Many of the accessibility changes that have been made in Drupal 8 are pretty subtle. Most people probably won't realize that there is a deeper blue in the header and probably won't care. There have been a lot of little changes in Drupal 8 though to improve colour contrast.
Many contributors to Drupal 8 Core check to see that Drupal adheres to accessibility standards. Colour Contrast is one of those standards. The Colour Contrast Guidelines are provided to assist those who are color blind or have low vision.
For most users, this may only affect them when they step outside with their mobile...
Accessibility
By Mike Gifford
on 19/10/2015
Remember those pesky divs you typically saw on a lot of Drupal sites? Wouldn’t it be great if you could actually understand what each of those divs actually meant? Well worry no more, Drupal 8 Core comes packaged with HTML5 optimized markup!
If used HTML5 before, you’ll already know how big of an accessibility advantage this is. For those who haven’t, this blog is for you. Essentially the big difference between HTML5 and previous versions of HTML is semantics - how understandable and readable the code is. And HTML5 excels at it.
HTML5’s Semantic Markup
The biggest different between...
If used HTML5 before, you’ll already know how big of an accessibility advantage this is. For those who haven’t, this blog is for you. Essentially the big difference between HTML5 and previous versions of HTML is semantics - how understandable and readable the code is. And HTML5 excels at it.
HTML5’s Semantic Markup
The biggest different between...
By Mike Gifford
on 16/10/2015
You probably wont notice it, but Drupal 8 comes packed with WAI-ARIA markup to ensure that your pages are as semantically correct as they can be out of the box. Who will notice it though is blind users who rely on additional meaning to be hard coded into the HTML of the site, rather than inferred from the visual cues on the page.
Let’s say you’ve got an employee named Jim who needs to navigate your Intranet site like all of your other employees. Jim’s legally blind, and the open-source screen reader NVDA to help him with his work. Jim, just wants to get to today’s tasks and doesn’t know...
Let’s say you’ve got an employee named Jim who needs to navigate your Intranet site like all of your other employees. Jim’s legally blind, and the open-source screen reader NVDA to help him with his work. Jim, just wants to get to today’s tasks and doesn’t know...
By Mike Gifford
on 15/10/2015
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
I’ve been thinking of the inspiring Martin Luther King Jr. quote and how much it has in common to web accessibility.
I don’t make this comparison lightly, but web accessibility is a serious social justice issue which has many parallels with the Civil Rights Movement which he led. People with disabilities are routinely barred from participating in public spaces, are limited in their economic and political opportunities and routinely discriminated against.
Legislation like the Accessibility for...
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
I’ve been thinking of the inspiring Martin Luther King Jr. quote and how much it has in common to web accessibility.
I don’t make this comparison lightly, but web accessibility is a serious social justice issue which has many parallels with the Civil Rights Movement which he led. People with disabilities are routinely barred from participating in public spaces, are limited in their economic and political opportunities and routinely discriminated against.
Legislation like the Accessibility for...
By Mike Gifford
on 14/10/2015
Web accessibility is an important but often neglected piece of today’s web environment. Drupal 7 Core made a step in making the websites more accessible by default. Since it's release there have been improvements to Core's accessibility and also to the contributed modules to make the platform much more accessible.
Drupal 8 has added extensive support for accessibility in the Core. For anyone trying to make a barrier-free website, it is important to know what these features are and how each can be used.
Throughout this series we will look into the variety of...
Drupal 8 has added extensive support for accessibility in the Core. For anyone trying to make a barrier-free website, it is important to know what these features are and how each can be used.
Throughout this series we will look into the variety of...
By Mike Gifford
on 08/10/2015
PDFs have served their purpose, but it is time to stop using them. Just as they have become convenient to use they have outlived their usefulness. PDFs need to be seen as the liability that they are.
PDFs were intended to be a Portable Document Format. Something that anyone could open and read in a common format. It’s been a way more professional way to send a document like a resume or annual report than using Microsoft Word. There are far fewer concerns about virus’ or version numbers and it generally managed to lock in the look of the page.
I’ve been opposed to PDFs for a long time because...
PDFs were intended to be a Portable Document Format. Something that anyone could open and read in a common format. It’s been a way more professional way to send a document like a resume or annual report than using Microsoft Word. There are far fewer concerns about virus’ or version numbers and it generally managed to lock in the look of the page.
I’ve been opposed to PDFs for a long time because...
By Claire-Isabelle Carlier
on 18/08/2015
Drupal’s terminology can be confusing when you are not already familiar with it. I have gathered in this post essential terms that will should make non-technical people (or simply people new to Drupal)'s life easier. I'm happy to add to this list if people identify additional useful terms they feel need further definition.
Core
Core refers to the code files that make up the default functionality of a Drupal site when you download it from drupal.org. The functionality includes menu management, user management, system administration, design and layout, etc. Additional functionality can be...
Core
Core refers to the code files that make up the default functionality of a Drupal site when you download it from drupal.org. The functionality includes menu management, user management, system administration, design and layout, etc. Additional functionality can be...
By Mike Gifford
on 08/07/2015
I have been developing open-source software now for over a decade and feel that community software is a really important concept for inclusive technology. With the rise of the Linux operating system and more importantly with the growth of the Internet, more people and companies have embraced a collaborative culture. The growth of do-it-yourself initiatives that allow creators to use, modify and distribute ideas is key to making technology fit a wider range of humanity.
My company, OpenConcept, has been developing open-source solutions for the Web for the last 15 years. We develop with a...
My company, OpenConcept, has been developing open-source solutions for the Web for the last 15 years. We develop with a...
By Mike Gifford
on 20/03/2015
Most people have never heard of Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART), but it is a great way to make a live event more accessible. CART isn't as good for the deaf as ASL, but it is generally seen as sufficient accommodations. The Canadian Hearing Society has some very legitimate concerns about how CART is implemented and provides suggestions about how this should be regulated better.
I've now seen CART used at Carleton's Accessibility Summit, Accessibility Camp TO and CSUN15 but have only seen them at accessibility focused events.
In organizing A11yYOW last year, we made sure to...
I've now seen CART used at Carleton's Accessibility Summit, Accessibility Camp TO and CSUN15 but have only seen them at accessibility focused events.
In organizing A11yYOW last year, we made sure to...
By Sébastien Bacharach
on 28/01/2015
OpenConcept has been deeply involved in raising awareness about web accessibility for a long time. As we were developing our new website, we took this opportunity to make it as accessible as possible.
Having proper alternate text for images is the low hanging fruit of web accessibility, however there were a few instances where we had to address some more unusual challenges.
In order to provide the alt and title attributes to the user profile images by default, we actually had to develop a custom module. This is something we are working on getting resolved in Drupal 8, however at the moment...
Having proper alternate text for images is the low hanging fruit of web accessibility, however there were a few instances where we had to address some more unusual challenges.
In order to provide the alt and title attributes to the user profile images by default, we actually had to develop a custom module. This is something we are working on getting resolved in Drupal 8, however at the moment...