Search engines have ways of extracting meaning from content, but they're prone to error because information on the webb can be presented in so many different ways. Marking up information so it's easier for search engines to index is a good thing to do, and thanks to the voca...
Accessible timeout notifications
When a web application has a session timeout, it’s a good idea to warn users about the impending timeout and give them the opportunity to do something about it. It’s therefore important to make sure that all users know when the warning notification appears.
When you set the ...
Henny Swan's 5 spice beef 5 ways
The 11th in a series of posts that bring together the two sides of my blog: Food and technology. I’ve asked the great and the good from the web standards community to share their favourite recipes. This bundle of awesome Chinese dishes is from Henny Swan.
Information
Makes:...
Using the aria-controls attribute
There are a handful of ARIA1.0 attributes that can be used to indicate relationships between elements, when those relationships can’t be ascertained easily from the DOM. One such attribute is aria-controls.
The aria-controls attribute creates a cause and effect relationship....
W3C TPAC: Lightning talks
TPAC is the annual gathering of the W3C. It was held at the Santa Clara Marriott between 27th and 31st October 2014.
It was the week that HTML5 became a W3C Recommendation, the week we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the web, and 20 years of the W3C itself.
It was also a ...
Scrambled eggs on toast
Breakfast at the weekend can be delightfully indulgent, and sometimes the simple things are the most tempting of all. Throw in some interesting company, a little conversation and this uncomplicated breakfast, and that's my idea of heaven on a Sunday.
Information
Makes: Two ...
Understanding screen reader interaction modes
Traduction française
Windows screen readers have multiple modes of interaction, and depending on the task being carried out they’ll automatically switch to the most appropriate mode. This post explains why Windows screen readers behave the way they do, and how your code can ...
Thoughts on screen reader detection
The subject of screen reader detection has been under discussion lately. It isn’t something I’m comfortable with, so I’d like to share the reasons why.
I don’t want to share personal information with websites I visit
My disability is personal to me, and I share that informat...
Inaccessible Cyber Streetwise website
The Cyber Streetwise website was launched by the UK Home Office in January. Developed by Nudge Digital, Cyber Streetwise is a high profile website intended to change attitudes towards online security. It is also a complete travesty when it comes to accessibility.
The Cyber S...
Potato dauphinoise
Potato dauphinoise is ridiculously easy to make, gloriously indulgent and absolutely delicious. It goes well with anything from a lamb roast to a good steak, but my favourite is potato dauphinoise with confit of duck!
Information
Makes: Four helpings
Time: 1 hour 45 minutes...
Jaws, IE & the Forms region bug
There is an unusual problem with Jaws and Internet Explorer that causes the word "region" to be announced before every field in a form. Fortunately there is a workaround until the problem itself is resolved.
The situation arises when you have a form inside a container with r...
Joseph O'Connor's Spaghetti & meatballs
The tenth in a series of posts that bring together the two sides of my blog: Food and technology. I’ve asked the great and the good from the web standards community to share their favourite recipes. This beautifully written Italian recipe is from Joseph Karr O'Connor.
Inform...
Screen readers, ARIA & HTML5 (too much information)
Most current screen readers support ARIA to one extent or another, and many now support some features of HTML5 as well. With ARIA and HTML5 making increasing amounts of semantic data available to screen reader users, it’s really easy to inadvertently overload people with too...
Graham Armfield's Aubergine pasta
The ninth in a series of posts that bring together the two sides of my blog: Food and technology. I’ve asked the great and the good from the web standards community to share their favourite recipes. This easy pasta dish is from Graham Armfield.
Information
Makes: Two or thr...
Solving the longdesc problem
The Image Description extension re-introduces the longdesc attribute to HTML. Although most people recognise that longdesc is flawed, finding a viable alternative has proved surprisingly difficult. For now longdesc is the best solution we have, but in the interests of findin...
Screen reader support for HTML5 sections
HTML5 includes a handful of sectioning elements that give documents a robust semantic structure. The header, footer, nav, article, section and aside elements give different regions of a document meaning. Amongst other things, that meaning can be understood by screen readers,...
Eggs benedict (with real Hollandaise sauce)
This recipe is fabulous for brunch on Christmas eve, or any lazy weekend when you’re feeling indulgent. Cheating is perfectly acceptable if you don’t want to make the Hollandaise sauce from scratch, but it tastes even better when you’ve done it all yourself!
Information
Mak...
Jaws scripts for the HTML5 `main` element
Updated: 1 November 2018
Jaws scripts no longer available. A shortcut ("q") for moving directly to the main element is now available in Jaws as standard.
The main element extension specifies a way to markup the primary content area of a web page in HTML5. There are several g...
Accessible forms with ARIA live regions
When a form is used to update information on the page, it can be troublesome for screen reader users. Unless the screen reader is focused on the relevant bit of the page, the update goes by un-noticed. ARIA live regions are a simple way to improve the experience for screen r...
Cheeseburgers & sweet potato wedges
With Guy Fawkes’ night coming up, these cheeseburgers and sweet potato wedges are great to eat before you head out to enjoy the fireworks. They’re incredibly easy to make, and madly versatile, so you can rustle them up anytime throughout the year.
Information
Makes: Two che...