Yes people did wander the earth when there was no Facebook, no Google and no World Wide Web. I can’t say I remember it well but I was certainly there. ...
The WCAG 2.2 was released by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) on October 5, 2023. WCAG 2.2, in common with earlier versions, aims to make digital content accessible to ...
The WCAG 2.2. Success Criterion 3.3.8 aims to create an accessible, user-friendly, and secure login method. Many websites use usernames and passwords for authentication, but memorizing this information poses a ...
The release of WCAG 2.2 introduced two new level A success criteria and four new level AA success criteria. In this post, I provide a summary of Success Criteria 3.2.6, ...
The release of WCAG 2.2 introduced two new level A success criteria and four new level AA success criteria. In this post, I provide a summary of Success Criteria 2.5.8, ...
The release of WCAG 2.2 introduced two new level A success criteria and four new level AA success criteria. In this post, I provide a summary of  Success Criteria 2.5.7 ...
The release of WCAG 2.2 introduced two new level A success criteria and four new level AA success criteria. In this post, I provide a summary of Success Criterion 2.4.11, ...
Website accessibility is not just on compliance; it is also about fostering inclusivity and adhering to legal mandates. In this article I explore the legal facets and basic principles that ...
Accessibility may be something you have felt reluctant to address because you regarded it as a cost. In this post, I set out to demonstrate that is in fact an ...
ISO 30071 is a standard and a set of guidelines for managing diversity in the workplace. It aims to help organisations create a more inclusive, and by implication, more productive ...
Why design an accessible website for people who are deaf or have hearing problems?
Website designers increasingly use videos to get their message across. That's good, it is a powerful communication ...
The accessibility of websites plays a crucial role in ensuring equal access to information and services for all individuals, including disabled people. It is not just about ‘doing the right ...
Many disabled people, including people with visual impairments, and people who are blind, face significant challenges when using websites - when they are not designed with accessibility in mind. Website ...
Charities play a vital role in society, their websites are often the first point of contact for potential donors and volunteers. Therefore, it is crucial that these websites are accessible ...
Color Contrast is an important issue because Website accessibility is an important issue. Websites must be designed to be accessible to everyone, including disabled people - otherwise, you losing part ...
WCAG 2.1 AA is a set of accessibility guidelines developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). They provide a framework for web developers ...
Websites are essential for businesses and organisations to connect with their customers and audiences. However, what many people don't realise is that not all users can easily access to their ...
Third sector organisations work hard to serve their communities. However, many overlook the need to ensure their website content is accessible to all visitors, including disabled people. Websites that are ...
In September 2016 I spoke at the Accessibility Scotland conference and an audience member asked whether there was a ‘caste iron’ business case for making a website accessible? They were having trouble trying to get ...
This year is the 20th birthday of my business, Jim Byrne Accessible Website Design.
Here is the press release I put together with Rebecca Appleton of Dakota Digital. Forgive my ...
If you run a website in the UK, it must be accessible to disabled people, it is a legal requirement under the Equality Act 2010. But how do you know ...
As the world shifts increasingly online, the ability to access apps, websites, and documents is crucial. That’s why website accessibility tools, often in the form of plug-ins, are more popular ...
Automatically generated captions
YouTube generates captions automatically for most videos. This is useful even if you are not using Youtube to serve them; you can download the resulting captions file to ...
Zoom was created in 2011 but it didn’t take off until its use during the pandemic - when it became the de facto video chat tool. There can be no ...
PDFs are generally created from source documents; often that is an MS Word document - which has to be made accessible before being exported (or in the Mac version, saved) ...
Arial is a sans serif typeface, designed in 1982, based on Monotype Grotesque. The font has a similar proportion and weight to Helvetica.
It is a font with a contemporary look. ...
ARIA stands for Accessible Rich Internet Application. ARIA was designed to make Web content and dynamic applications accessible to disabled people - by providing a list of new attributes that ...
On my WCAG 2.1. training course, I outline why designing a flexible website is the key to accessible website design - by flexible I mean designing your site so that ...
By law your website must be accessible to disabled people; 'How To Keep Your Website Accessible' tells you how to achieve that. NOTE: This document was written quite a few ...
As a website designer or an organisation commissioning a website you need to know how the term ‘disabled people’ is defined for the following reasons:
It will have an impact on ...
Help visitors navigate within your pages
It's not just your overall website that needs to be well organised and easy to navigate, the same applies to your individual page content. In ...
Happy New Year. I hope you had a restful break. :-)
This is the time of year to make plans; freshen up your website; reach more people or try to do ...
The GDPR is the EU data protection regulation which replaces the current Data Protection Act. It aims to simplify regulation and give individuals more control over their personal data.
For Third ...
I have a stand at this year's Independent Living Scotland exhibition. Seek me out for a chat and for a free 'live' accessibility audit of your website. :-) Yes that is ...
The following is a text transcript of a video presentation I made in 2017:
"So how can I help you? Now I'm a web designer, web developer, web accessibility specialist mostly ...
1. Left align text
Align your text to the left and leave it ragged on the right. Left-aligned text increases reading speed. The straight left edge helps to anchor the eye ...
I'm offering a technical website accessibility audit and report to Level A of WCAG 2.0 for only £950. The audit will be completed and a report delivered to you in ...
I'd like to tell you about a project that I have recently been working on called, Evenbreak. They provide such a fantastic service that I feel I need to spread the ...
Set up a Facebook Page rather than a personal profile page. If you use a personal profile for an organisation you are breaking Facebook rules. On a practical level, you ...
What is the public sector equality duty for?
The public sector equality duty is designed to ensure that those carrying out public functions (including public authorities) consider how they can contribute ...
Equality Act 2010 was designed to simplify UK anti-discrimination laws by aggregating several related laws into one. It replaces, among other acts, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, (DDA, Race Relations ...
Just a quick follow up from my New Year Newsletter in which I gently encouraged you to think about your website and online marketing strategy. One area I mentioned in ...
On the 3rd of May the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission agreed that in future all public sector websites and mobile apps should be made accessible.
The ...
Did you know that non profit organisations can advertise on Google without having to pay a penny? If not, it is something worth knowing; this is not a small token ...
Know your audience and what they want from you: i.e. aim to make the things they are likely to look for the easiest to find.
Create a priority list of ...
The following is a list of some of the main readability and usability issues:
Text alignment:
Aligning text to the left, ragged on the right, increases reading speed because the straight left ...
Responsive design is about creating sites that change their layout according to the device they are being displayed on. for the most part, this means altering the layout to accommodate different screen sizes.
However, this doesn't ...
This is the time of year to make plans; freshen up your website, reach more people; try to do things more efficiently. :-)
Here are some ideas to that might get ...
Google Analytics is a free, immensely powerful tool that helps you track and understand the way visitors interact with your website. If you are embarking on a search engine optimisation (SEO) campaign ...
We recently completed a website and Logo redesign for the Edinburgh Tenants Federation (ETF); the umbrella organisation for local tenants and residents groups in the City of Edinburgh.
The brief was ...
As well as reading my short WCAG 2 principles article you can now download WCAG 2 Defining The Principles as an MS Word document. This is the one where I ...
A website backup offer has now expired - sorry about that. However, while you are here you should know that my area of expertise is in accessible website design and ...
Below are some of the tools we use when evaluation websites.
Evaluation tools and resources
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Markup Validation Service
W3C CSS Validation Service
Web Developer toolbar for Chrome and Firefox
Web ...
Many of the websites I develop use Wordpress for Content Management; so I'm I'm always happy to come across plugins that help make Wordpress sites more accessible.
Here are two that ...
Millions of new websites get built every year by business owners who haven't thought very deeply about why they want a website; what it can or cannot do for them.
And ...
Yippee! Scotland now has it's own .scot domain suffix. From September you will be able identify your website (and email address) as being distinctly Scottish. That may or may ...
Note that the BSS 8878 has been replaced by ISO 30071: 2019 Digital Accessibility Standard
British Standard 8878 (BS 8878) is the Web Accessibility Code of Practice developed by the British ...
Accessible websites can look fabulous, be interactive, and use up-to-date multimedia capabilities (e.g., images, sound, movies, Javascript, photographs and server-side technologies like PHP or ASP).
Yes, you can use all the ...
I recently did a Webinar about how to keep your Wordpress website accessible - for Jisc RSC Scotland. Jisc RSC Scotland provide guidance and advice on technology to support learning, ...
"97% of shoppers research local products and services online. Your website stands a good chance of being a prospect’s first impression." (Research by BIA/Kelsey)
I recently wrote ...
Believe me, it's impossible to create a website that will exactly meet the needs of every visitor. For example, a person with Dyslexia might need a very particular combination of ...
This is the time of year to make plans; freshen up your website, reach more people; try to do things more efficiently.
Here are some ideas to that might get you ...
Get in touch now; ensure you don't fall foul of the Equalities Act..
"A large proportion of my work over the last six years has been web accessibility auditing, using the ...
Making Websites Accessible
Written by Jim Byrne
Making Websites Accessible updates SAIF's 2006 publication Making Ecommunication Accessible. The earlier publication is still available and still worth obtaining as it covers a wider ...
Websites seem to be getting hacked left, right and centre these days; which I have to say is extremely unsettling.
It's unsettling for those just reading about it but more importantly ...
How to write a website tender document? Suggested content:
Provide a description of your organisation and the services you offer.
Provide a summary of the reasons you would like a new website ...
You can't transmit your web page directly to a person's brain; it's got to be transmitted through some type of hardware and software first (for example, a web browser on ...
Two websites can look exactly the same but one is accessible and the other isn’t.
If accessibility is not about the visual design, what is it about? Here are 5 features ...
Here are a couple of things that jumped out at me when I read through the survey published by WebAIM:
There are more women and disabled people working in the area ...
Read chapter one online of, Twitter for charities, non profits and the voluntary sector - Everything you need to unlock the power of twitter for good.
"Essential reading for those ...
1. Put someone in charge of accessibility compliance.
Website accessibility is one of those areas that people think is too difficult to understand and too costly to implement. In truth it's ...
5 simple steps to create your Cause on Facebook
1. Create a new cause and choose to have it support your campaign. According to the Facebook application we are about to ...
The first two chapters of Twitter for charities, non profits and the voluntary sector free
Read and buy the full e-book at a special price.
The content of accessibility pages has evolved over the years; from a fairly useless statement about the site passing the 'Bobby' standard, to practical advice about how visitors can modifying ...
The Get Connected and Lead website has just gone live!
Get Connected and Lead is a new project aimed at bringing disabled people and service providers together to allow disabled people ...
Labels should be added to all non-text content; the alt attribute is a requirement for both HTML 4 and XHTML W3C standards based documents.
When trying to decide on the text ...
In the past choosing an accessible, readable font for your website wasn’t difficult, basically because you didn’t have many fonts to choose from. You were restricted to using ‘web safe’ ...
It seems to be a little known fact - but it is worth remembering - that almost all Web browsers allow you to change the text size, font, colour and ...
If you search the web for information related to web accessibility for deaf people you will find plenty of advice about captioning or providing transcripts for web based audio and ...
I recently did a Webinar for Jisc RSC Scotland about how to keep Wordpress websites accessible.
I've been meaning to put the audio and slides together as a single download for ...
Here's a simple web accessibility tip that I've never written down before. Place the 'accessibility' link at the top of your web page rather than the bottom.
If it's at ...
Why would a voluntary sector organisation use Facebook?
Is it because,
Facebook has more than 750 million active users
Average user has 130 friends
50% of users log on each day
People spend over ...
Ohh look! The book I wrote with Jeremy Webb is being launched.
Twitter for charities, non profits and the voluntary sector - Everything you need to unlock the power of twitter ...
The joy of the web is that you can deliver all sorts of different 'media' via a single interface. Tim Berners-Lee designed it with exactly that in mind.
That is good ...
The Web Accessibility Guidelines and associated documents published by the The World Wide Web Consortiums (W3C) are a fantastic resource, and recognised as the 'standard' reference documents for those building ...
This short article will set out the basic ideas underlying the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2 (WCAG 2).
Here is the shortest possible summary of the guidelines:
The ...
Colour - in terms of accessibility - is one of the areas I find hardest to understand; I can read a sentence like,
'avoid using colors of similar lightness adjacent to ...
Note that the BSS 8878 has been replaced by ISO 30071: 2019 Digital Accessibility Standard
In December 2010 BSI launched the first British Standard to address web accessibility and the challenge ...
The British Disabled Angling Association (BDAA) needed a website to provide a 'one stop shop of information and advice' for disabled and non-disabled anglers. The BDDA provide individual and group ...
This short article will set out the basic ideas underlying the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2 (WCAG 2).
Here is the shortest possible summary of ...
Note: ISO 30071-1:2019 is the standard that replaced BS 8878. This article was correct at the time of publication but is now out of date.
British Standard 8878 (BS 8878) ...
Absolutely. It is a myth that accessible websites are text only or cater for the lowest common denominator. There is no reason why an accessible website should be any worse ...
Free downloads from Jim Byrne & Associates Accessible Website Design.
What should be in your website tender document? Here are some suggestions
UK Disability And Equality Statistics (PDF 87Kb)
Web ...
Here's a tip to help you get your head around the idea of accessible website design: start with the assumption that you cannot predict the access needs of your audience.
For ...
Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living (LCL) have won the Breathrough Award for their new website and Online help service.
As the developer who designed these services with LCIL I am ...
Since its launch in 2006 Twitter has gained popularity worldwide and is estimated to have 225 million users, generating 65 million tweets and handling over 800,000 search queries per day. ...
Email has become one of the most common ways to communicate. It is a good and economical method of disseminating information to people where they want to receive ...
The design and development of the new Scottish Accessible Information Forum (SAIF) website has been completed and is now live
Considerable discussion and thought went into creating the new SAIF website ...
News, views, links about accessible web design and more.
A passion for equality and accessibility
Decades before he became an accessible website design specialist, Jim started his working life as a computer programmer in 1979 using 'miniframe' computers that had ...
View a list of all blog posts .
Working with non-profits, charities, voluntary and public sector organisations and social enterprises for over 20 years. Jim set up one of the worlds first website accessibility web agencies in the mid 1990s.
