Accessibility Recources Masterpost

Written By Laura Wissiak

So you wanna be the very best at web accessibility, but don’t know where to start? Print this page out and throw a dart at it because there’s no wrong point to start at. Only varying difficulty settings.

Universal Design

WCAG

Duh, this is the first thing you need when talking web accessibility! The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines - or WCAG in short - are divided into 4 Principles (Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust, together, they assemble the Power Rangers’ team called POUR-Principles) and 86 Success Criteria (definitely not listing all here, go to W3C.org for that).

But the W3C offers us even more than that! Translations of Current W3C standards and drafts in various languages (although not everything in all languages) are also available and ever extending.

Legislation

Yes, I know this one is not as fun as comparing the WCAG to Pokémon. But it helps to know the baseline laws that rule the digital accessibility world. You never have to know them by heart, as long as you know where to look them up.

Note: Most modern web accessibility laws and directives are based on the WCAG and Universal Design principles, but don’t use them directly as passing criteria.

Web Accessibility Testing Tools

The tools of the trade! And to be honest, it can also be more fun to learn through trial and error, instead of theory alone.

  • WAVE Tool by WebAIM: An automatic testing tool that provides WCAG references for each error, alert, and feature it finds. As with every automatic testing tool, none of them is perfect, but getting acquainted with this one in particular is particularly helpful because the WebAIM Million Report uses it. Learning the limitations of automated testing will help you interpret the findings better.

  • Speaking of WebAIM: The one and only Contrast Checker, and arguably even better: the Link Contrast Checker to compare 3 colors against each other at once!

  • Accessibility Insights for Web: A step-by-step testing tool. Very detailed, so much so that it may look a bit overwhelming at first. But especially beginners can learn a lot!

  • WCAG EM Report Tool: A comprehensive auditing tool that guides you through the auditing process. It requires a bit more preexisting knowledge, but it makes up for it by providing you with a very nice report at the end.

  • NVDA, a free screen reader, and for many, the first screen reader they learn accessibility testing with!

  • Wondering what screen readers people use? Consult the latest WebAIM screen reader survey

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Certifications

WebAIM

We love WebAIM in this virtual house because they give out knowledge for free. The WebAIM Introduction to Web Accessibility Course is free. The only thing you have to pay for is if you want to get a certification.

AccessibleEU

AccessibleEU does a lot of things, just like the incredible hustler it is; one of them is the AccessibleEU Online Training on Accessible Technology Design. It also comes with a Community of Practice, and both are free, no membership, no European passport required, nothing.

IAAP Certifications

The International Association of Accessibility Professionals offers a number of certifications, which are, well, internationally recognized. Notably, the following:

CPACC

Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies sounds intimidating but is actually only the baseline of accessibility certifications. The CPACC Body of Knowledge is available in English and German.

WAS

Web Accessibility Specialist, more self-explanatory, but also way more technical. The Body of Knowledge is available for WAS in English, WAS in German, and WAS in Spanish.

ADS

Accessible Document Specialist does exactly that: document accessibility. The ADS Body of Knowledge is only available in English.

Advanced Reading Articles

Laura Wissiak
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Accessibility Audits Made Practical: A Project Manager’s Guide to WCAG Tools