Newsletter
Tools sind nicht die Lösung, das Mindset ist es
Newsletter 05 - 2025
Mit Domingos de Oliveira (netz-barrierefrei.de):
The Accessibility Strengthening Act has led to a flood of new tools. Buzzwords like AI, automation, and ease of use are everywhere. Not a day goes by without us being offered a new tool. Unfortunately, hardly any of these new tools deliver the hoped-for improvements. Therefore, here are a few tips on what to look out for:
- The more aggressive the marketing and acquisition efforts, the less effective the tool. That's our experience; good tools don't need such tactics.
- Ignore buzzwords: Ask for specific features, and ask repeatedly. If you don't get concrete answers after the third question, throw the tool in the nearest trash can.
- Always ask for a free demo. Even if you purchase the tool, pay close attention to cancellation options, especially with subscription models. Unfortunately, there are some nasty subscription traps that can be very costly, particularly for smaller website operators.
You need to change the mindset regarding accessibility within your organization and the ways of working that have led to the barriers. If you don't manage to do that, even the best tool won't bring about any significant improvement.
Interesting articles
What often frustrates accessibility experts? This article addresses that question.
What frustrates accessibility experts
What is the difference between meaningful and focus order? The two criteria are often confused. This article explains it.
The difference between meaningful and keyboard order
Jan Hellbusch is working on implementing the new criteria from WCAG 2.2.
In search of greater accessibility (2)
Continuing in English: A lot of emphasis is placed on data protection, but not necessarily if you are disabled.
What Disabled People Have to Give Up in the Name of Accessibility
This article analyzes the state of accessibility in native apps.
The State of Mobile App Accessibility Report
This article includes several usable personas with disabilities.
Experience the web as personas with access needs
This guide shows how UX researchers can get started with accessibility.
The UX researcher's guide to getting started with accessibility research
According to this survey, only 11 percent of companies believe they will comply with the BFSG by the June deadline.EAA: Only 11% of organizations confident they will meet June deadline
This is what WCAG shirts in AC/DC style can look like.
Good news of the month
A digital city map is intended to make the city of Augsburg more accessible for people with reduced mobility.
Digital city map with information on accessibility
A recent book aims to make science more accessible in education for blind and visually impaired people.
Accessible Science: Ensuring Science is for Everyone
The current Nintendo Switch has some accessibility features.The latest Nintendo Switch 2 accessibility details
Ikea wants to strengthen its efforts towards digital accessibility.
IKEA's Plan for Digital Accessibility.
This report shows that it is also possible to program using voice control.
How I learned to code with my voice
The town of Sommerville is building its first accessible playground. Sometimes you have to celebrate the little things.
A court ruling forces the city to make its intersections more accessible.
Judge Orders Chicago to Speed Up Efforts to Make Crosswalks Accessible to Blind Pedestrians; Just
A wearable device is designed to automatically convert US Sign Language into text.
wearable AI ring converts sign language into texts for smartphones and computersMore news
- Guidelines on equal access to digital goods and services
- The Safety Gap Report
- How To Build A Business Case To Promote Accessibility In Your B2B Products
- Making Digital Spaces More Inclusive
- The Euan's Guide Access Survey
- Mobile App Accessibility
- Google Meet Enhances Accessibility with New Screen Reader Options
- Android 16's Transition to Adaptive Apps: A Major Victory for Accessibility
- Introducing the SharePoint Pages Authoring Accessibility Assistant
- Accessibility Support
- Accessibility Not Checklist
- Keyboard accessibility testing on mobile devices
Large-scale data collection on digital accessibility is constantly being conducted: thousands of websites with tens of thousands of errors, 99 percent not accessible, and so on. The figures may be accurate, but critical analysis is lacking. This brief overview aims to provide that analysis:
- These are automated testing tools that produce many false positives and false negatives. That's acceptable, however, a description of the methodology and a critical evaluation are lacking.
- The survey is usually not conducted to gain knowledge, but rather for self-promotion. This can be legitimate, but marketing tends to focus on producing large numbers that rarely yield meaningful insights.
- The information is of limited value. Formal accessibility and usability by disabled people are not always the same, but this is often suggested due to ignorance or for PR purposes.
Interesting articles
Casey Kreer talks about what it's like to work in digital accessibility as a disabled person.
Interview with Casey Kreer about working as a disabled Accessibility Consultant
This article provides some answers to the elephant in the room, the Accessibility Strengthening Act.
Answers regarding the Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG)
On May 15th, there will be a free event on digital accessibility with several presentations. The occasion is Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
The Federal Agency for Accessibility has published an FAQ on the BFSG specifically for banking services.
FAQ on the BFSG – Banking services for consumers
This article shows how new technologies such as AI and VR contribute to greater accessibility.
Accessibility 2.0: How digital innovations should make the world accessible to everyone
The German Federal Government has presented its latest report on the accessibility of public institutions. There is little improvement compared to the last report.
Periodic monitoring of compliance with accessibility requirements for websites and mobile devices
Moving on to English: WebAIM has published a survey on salaries for accessibility professionals, but it also includes people working on assistive technologies. This likely explains the very high proportion of
Disabled people in the statistics.Global Digital Accessibility Salary Survey
What is the cost of exclusion? This is the question posed in Deque's article.
Digital accessibility and the cost of exclusion
This document shows how roles and responsibilities are distributed in digital accessibility.
DRAFT Accessibility Roles and Responsibilities Mapping (ARRM)
Not new, but interesting: there is a standard for universal design – unfortunately, it is very expensive.
Are you unprepared for the BFSG (Federal Law on the Protection of Employees)? Then you're not in good company. According to Storyblok, 75 percent of companies are not yet fully prepared for the BFSG. Unfortunately, the methodology isn't described, but it appears to be a survey of senior-level employees.
75% of Businesses Unprepared For European Accessibility Act
This article describes how accessibility requirements can be integrated into the organization.
Building accessibility habits in your organization
Good news of the month
The DIN Spec for Plain Language has been published and, unlike the DIN standards, is even available for free download.
Apparently, the first trainee has completed his training as an accessibility expert.
Met Office employee becomes world's first digital accessibility apprenticeship graduate
A brain-computer interface is combined with NVIDIA's AI.
Synchron's Brain-Computer Interface Now Has Nvidia's AI
The American Blind Association is supporting the national football association in improving the game experience for blind and visually impaired fans.
The American Council of the Blind to Provide Advisory Services to the National Football League
MIT presents an idea to make graphs and curve progressions more accessible to blind people.
A new way to make graphs more accessible to blind and low-vision readers
It should become easier for gamers with disabilities to find games with accessibility options.
Game companies will standardize accessibility labels on storefronts and product pages
A cosmetics company wants to make makeup more accessible.
Tilt Beauty launches accessible makeup packaging with inclusive design
This article also deals with cosmetic companies that are working on improving product accessibility.
The beauty brands that are paving the way for disability inclusivity through their packaging