Newsletter
Procurement as the key to accessibility
Issue 01 - 2026
Domingos de Oliveira (netz-barrierefrei.de):
Procurement and purchasing are crucial tools for achieving digital accessibility. However, implementation often falls short. Purchasing departments seek the most convenient solution, requirements are unspecific, or the necessary expertise is lacking. Without accessible procurement, however, accessibility is difficult to achieve.
Interesting articles
Der Beitrag erklärt, dass nicht nur eigene Inhalte barrierefrei sein müssen, sondern auch eingebundene Dritt-Anbieter-Elemente wie Chatbots, Bezahldienste oder Paketverfolgungen keine Barrieren verursachen dürfen. Werbung ist ein Sonderfall, bei dem rechtlich noch nicht abschließend geklärt ist, wie weit die Anforderungen reichen, aber generell gilt: Inhalte dürfen z. B. keine Tastaturfallen oder Nutzungsblockaden erzeugen. Auch Dritt-Anbieter-Content muss barrierefrei sein
This article discusses the requirements of the EN 301 549 standard, specifically regarding the documentation of accessible products and applications. Chapter 12 requires, among other things, an accessible and findable accessibility statement, clear information on assistance functions, support-related communication channels, and accessible documents (web and PDF). The importance of documentation is particularly emphasized for software and hardware.
Documentation of accessibility according to Chapter 12 of EN 301 549
Continuing in English: The W3C Accessibility Maturity Model offers organizations a comprehensive roadmap for establishing digital accessibility in the long term. This application helps in assessing the level of maturity.
Assistiv Labs describes how “evergreen accessibility audits”, unlike annual audits, enable a continuous, human and reliable review of accessibility – e.g., after every code update, instead of once a year.
Der neue kanadische Standard „Plain Language“ legt fest, wie Organisationen klare und verständliche Kommunikation entwickeln, die Menschen leicht finden, verstehen und nutzen können. Er fördert inklusive Inhalte und unterstützt dabei, Informationsbarrieren systematisch abzubauen. CAN-ASC-3.1:2025 – Plain Language
Inclusive Imagination is an initiative that focuses on inclusive, accessible games and products – e.g., accessible board games and accessories – to ensure that all people, regardless of ability, can participate in the game and the community. Inclusive Imagination
Ein Beitrag diskutiert, warum KI-Systeme oft die Nuancen von Gebärdensprachen nicht erfassen und wie die mangelnde Einbeziehung gehörloser Gemeinschaften bei der Entwicklung solcher Systeme zu Zugangsproblemen und kulturellen Barrieren führen kann.
AI, Sign Language & Inclusion: Why the Deaf Community Must Not Be Left Behind
Good news of the month
In dieser Podcast-Episode spricht Pete Horsley, Gründer des Disability-Tech-Accelerators Remarkable, darüber, wie Innovation und Zusammenarbeit – etwa mit Toyota Australien – technologiegestützte Lösungen vorantreiben, die den Alltag von Menschen mit Behinderungen verbessern können. Er und die Gastgeberin diskutieren, warum inklusive Gestaltung allen zugutekommt und wie politische Maßnahmen die Nachfrage nach Innovationen stärken können.
How Toyota & Remarkable Are Powering the Future of Disability Tech With Pete Horsley
This ruling strengthens the rights of severely disabled people: Employers must examine and enable home office options if these contribute to accessibility and health protection. This is an important step towards an inclusive working world.
A work item to improve accessibility in the D-Stack Home project has been created in the D-Stack repository. This underscores how accessibility is becoming increasingly important in open-source software communities.
Canada has published the CAN-ASC-6.2 – Accessible and Equitable Artificial Intelligence Systems Standard – the first of its kind, providing organizations with guidelines for developing AI that is accessible, fair, and inclusive for people with disabilities. The standard is a milestone in international comparison and aims to ensure that AI systems are accessible and equitable from the outset.
Canada releases world's first standard on accessible and equitable AI
Good news regarding accessibility at Deutsche Bahn! People with a German disability ID card bearing the "B" designation can now book their tickets for travel within Germany entirely digitally – including free seat reservations for themselves and their companion. Previously, further contact with Deutsche Bahn was required after purchasing the ticket. Further information can be found in the railway's FAQ.
More articles
- More About Speech Queues – A technical article about the internal speech queue behavior of screen readers and how live region announcements are queued for audible output.
- Accessible notifications and messages – Guidelines on how to design notifications and messages so that all users can easily understand updates, errors, and status changes.
- The Shadow DOM
– An article about the Shadow DOM concept on the web, which enables the encapsulation of components and is important for modern UI architectures.
- Web UI Boilerplate – Modal Component Docs – Documentation for modal components in the Web UI Boilerplate collection, useful for accessible dialog elements in projects.
- Contrast Tester for WCAG A11y – An iOS/macOS app that allows you to test colors and contrasts to quickly check WCAG accessibility requirements for text and UI elements.
- Disability:IN – Impact Report – The latest Impact Report from Disability:IN with data and insights on how companies are advancing inclusion and accessibility organizationally.
- Understanding Speech Queues – A supplementary analysis of how screen reader voice announcements are managed and which layers in the browser/assistive tech stack play a role in this.
- End-to-End Event Architecture
- A detailed explanation of the architecture of browser events and accessibility events, including how events are processed in the browser.