Accessibility First DevRel. I focus on ensuring content created, events held and company assets are as accessible as possible, for as many people as possible.
The reason people find it difficult is that it is a "wide but shallow" subject.
There are several things that you need to be aware of all at once when designing even a simple component. This becomes a big barrier for developers, especially those who have already learned a lot of bad habits.
Also the fact that WCAG is one of the least accessible documents I have ever had the "privilege" of reading, so it just becomes overwhelming for people when trying to research answers.
Director, Accessibility Software Engineering. I am a major JS Framework, Automation and Mobile #a11y advocate. Just livin the dream! #a11y #accessibility
Location
United States
Education
Illinois State University
Work
Director, Software Engineer - Mobile Accessibility At Fidelity Investments
Agreed with all of that. Honestly, when developers bring up accessibility I do my damndest to try and simplify it. No WCAG, just what they are on the hook for, and giving them guidance on what they need to learn that isn't anything and everything.
I wanted to use this discussion to see what else developers think makes accessibility so difficult to do. Always trying to learn and adjust how I approach it :)
Accessibility First DevRel. I focus on ensuring content created, events held and company assets are as accessible as possible, for as many people as possible.
The reason people find it difficult is that it is a "wide but shallow" subject.
There are several things that you need to be aware of all at once when designing even a simple component. This becomes a big barrier for developers, especially those who have already learned a lot of bad habits.
Also the fact that WCAG is one of the least accessible documents I have ever had the "privilege" of reading, so it just becomes overwhelming for people when trying to research answers.
Agreed with all of that. Honestly, when developers bring up accessibility I do my damndest to try and simplify it. No WCAG, just what they are on the hook for, and giving them guidance on what they need to learn that isn't anything and everything.
I wanted to use this discussion to see what else developers think makes accessibility so difficult to do. Always trying to learn and adjust how I approach it :)
I think I agree with you, but I wanna know: why would you say WCAG isnt accessible? What is your worst problem with the docs?
They are so verbose, they lack examples and in some places they just plain contradict each other.
For example, I wrote a 2000 word article trying to answer:
"Is a placeholder and no label acceptable on an input"
The answer from common knowledge is obviously no, but in the end I actually landed on "it is OK, according to WCAG".
I was shocked 😱 that placeholder text on an <input> (instead of a <label>) might TECHNICALLY PASS WCAG⁉ Do you agree?
GrahamTheDev ・ Jul 15 '21 ・ 10 min read