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I can't help but disagree with the premise: at a basic level, accessibility is not hard. It is hard to consistently check all the boxes for WCAG AAA, but let's

I can't help but disagree with the premise: at a basic level, accessibility is not hard. It is hard to consistently check all the boxes for WCAG AAA, but let's be honest, this is not where the trouble starts. Most sites fail on basic issues and this isn't a for a lack of resources. Case in point, Bootstrap, the most widely used frontend library by far, has only recently started thoroughly addressing accessibility concerns in their code examples and snippets. Prior to this it was a mix and match of the good, the bad and the ugly. I completely agree with another commenter that tooling does have a very long way to come with regards to accessibility. Better tools make for better software, as witnessed by linters, fuzzers, testing frameworks and the like. But even more so education. You can easily teach someone with basic knowledge of web dev the core concepts of accessibility in a day, a crash course in even less time would also be completely manageable. Sadly, this is not a topic that I've seen any uni or code boot camp cover in a reasonable stretch.

open-source-ux 5y ago
I agree. For anyone creating websites (not web apps), accessibility is not that difficult if you follow HTML5 semantic markup. Or put another way, you don't have to 'bolt-on' accessibility as another layer on your markup - accessibility comes already built-in; you get it for free. Where it isn't accessible is when you're using a JavasScript framework that generates non-semantic markup. Or you're using a CSS framework and your HTML markup is littered with endless <divs> rather than HTML semantic tags. Here's the thing: HTML is easy. It's CSS that is the monster. (But bearable in its modern incarnation with features like Flexbox and CSS grid.)
- dreadlordbone 5y ago
  Just make sure you don't embed any non CC'd youtube videos.
asoneth 5y ago
> accessibility is not hard This has not been my experience based on my involvement in accessibility efforts at two medium-to-large companies that decided to make their existing web-based products accessible to blind and low-vision users. In one of the cases we brought in accessibility consultants, created a usability testing pool of users with various vision and motor impairments, conducted training for dozens of front-end developers, revised our framework, and made changes to many product UIs. After several years and millions of dollars of effort a few products were functionally usable by blind and vision-impaired users. Note that this is distinct from being WCAG compliant, which is a good place to start but doesn't guarantee your product is actually accessible. I think it was the right choice and it made our products better for everyone, but it was Very Hard and it required buy-in up to the executive level. I'd consider it grossly unfair to blame individual developers or call them "hobbyists" solely based on the fact that they worked for years on products that did not have good accessibility. If anything, the assumption that accessibility is something an individual developer who is sufficiently "professional" can just choose to add to their interfaces makes me suspect either the author lacks experience working in a medium/large development organization or they are just targeting WCAG compliance rather than functional accessibility.

open-source-ux 5y ago

I agree. For anyone creating websites (not web apps), accessibility is not that difficult if you follow HTML5 semantic markup. Or put another way, you don't have to 'bolt-on' accessibility as another layer on your markup - accessibility comes already built-in; you get it for free. Where it isn't accessible is when you're using a JavasScript framework that generates non-semantic markup. Or you're using a CSS framework and your HTML markup is littered with endless <divs> rather than HTML semantic tags. Here's the thing: HTML is easy. It's CSS that is the monster. (But bearable in its modern incarnation with features like Flexbox and CSS grid.)

dreadlordbone 5y ago
Just make sure you don't embed any non CC'd youtube videos.

asoneth 5y ago

> accessibility is not hard This has not been my experience based on my involvement in accessibility efforts at two medium-to-large companies that decided to make their existing web-based products accessible to blind and low-vision users. In one of the cases we brought in accessibility consultants, created a usability testing pool of users with various vision and motor impairments, conducted training for dozens of front-end developers, revised our framework, and made changes to many product UIs. After several years and millions of dollars of effort a few products were functionally usable by blind and vision-impaired users. Note that this is distinct from being WCAG compliant, which is a good place to start but doesn't guarantee your product is actually accessible. I think it was the right choice and it made our products better for everyone, but it was Very Hard and it required buy-in up to the executive level. I'd consider it grossly unfair to blame individual developers or call them "hobbyists" solely based on the fact that they worked for years on products that did not have good accessibility. If anything, the assumption that accessibility is something an individual developer who is sufficiently "professional" can just choose to add to their interfaces makes me suspect either the author lacks experience working in a medium/large development organization or they are just targeting WCAG compliance rather than functional accessibility.