National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) is a celebration of the value and talents that people with disabilities bring to the workforce — but it's also a reminder of the challenges and discrimination employees with disabilities sometimes face. Read about NDEAM and get resources to help promote workplace equality.

The concepts of accessible web design empower designers to create beautiful and compelling experiences that everyone, including people with disabilities, can use. Here are some of the basics that new designers, or designers new to accessibility, should know.

Color contrast is a critical aspect of accessibility. Color contrast refers to the difference in light between text and its background. Make sure your website meets the minimum color contrast ratios to allow as many people as possible to view your content.

Published in June 2018, WCAG 2.1 adds to and does not replace WCAG 2.0. Because of this, adhering to WCAG 2.1 means you automatically also adhere to WCAG 2.0, as the existing guidelines and checkpoints remained unchanged.

In technology, something that is robust comes with a wide range of capabilities or is able to deal with many different situations. Robustness, as defined by WCAG, refers specifically to web content that is compatible with a variety of “user agents”: browsers, assistive technologies, and other means of accessing web content.

Content that is understandable can be read and comprehended by users without undue effort. This means that the content should be understandable both by the users themselves and by assistive technologies such as screen readers.

WCAG’s emphasis on perceivability ensures that users can passively take in and access the information on your website. Operability, on the other hand, also guarantees that users can interact with and make full use of the site.

With the release of the latest version in June, WCAG 2.1, now is the perfect time for a refresher on the four WCAG main principles. The first, perceivability, requires web content to be presented in a way that all users can recognize and understand.

The ongoing delay in the release of federal accessibility guidelines has contributed to the giant increase in website accessibility lawsuits in 2018. With the lack of a federal directive by the DOJ, law firms are actively pursuing suits, resulting in a large spike in the number of web accessibility cases being filed.

In America, the declaration of the nation’s commitment that people with disabilities are afforded the same levels of freedom and independence as everyone else is demonstrated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The legislation details the ways in which the federal government ensures that state and local government services, public accommodations and commercial facilities must accommodate the needs of people with disabilities.

Nearly every author wants their work to be read by an audience that’s as large as possible — but when it comes to accessibility, this goal goes unmet all too often. 

People with Parkinson’s disease experience challenges using the Internet that aren’t always obvious to people without a motor or cognitive disability. For example, the hand tremors caused by Parkinson’s can make it hard for people to use a standard mouse or even a keyboard. 

Although digital marketers are constantly searching for new ways to reach out to their audience and broaden their company’s appeal, web accessibility remains overlooked and underutilized.

Although accessibility brings with it a wide range of advantages, many web developers still aren’t sure about the best ways to begin making websites more accessible. These four basic tips can help developers get started with their accessibility initiatives.

If properly harnessed, HTML can be one of the most powerful accessibility tools for your website, helping to guide users and their assistive devices through your site’s content and structure.

Including closed captions isn’t just advantageous for users with hearing disabilities. Web developers should be aware that close captions can help with WCAG compliance and boost SEO for their clients.

Increasingly, state and local government websites are leveraging video for a variety of purposes: promoting tourism, issuing storm warnings, updating viewers on new urban development projects, informing citizens how to vote, releasing messages from the mayor’s office, and other important happenings. Being truly inclusive when building your website means that your videos must be accessible to everyone — including people with disabilities.

Enter WCAG 2.1: the latest draft version of WCAG, which is currently under revision. Rather than replacing or modifying WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1 is intended to enhance it, filling in some of the gaps left by the previous guidelines. 

Human Rights Day, a global celebration of the universal human rights that today’s world has committed to protecting for every living person on the planet, was celbrated this week. The web is becoming an integral part of Americans’ daily lives, and this is why access to the internet should be considered a basic human right for all Americans. Part of the conversation around Human Rights Day, is to ask yourself if your company or organization is supporting the human rights of your fellow citizens in one of the easiest and most important ways: making your website accessible.

Without experience implementing web accessibility, it’s difficult to know where to begin. Even if you think that you’ve taken steps to become more accessible, you might have overlooked some of the difficulties that people with vision, hearing, motor, or learning disabilities might encounter when navigating and using your website. The good news is that you can take steps today to make your website more accessible to users and protect yourself from lengthy and complicated litigation.

“Website accessibility” enables people with disabilities to view, understand, navigate, and interact with your website. For school websites, this could be anyone from students and parents to teachers, staff, and community members. By committing to accessibility as a priority for your school’s community, you give everyone the same access and opportunity, thereby expanding the educational experience to a greater number of people.

Until the ADA is updated to address the special case of website accessibility, or the Department of Justice releases its website accessibility regulations, complying with WCAG 2.0 Level AA is the best way to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to your website. The overview below will tell you everything you need to know about meeting the WCAG 2.0 Level AA recommendations.

Good news: Coding an ADA-compliant website is achievable with minimal expense and minimal impact on usability or design — if some basic guidelines and strategies are followed. The following list details the best ways to avoid the seven most common web accessibility issues.

Web accessibility is not a trend; it's the law. If your website is not accessible to people with disabilities, or does not comply with disability standards, your business may be at risk for a lawsuit.

New standards built on the EU’s 2016 Web and Mobile Accessibility Directive, go further by not only extending the standards to specifically address mobile apps, but also by making the standards binding for member states.