Digital Accessibility Newsletter
June 2021

After years of impressive, but steady and predictable growth, e-commerce exploded last year in a way nobody could have predicted. This round of predictions is easier: many people will never abandon the convenience of online shopping, even as the masses eventually become more comfortable with indoor shopping. Except now things are different and consumers have a lot of choices — for millions, accessibility will impact those choices. So instead of a race to the lowest price, the new kings of digital retail will be crowned by how well they meet the needs of everyone through accessible e-commerce experiences.

More about Accessibility in the New Era of E-Commerce

One-Day Challenge Makes 108,000 Files Accessible

Blackboard's second Fix Your Content Day Challenge impressively led to accessibility improvements in over 100,000 course files.

Google's Algorithm Updates Will Benefit Accessible Sites

Search engines continue to prioritize accessibility because it helps them crawl a site just as it helps people use it.

'Designed for People with Disabilities'

Apple's software update announcements leave no questions: they're accessibility features first and foremost

Accessibility features aren't always marketed as such. Some of the most-commonly used tech advancements of recent years, like voice assistants and dark mode designs, are all about improving accessibility at their core — but you might not know it from their marketing. That's why it's important that Apple explicitly said this latest round of enhancements were "designed for people with disabilities."

More about Apple's Software Updates

Skipping the Alt Text? Ask These Questions First.

Three questions can help decide if an image doesn't need alt text

Yes, it's true providing text alternatives (alt text) for images is one of the most basic and most important considerations for digital accessibility. But did you know there are exceptions? Not every image requires alt text and by asking these three questions, you can determine if you can safely skip it for an image:

• Is the image "pure decoration"?
• Is the image's content repeated in text?
• Does the information make sense without the image?

More about Skipping the Alt Text