In my last post, Accessibility and Client Expectations, a major point was on the practice of implementing accessibility as a site “add-on,” rather than developing a web site from the ground up with accessibility in mind. Some of the features which are implemented in this manner fall into a gross category I’m inclined to describe as “pseudo-accessibility.”

In general, pseudo-accessible features are those which:

• Solve the symptom, not the problem.
• Create additional accessibility problems in their implementation
• Reinvent the wheel by duplicating browser functionality

Read more: Pseudo-Accessibility: Reinventing the Wheel

One routine challenge in being an accessible web developer is convincing clients of the necessity of certain features you’ve implemented. I don’t sell my services specifically on the grounds of accessibility; accessibility is simply a feature of my web sites. As a result, not every client is even aware when the project starts that they’re going to end up with an accessible web site.

I don’t make an issue of it. I just make it happen.

However, this does frequently result in conversations during the project concerning the way things have been done. The fact that I’ve added skiplinks to the top of the page is one of the most frequently challenged decisions — largely, because it’s the most visible feature.
Read more: Accessibility and Client Expectations: Selling Accessibility

Every once in a while, I come across a site with an odd problem. When I go to attempt to select a passage of text (either to highlight that section and point it out to somebody else or to copy it for later reference,) I’m unable to see the region being selected.

If I’m attempting to make a selection to copy, this is a minor irritation. It’s annoying not to have a visual representation of what I’m doing, but it’s hardly the end of the world. However, if I’m trying to point something out to somebody else, it can be rather irritating. In the context of a presentation, especially, it can be very difficult.

Why does this happen? What is it about some websites which causes them to fail to display the selection of text?

Read more: Invisible Text Selection: Background Inheritance

Juicy Studio generally publishes some of the best and most thorough articles on web accessibility you’ll find. Gez Lemon and others who supply articles at Juicy Studio do great work. The latest addition to their article line-up is a very long and very thorough walk-through on accessible e-commerce by Roberto Scano: “E-shop accessibility: from theory to reality.”

You may be guessing from my tone, that my take on this article isn’t entirely positive. I’m struggling to balance how to voice this article. Roberto Scano‘s article is very well-written and very accurate. If you want to read through a detailed plan for building an accessible site for e-commerce, it’s a great place to go. But no, I’m really not that excited about it.

Read more: Accessible e-Commerce Tips

Last night, I participated in a group discussion on the current working draft of WCAG 2.0 with Jared Smith of WebAIM and the hosts of the WebAxe podcast, Dennis Lembree and Ross Johnson. Mike Cherim was also supposed to be involved, but technological difficulties prevented it, unfortunately.

The new podcast from WebAxe is now posted, so give it a listen to hear what we think about the latest changes to WCAG 2.0.

From the American Foundation for the Blind, it appears that RadioShack is announcing some significant accessibility plans for the near future, including a major renovation of their website to accord with the WCAG guidelines. The press release doesn’t contain a lot of detail, but there’s enough meat present to at least get an impression of RadioShack’s accessibility goals.

There are two parts to the announcement: improvements to their point-of-sale hardware to protect private data of blind and visually impaired shoppers and the web site initiative. The point-of-sale improvement is an upgrade to devices which will enable the visually impaired to enter their PIN numbers and other private data by themselves using tactile input devices, replacing existing touch-screen keypads which are unusable by the blind.

Read more: RadioShack’s Accessibility Initiative

In May of 2006, after the release of WCAG 2 for public comments, Joe Clark published an article in A List Apart in which he damned the new guidelines to hell. At the same time, he announced the formation of an independent group to review WCAG 1 and author a set of errata (and extensions) to that document. The WCAG Samurai have now released their errata document for public review.

They have also invited reviews from a couple of prominent authors and developers in the web accessibility community, Alastair Campbell and Gian Sampson-Wild. Neither of these reviewers are members of the WCAG Samurai, and have each provided exemplary and honest reviews of the document.

Read more: WCAG Samurai: Draft Errata Released