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Adrian Roselli
SaaS Adversarial Overlay CLI

All Posts Tagged: accessibility

An alt Decision Tree Using Only :has()

I use the CSS :has() pseudo-class to provide an interactive alt text decision tree (from the W3C WAI Tutorial) that uses no script. It is progressively enhanced, so browsers without support for :has() still get all the content. See my post Under-Engineered Dependency Questions if you want my argument why…

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Tags: accessibility, css, html, WAI

Progressively Enhanced HTML Accordion

Does what it says on the tin. Uses <details> and <summary> with a bit of ARIA to create an accordion that works without JavaScript while working better with JavaScript. Mostly. See the Pen Progressively Enhanced HTML Accordion by Adrian Roselli (@aardrian) on CodePen. Visit the standalone version for testing or…

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Tags: accessibility, ARIA, css, html, JavaScript, pattern, print, usability, UX

Blockquotes in Screen Readers

TL;DR: This post does not assert the correct way to code blockquotes, it will only demonstrate how screen readers announce some existing patterns. Test Details The first four examples are lifted from WHATWG HTML’s <blockquote> entry. The next three are from W3C HTML’s 2019 <blockquote> guidance (the W3C HTML spec…

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Tags: accessibility, html, standards, usability, W3C, whatwg

Under-Engineered Comboboxen?

When I wrote Under-Engineered Text Boxen in 2019 I mentioned <datalist> (WHATWG, MDN) but did not dwell on it. Partly because support was poor at the time. Once Can I Use’s <datalist> entry listed Firefox on Android supporting it in version 110, I got excited and started testing to write…

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Tags: accessibility, css, html, pattern, usability, UX

No, ‘AI’ Will Not Fix Accessibility

In recent years, a series of new technologies have provided better experiences and outcomes for disabled users. Collectively branded “Artificial Intelligence”, the two biggest breakthroughs have been in computer vision and large language models (LLM). The former, computer vision, allows a computer to describe an image based on extensive training…

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Tags: accessibility, rant, standards, usability

Brief Note on Popovers with Dialogs

This is not a comparison between popovers and dialogs, nor is it a discussion of support. This is me trying to get ahead of a potential issue for users when developers mix and match the patterns. I will let this 32 second video explain: Sorry, your browser doesn’t support embedded…

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Tags: accessibility, html, usability, UX

#AudioEye Is Suing Me

On Wednesday March 8, 2023, a man who turned out to be a process server came to my house and delivered a stack of papers — a 30 page lawsuit from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP along with Buffalo-area firm Phillips Lytle LLP, both representing AudioEye, Inc. The…

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Tags: accessibility, overlay

No, APG’s Support Charts Are Not ‘Can I Use’ for ARIA

TL;DR: Despite claims, APG’s support charts are not ARIA support charts and they are not analogous to Can I Use. While brand new and likely to grow, their scope is still strictly APG patterns. Why I Say This I have opinions on the ARIA Authoring Practices Guide (APG). I am…

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Tags: accessibility, ARIA, rant, standards

Don’t Override Screen Reader Pronunciation

When many devs, testers, and authors first start listening to content through a screen reader, they are surprised to hear dates, pricing, names, abbreviations, acronyms, etc. announced differently than they expect. With the best of intentions (or branding panic) they may seek to force screen readers to announce content as…

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Tags: accessibility, standards, usability, UX

Exposing Field Errors

This post is about exposing field errors programmatically. I have already shared some opinions (such as a caution about displaying messages below fields or avoiding default browser field validation), but this post dives into using ARIA to convey them to screen reader users. With fields that produce error messages on…

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Tags: accessibility, ARIA, browser, html, usability, UX

CSS-only Widgets Are Inaccessible

Usually. I originally titled this InacCSS-onlyible. I even made this typographically, er, distinct image. Then I realized it was silly and will instead use the neologism in a talk so I can hear the groans IRL. Interactive widgets powered with only CSS are relatively common as people are playing with…

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Tags: accessibility, css, usability, UX, WCAG