#27: The Resources Issue
#27: The Resources Issue
All my favorite things that make me smarter.
Hi, hey, hello! Yes, I am alive. No, I didn’t give up on this newsletter. Yes, it’s been three months since the last issue. No, I’m not sorry about that.
Truthfully, the death of my friend Anastasia in July zapped most of my energy, and I started just going through the motions of existing. There was also just a lot happening in my life, and going on auto-pilot for a while was actually good for my mental health. It allowed me to focus on my actual 9–5 job, ongoing projects, and sleep.
Anyway, let’s get to it. For this issue, I have a few updates to share and then a bunch of my favorite accessibility resources.
I hope you’ve all been healthy, happy, and hilarious.
-Alex
News and Updates
TikTok is testing a ‘clear mode’ for a distraction-free scrolling experience
Twitter rolls out its closed caption toggle on iOS and Android
TikTok will now let viewers turn on closed captions even if a creator doesn’t
Favorite Resources
I get asked a lot about where I get some of the info I share and where I learn new things about accessibility. “From all over,” doesn’t really work as an answer. So here’s a list of some of my favorite resources on accessibility and disability. None of these lists are by any means exhaustive. I’m always updating them.
Twitter Users and Accounts
I actually have an entire A11y + Disability list of people, organizations, and brands that I enjoy learning from on Twitter. I’m always adding new accounts to the list, so feel free to follow along.
Articles and Blog Posts
A General Style Guide for Podcast Transcription
Tips and a template for writing a good podcast transcription.
Guide on different words and phrases that are ableist and/or outdated as well as alternatives. Content warning: examples of ableist and otherwise harmful language. Created and maintained by Lydia X. Z. Brown.
Accessibility Tips for Your Twitch Channel
Rundown of tips to make your Twitch channel more inclusive from Dev + Test Automator, Liz Wait.
Are you guilty of “inspiration porn”?
Blogger and disability advocate Sheri Byrne-Haber breaks down the problem with inspiration porn, a form of unconscious bias that hurts people with disabilities.
Color Contrast and Why You Should Rethink It
Web Designer Cathy O'Connor shares one aspect of design accessibility: making sure that the look and feel (the visual design of the content) are sufficiently inclusive of visually disabled users.
Does Your Website Have Any of These 10 Most-Cited Accessibility Issues?
Equal Entry audits hundreds of web pages every year, and here are the most common accessibility issues their team found in 2021.
Don't be scared to talk about disabilities. Here's what to know and what to say
An overview of language, ableism, and how to talk about disability.
Email Accessibility Guide: Best Practices for Marketers
Guidelines for digital marketers and just about anyone who handles emails on how to best keep them accessible.
Guide to Accessibility and Emojis
Thorough overview of emoji icons and how they impact the accessibility of your digital content.
How Closed Captioning Facebook Videos Can Improve Viewership
A look at how captioning your videos can impact their engagement.
How do people with vision impairments use emoji?
Article by Veronica Lewis via the Perkins School for the Blind that details how emoji are coded and how they are transcribed by assistive technology like screen readers and text-to-speech programs.
How special characters and symbols affect screen reader accessibility
An excellent breakdown by Holly Tuke of how screen readers and other assistive tech handle special characters and icons.
How to write effective alt text, for journalists
Front-end developer and accessibility advocate Patrick Gavin explains why describing images and charts for blind and low-vision users can help your journalism—on any platform—reach more people who need it.
Links vs. Buttons in Modern Web Applications
Web developer Marcy Sutton takes us through the difference between buttons and links and the appropriate web situations to use them.
On “Person-First Language”: It’s Time To Actually Put The Person First
Excellent piece that clearly defines the differences between person-first language and person-centered language.
The case for describing race in alternative text attributes
Product designer and accessibility specialist Tolu Adegbite explains through three examples why describing race in alt text is important.
Thoughts on skin tone and text descriptions
A perspective on how to treat race and identity in alt text.
Introduction to color blindness and what it means for digital accessibility.
Have you ever wondered what "a11y" means? Web developer Ashlee M Boyer explains the number-based word and its significance.
Why You Need to Do User Testing with Deaf and Hard of Hearing People
Meryl K. Evans writes about why you need to conduct user testing with deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
Sites and Services
Worldwide leader in document accessibility products and services that specializes in the creation, validation, and remediation.
Adobe Color — Color Blind Safe
Tool that detects if your color choices are accessible for users with color blindness.
Adobe Color — Contrast Analyzer
Tool to help you determine if your color choices meet acceptable contrast ratio standards to be considered accessible.
A collaboration between artists Bojana Coklyat and Shannon Finnegan to help people think about alt text in a more creative way through attention to language, word economy, and experimental spirit.
A list of various color contrast tools compiled by PolicyViz.
Colorblind Accessibility Manifesto
This Colorblind Accessibility Manifesto from Colorblind User Experience Designer Federico Monaco is a concise and straightforward run-down of the things to consider when it comes to designing with color.
Complete Guide to Captioned Videos
A detailed guide by digital marketing professional Meryl Evans on the ins and outs of captions and different captioning services.
A toolkit containing info and resources on how a company’s disability-focused affinity group can promote disability inclusion through the employment life cycle and can enable employees with disabilities to bring their whole selves to work. Created by the Disability:IN ERG/BRG Leadership Committee.
A comprehensive breakdown of why web accessibility overlays are not a sufficient way to make your website accessible.
Official guidelines for the U.S. government's Plain Writing Act of 2010. Outlines best practices for writing in plain language.
Self-Defined: a modern dictionary
Self-Defined seeks to provide more inclusive, holistic, and fluid definitions to reflect the diverse perspectives of the modern world.
A checklist that uses The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as a reference point. The WCAG is a shared standard for web content accessibility for individuals, organizations, and governments.
Don’t forget to check out the Accessible Social website! It’s a free resource hub for digital marketers, communication professionals, content creators, and everyday social media users who want to begin learning how to make their content inclusive and accessible for people with disabilities.
Late to opening this- but I now have this bookmarked on my toolbar! Such great resources. Thank you for sharing, Alexa.