Web accessibility and inclusive design

Introduction to digital accessibility — How we make digital content accessible to deaf and blind users, and why inclusive content benefits everyone

Creating accessible web content — Learn the basic principles of document structure, linking, and color contrast using Microsoft Word

Creating accessible forms in MS Word (PC version) — How to configure Word for creating accessible, structured documents, and adding fields that can be navigated by screen readers

Creating accessible forms in Word and Acrobat (PDF) — A checklist for creating keyboard-navigable, keyboard-fillable forms that announce their functionality to screen readers

Word Accessibility Toolbar (ZIP) — Adds a custom tab to the Word Ribbon with features for creating accessible documents and forms

WebAIM Color Contrast Checker — Compare foreground and background colors to ensure text has sufficient contrast ratio for readability

Popup ALT Attribute (Firefox) — Firefox browser plugin that reveals alt text as a tooltip for rendered images that include an alt attribute.

Alt Text Tester (Chrome) — Chrome browser plugin that reveals a list of images on a page and alt text as a tooltip for rendered images that include an alt attribute.

WAVE extension (Firefox and Chrome) — Browser plugin that lists Errors, Contrast Errors, Alerts, Features, Structural Elements, and ARIA attributes

AInspector WCAG plugin (Firefox) — Firefox browser plugin that lists Violations, Warnings, Manual Checks, and Passes

Accessibility Bookmarklets (all browsers) — Browser plugin that highlights a page’s Landmarks, Headings, Lists, Images, and Forms

W3C Markup Validation Service — Web service that checks for errors in HTML

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 — The accessibility standard we test against.

WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices — How to use ARIA to create accessible rich internet applications.

Alt Text as Poetry — A project exploring the aesthetic and creative possibilities of writing alt text for screen reader users in particular, and digital accessibility in general. This resource is an excellent guide to the practice of inclusive design. Thanks to Lorraine Madden for sharing this resource.