Blog posts from 2022

  1. Overlapping interactive areas

    Article posted 30th December 2022 in Accessibility, Design and Development

    When an interactive element like a button, link, and form field sits on top of another interactive element, accessibility (and usability) problems arise.

  2. Images, illustrations, and contrast

    Article posted 22nd December 2022 in Accessibility and Design

    ‘Alt’ text is vital for people who can’t see an image, but what about those who don’t use a screen reader but still struggle with low contrast images?

  3. Which images need descriptive text?

    Article posted 30th November 2022 in Accessibility and Content

    Image alt text is extremely important to many users, but how do we know which images should be described, and which shouldn’t?

  4. Buttons with icons and text

    Article posted 29th November 2022 in Accessibility and Development

    We can all agree that icon-only buttons are a bad idea, but how do we provide the most accessible experience when we pair an icon with visible text?

  5. Complexity and caution

    Article posted 31st October 2022 in Accessibility and Design

    Whenever we design a non-standard but seemingly helpful behaviour, keep asking yourself if it’s the right thing to do for all users.

  6. Accessibility beyond the ‘obvious’

    Article posted 27th October 2022 in Accessibility and Design

    Just as not all disabilities are visible, accessibility goes much further than the tools people use to access digital content on a practical level.

  7. It’s good to make mistakes

    Article posted 20th September 2022 in Accessibility and Design

    As a designer and developer I’ve made countless mistakes, but that’s part of the reason I’m good at what I do.

  8. Focus appearance explained

    Article posted 2nd September 2022 in Accessibility

    There’s some great stuff coming up in WCAG 2.2, but there’s one rule that’s particularly difficult to understand, so here it is in a bit more detail.

  9. Here, here, and here

    Article posted 10th August 2022 in Accessibility, Content and Design

    Every now and again I read an article that links to multiple places, and each link is a separate word in a short phrase. I’m not a fan.

  10. Abbreviations can be problematic

    Article posted 18th July 2022 in Accessibility

    We can all agree that abbreviations like acronyms usually need to be defined, but what if the HTML method we use isn’t accessible to all users?

  11. Bag some AAA wins where you can

    Article posted 13th July 2022 in Accessibility

    Complying with WCAG AA is hard, and AAA seems a lot harder, but there are actually plenty of AAA rules that are relatively easy to meet.

  12. Accessible animated content without the compromise

    Article posted 27th June 2022 in Accessibility, Design and Development

    Accessible animated GIFs are rubbish. Instead of compromising our animations in order to meet WCAG, we should be checking what our users prefer.

  13. Accessibility doesn’t stop at WCAG compliance

    Article posted 23rd June 2022 in Accessibility

    While it’s true that WCAG represents a solid baseline, there’s a lot more we should be doing to make our work truly accessible.

  14. Icon-only links fail WCAG

    Article posted 20th June 2022 in Accessibility

    Icon-only buttons don’t fail the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), even though I wish they did, but what about icon-only links?

  15. What I wish was in WCAG: prohibit icon-only buttons

    Article posted 16th June 2022 in Accessibility

    The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) ensure that buttons have a programmatical accessible name, but it doesn’t have to be visible.

  16. WWDC 2022 roundup

    Article posted 10th June 2022 in Apple

    The opening keynote at Apple’s WWDC is one of my favourite events of the year, and I’ve written a list of the things that got me most excited.

  17. XHTML syntax is still worth using

    Article posted 11th May 2022 in Development and HTML

    A few weeks ago I read an article on CSS-Tricks about writing HTML the HTML way, not the XHTML way, and it has been bothering me a bit.

  18. Booleans in ARIA

    Article posted 9th May 2022 in Development

    HTML booleans are bit quirky but, as if just to complicate things, booleans in ARIA work slightly differently. It’s worth knowing how and why.

  19. Sometimes when it’s false, it’s true

    Article posted 6th May 2022 in Development and HTML

    Boolean attributes in HTML are quirky, and it’s worth knowing how they work in case you end up setting one value and getting the opposite!

  20. I deleted 1Password

    Article posted 29th April 2022 in Apple

    I’ve been dragging my heels a bit as it’s such a big job, but this week I deleted 1Password.

  21. HTML isn’t quite accessible out of the box

    Article posted 20th April 2022 in Accessibility

    There’s a commonly held idea that HTML is accessible out of the box, before any CSS has been applied. Unfortunately, that isn’t quite the case.

  22. CSS Naked Day

    Article posted 9th April 2022 in Accessibility

    CSS Naked Day is a day when all website owners should strip their site of CSS to expose the ‘naked’ HTML underneath.

  23. Upgrading from iPhone XS to 13 Mini

    Article posted 8th April 2022 in Apple

    After three and a half years using an iPhone XS, I’ve upgraded to the 13 Mini. Here’s my take on jumping to the new model.

  24. If one person is remote, everyone should be remote

    Article posted 5th April 2022

    Last time I went into the office, a colleague and I found a meeting room dialled into a remote meeting together. It was a bit of a bit of a disaster.

  25. WCAG AAA in language I can understand

    Article posted 23rd March 2022 in Accessibility

    A follow-up to my post on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, level AA; this time covering the rules that make up the stricter level AAA.

  26. Is ‘a11y’ exclusive?

    Article posted 16th March 2022 in Accessibility

    Is the term ‘a11y’ inherently inaccessible? Well, yes and no. It can come in very handy in some circumstances, but it should be used with care.

  27. Safari 15.4

    Article posted 15th March 2022 in Accessibility, Apple, CSS and HTML

    macOS 12.3 and iOS 15.4 landed yesterday, and with them came Safari 15.4 and some exciting new features. Here are the five that stood out to me.

  28. WCAG 2.2 in language I can understand

    Article posted 21st February 2022 in Accessibility

    A follow-up to my post on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, level AA; this time explaining the nine rules coming up in WCAG 2.2.

  29. Safari, focus-visible and accessibility

    Article posted 14th February 2022 in Accessibility and CSS

    Safari is the last browser to support the :focus-visible pseudo-class, and with that support comes a huge accessibility win.

  30. Going all-in on iCloud Passwords

    Article posted 8th February 2022 in Apple

    1Password’s subscription push, one-size-fits-all Electron app, and Apple’s efforts with their password manager mean it’s time for a change.

  31. WCAG, but in language I can understand

    Article posted 28th January 2022 in Accessibility

    An as-close-to-a-single-paragraph-as-I-can-manage summary of each rule in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.1, level AA.

  32. The curse of knowledge

    Article posted 7th January 2022

    I often throw out ideas for posts on ‘the basics’; surely everyone knows that stuff already? Well, I think I’ve been doing the wrong thing!

  33. Apple Watch’s default app view is bad

    Article posted 5th January 2022 in Apple and Design

    My mum and brother counted Apple Watches amongst their Chistmas presents, and the one problem they both had was the default app view.

Other years

2024, 2023, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2011.