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...
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.
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Makes: Two or thr...
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...
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,...
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!
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Mak...
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...
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...
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.
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Makes: Two che...
HTML5 has changed the way we build websites and online applications. It introduces lots of new features, many of which make inclusive design much more achievable.
Happily you can start making your HTML5 more inclusive with a minimum of effort. One simple way is to make your ...
Windows 8 introduces several improvements to Narrator, its built in speech capability. Like VoiceOver in the early days, there is much that Narrator doesn’t do, but it already has many of the characteristics you’d expect to find in a screen reader.
The challenge with using a...
Windows 8 is a big change from Windows 7. With features like the Metro start screen and charm bar, the interface has been completely reworked and the focus is on touch screen devices. That also means a whole new set of shortcut keys for keyboard devices too.
Return to start ...
ARIA landmark roles provide a useful way for screen reader users to navigate through web pages, and to understand the purpose of different sections of content on the page. With just a little bit more ARIA you can make landmarks even more helpful to blind and partially sighte...
Tabbed interfaces are increasingly common on web pages. They make good use of space, and they can be visually intuitive. Using tabs with a screen reader is a different experience though.
When it comes to tabbed interfaces on web pages, there are two disadvantages for screen ...
The eighth 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 tasty recipe is from Jeremy Keith.
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Makes: One helping
Tim...
The seventh 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 hearty feast is from David Sloan.
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Makes: 6 helpings
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The sixth 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 fabulous outdoors recipe is from Jared Smith.
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Makes: 8 to ...
This post was updated on 8th July 2012, to reflect changes in the Windows 8 release edition.
Windows 8 has several accessibility improvements. One of the most noticeable is Narrator, Windows’ built in speech capability. Narrator has grown up in Windows 8, and now comes with ...
The fifth 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 tasty fondue recipe is from Dennis Lembree.
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Makes: 3 to 5 ...
The fourth 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 tempting vegetarian recipe is from Gez Lemon.
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Makes: 2 he...
The third 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 beautiful chocolate pudding is from Wendy Chisholm.
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Makes:...
The second 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 sumptuous Thai recipe is from Bruce Lawson.
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Makes: 2 help...
The first 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 gorgeous salsa recipe is from John Foliot.
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Makes: A lot of...
HTML5 introduces the nav element for marking up sections of a page that contain navigational links. Used wisely the nav element is a big help to screen reader users, as well as a step forward in semantic meaning.
HTML4 navigation
With HTML4, a typical navigation block might ...
Caramelised onion chutney is the "little black dress" of the condiment world. You can use it anywhere. Chuck it on pizza with some goats cheese, add a spoonful to your gravy, spread it on melted cheese on toast, or try a little with a plate of cold cuts, olives and fresh bre...
Updated: 26th November 2015.
Originally I recommended using a flat h1 heading structure. Four years later the HTML5 outline algorithm is still not supported in browsers, and without that an h1 only heading structure is meaningless. Better to use explicitly ranked HTML headin...
The weather is glorious at the moment! It’s perfect for eating al fresco, and this recipe is great for lunch or dinner. Team it up with a crisp white wine, then sit back and enjoy the sunshine.
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Makes: 2 helpings
Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
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Measurement ...
Inclusive design is an aspirational concept. It isn't particularly inspirational though. Inclusive design is a phrase for client meetings and government papers. No harm in that, but it isn’t a phrase that rocks the world and inspires us to challenge the accepted status quo.
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Updated on 3rd July 2017: this post is out of date, please read Using the aria-current attribute instead.
When you’re browsing a website using its primary navigation, it’s helpful to know which page you’re on, and which pages you can go to. HTML5 makes it simple to do this, ...
This video demonstrates how ARIA landmark roles help screen reader users understand the purpose of different areas of a web page. ARIA landmark roles can be used to navigate through a page and easily identify the purpose of key areas such as navigation, search or main content.
