I built something for e-commerce store owners
E-commerce businesses account for roughly 70% of all digital accessibility lawsuits, and 2026 is on pace to set a new record with over 6,000 projected filings, according to UsableNet. Most of those lawsuits start with a customer who couldn’t complete a purchase. The frustrating part? Most e-commerce store owners have no idea their site has […]
Getting started with screen reader testing
Screen readers are the most important assistive technology for developers and designers to understand. But most people never open one. The learning curve feels steep, and it’s hard to know where to start. Today we’ll cover the basics of screen reader testing so you can hear your site the way assistive technology does. If you […]
How to run a basic keyboard test
Most accessibility problems are caught by real humans, not automated tools. So how do you get started with testing like a human (assuming you are human)? The simplest way to start is keyboard testing. You don’t need any plugins, software, or special setup. By navigating your website only using the keyboard, you’ll find barriers automated […]
Why dark mode matters beyond aesthetics
Dark mode is more than a design trend. For a significant group of users, it’s a functional necessity. People with light sensitivity, migraines, vestibular disorders (e.g., vertigo), and low vision rely on dark mode to use screens comfortably. When a site ignores the OS setting and forces light mode, it creates a barrier for the […]
What two major retailers can teach us about quantity steppers
Quantity steppers appear on almost every e-commerce site. They look simple: a minus button, a number, a plus button. But they’re deceptively tricky to implement with accessibility best practices. I recently looked at two real-world examples, Hannaford and Walmart, and found that both get different parts right and different parts wrong. Hannaford Hannaford’s implementation has […]
Did you know there’s a U.S. tax credit for accessibility work?
Here’s a secret that most small business owners have no idea exists. The IRS offers the Disabled Access Credit under Section 44 of the Internal Revenue Code. It covers 50% of eligible accessibility expenses between $250 and $10,250 per year. The maximum credit is $5,000 annually, and unlike a deduction, which reduces your taxable income, […]
The web shouldn’t work better for AI than for people
There’s a proposal circulating in web standards circles called WebMCP. The idea is straightforward: give AI agents richer, more actionable access to web content so they can interact with sites more effectively on a user’s behalf. The problem is how it’s being built. WebMCP creates a separate layer of semantics specifically for AI agents. Screen […]
What to do when WCAG doesn’t have an answer (Part 2)
Last week, I introduced first principles reasoning as a way to tackle accessibility problems where no WCAG pattern exists. We covered the first phase, framing the problem, which provides a foundation to work from (steps 1-3). This week, we are going to look at how to actually build and validate a solution (steps 4-6). Step […]