus on building a truly inclusive experience. ➜ Make sure your website meets WCAG standards and is easy to navigate ➜ Provide alternative text for images, captions for videos, and accessible PDFs ➜ your team on inclusive design practices and disability awareness See how much you improve the experience for everyone.

Digital accessibility is a legal requirement. So why do so many companies still treat it like an add-on? Remediation is expensive. The smart move? Build accessibility into your process from day one. Start with the basics: 1. Use semantic HTML. That means using the right tags (like <nav>, <button>, <h1>) so assistive tech users can navigate without barriers 2. Write meaningful alt text. “Image of smiling person” doesn’t cut it 3. Enable full keyboard access, especially for forms, menus, and modals (pop-up forms, logins, alerts) 4. Test with disabled users not just automated checkers Are you ignoring these steps? That’s how lawsuits happen. Accessibility lawsuits are increasing in 2025. Inaccessible websites and apps are easy targets for legal action. Customers don’t care if your site just launched. If they can't use it, they will move on. Prioritizing accessibility is much cheaper than facing a lawsuit. Is your team building with accessibility in mind? Or are you waiting until you're served? Let’s talk.