The Tink Tank

HTML5 introduces the nav element for marking up sections of a page that contain navigational links. Used wisely the nav element is a big help to screen reader users, as well as a step forward in semantic meaning.

Caramelised onion chutney is the little black dress of the condiment world. You can use it anywhere. Chuck it on pizza with some goats cheese, add a spoonful to your gravy, spread it on melted cheese on toast, or try a little with a plate of cold cuts, olives and fresh bread.

HTML5 headings make it easy to syndicate and reuse content, without breaking the heading hierarchy. Using HTML5 headings and keeping the heading hierarchy backwards compatible proves unexpectedly complicated though. The HTML5 specification has a solution, but is it the right one?

The weather is glorious at the moment! It’s perfect for eating al fresco, and this recipe is great for lunch or dinner. Team it up with a crisp white wine, then sit back and enjoy the sunshine.

Inclusive design is an aspirational concept. It isn’t particularly inspirational though. Inclusive design is a phrase for client meetings and government papers. No harm in that, but it isn’t a phrase that rocks the world and inspires us to challenge the accepted status quo.

The September 2011 UK UPA event focused on designing inclusive experiences. Kath Moonan invited me to dispell some of the myths, and talk about the role that accessibility plays within a UX practitioners toolkit.

Several screen readers now support ARIA landmark roles. Some screen readers such as NVDA and Jaws are also improving support for HTML5 elements. This means that it’s important to put your ARIA roles in the right place.

When you’re browsing a website using its primary navigation, it’s helpful to know which page you’re on, and which pages you can go to. HTML5 makes it simple to do this, but the technique moves away from a common approach used in HTML4.01.

This video demonstrates how ARIA landmark roles help screen reader users understand the purpose of different areas of a web page. ARIA landmark roles can be used to navigate through a page and easily identify the purpose of key areas such as navigation, search or main content.

This article was first posted in 2007 on the eAccess blog. Three years later and I still believe that emotion rich images are important to blind people, particularly those who once had sight (and that’s most of us). Results from the third WebAIM screen reader survey suggest I’m not alone, so I’m reposting the article [...]