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Google IO 2023: Unveiling Revolutionary Innovations and Future Tech for Enhanced Accessibility

Tech Notes Google IO, the annual developer conference, once again amazed audiences with its groundbreaking announcements. Held on May 10, 2023 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA, this year's event showcased a wide range of exciting developments across various domains, with a less notable focus on accessibility during the keynote. In this blog post, we provide a comprehensive overview of the key accessibility-related announcements made at Google IO 2023, highlighting the…

Intro to Screen Readers

Digital illustration of an accessibility icon with a white cane touching an app on their phone. A focus indicator outlines the app.
Tech Notes As a blind software developer and accessibility specialist who has been using a screen reader for 14 years, I can say that learning how to effectively use a screen reader can feel daunting. In fact, many who are new to understanding digital accessibility may not even know exactly what a screen reader is or how it works. A screen reader is an assistive technology software that allows people who are blind or visually impaired to use computers, phones, and tablets independently. These…

“Name, Role, Value:” The Most Frequent Accessibility Issue

Tech Notes As a blind accessibility tester with 16 years of screen reader experience, the most frequent accessibility issue I encounter while using and testing digital assets on both mobile and web platforms is the violation of the “Name, Role, Value” guideline, which often poses some serious challenges to screen reader users as it essentially makes navigation a guessing game. While we at AFB always champion usability over basic compliance, we also always root our findings in the Web Content…

Accessibility Overlays: Promises and Pitfalls

Digital illustration of a browser tab under construction
Tech Content Website accessibility overlays are becoming increasingly common because of the quick and easy accessibility fix they are often promised to provide. However, they not only fail to serve assistive technology users with an effective user experience but also fail to protect website owners from litigation, which is often a principle premise for their usage. At the AFB Talent Lab, we strongly recommend that you do not use any third-party scripts to try to fix your site’s underlying…

Creating Accessible Video Content

Digital illustration of a film camera with an accessibility icon placed on it
Tech Notes Videos have quickly become a popular online medium, being regularly consumed by millions of people around the world engaging with information on a daily basis. And with that comes the challenge of ensuring everyone can easily access the content without missing any information that might only be presented visually. Unfortunately, accessibility is often overlooked during digital video production, even though when considered from the beginning, it dramatically increases viewership and…

Why Automated Scanners Aren’t the Solution

Tech Notes An automated scanner is a special piece of software which is mainly designed to scan and test a single web page or an entire website to determine whether or not a web application is compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) or Section 508 accessibility regulations. Often companies use these tools to quickly gauge compliance with the accessibility guidelines to make their website accessible. This is clearly a mistake. Automated scanners do have some uses.…