Digital Accessibility Newsletter
August 2021

Visit BOIA’s virtual booth at AccessibilityPlus 2021. The three-day global conference, October 12-14, 2021, features industry leaders from around the globe. Learn about real solutions and best practices for adopting, championing, and implementing accessibility in your organization.

3 Days of Learning and Engagement:

Day 1: Unlocking the Potential of Assistive Technology
Day 2: Actionable Solutions for an Inclusive Workforce
Day 3: Effectively Managing Accessibility for Business

Some free tickets are still available for early registration.  

Register Now 

How Background Noise Affects Accessibility

Developers should be aware of how audio affects users. Wherever possible, give people options to control the volume of background audio.

WCAG 3.0 May Introduce New Rating Scale

Although years away, WCAG 3.0 proposes many changes over WCAG 2.1. Aside from new checkpoints, the changes many include Level A/AA/AAA being replaced with Bronze, Silver and Gold and the pass / fail criteria being replaced by a 0 to 4 rating. 

4 Digital Accessibility Features that Benefit Everyone

Over the last decade, we’ve seen many accessibility features become popular with audiences outside of the disability community.

1. Dark mode improves readability and reduces eye strain
2. Text to speech (TTS) gives users the option to listen rather than read
3. Closed captioning has become an important media feature
4. Clear, concise content reaches a wider audience

More About Digital Accessibility Features

Use Appropriate Language When Discussing Accessibility

Discussions about disabilities can be extraordinarily helpful. However, it’s important to understand how your word choice affects your audience.

Some of the most common mistakes to avoid:

• Using terms like “normal" or “healthy” when discussing people who aren’t living with permanent disabilities
• Highlighting a person’s disability or condition without their consent
• Referring to assistive technologies such as screen readers as something that people “rely on" or “need"
• Making assumptions about how a disability affects a person’s behavior
• Using outdated terminology

More about Appropriate Language