I’ve been thinking a lot about web accessibility lately. From an accessibility standpoint, code and web design are a usability/user experience (UX) design issue. UX and accessibility aren’t always practical to data work especially in galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM) where we’re often specializing in a niche skill. Here are three resources you should be aware of:

Digital A11Y’s List of Accessibility Testing Browser Extensions

My Take: DigitalA11y is a brand name to know for web accessibility, functionality and usability testing of digital content. The list includes extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge browsers and automatically test a wide gamut of accessibility like color contrast, test against WCAG 2.0/2.1 A/AA rulesets, and ARIA usage. Note: They continuously update the list!

W3C-WAI Web Accessibility Testing/Evaluation Resources

My Take: W3C-WAI is what you pick up after you learn the basics of web accessibility. It goes through the general workflow of testing accessibility like initial checks and comparing against technical standards like Section 508/WCAG 2.2 AA. WCAG is an international, universal standard for web accessibility.

Section 508 Accessibility Testing for Websites and Software

My Take: Section 508 is a US legally-required technical standard for federal agencies to make their IT tools, systems, and web content accessibility. You might see private companies or non-federal organizations voluntarily comply with Section 508 in the field; as a technical standard, it gives you good technical checklists and overlaps with some of WCAG 2.0 A/AA standards.