READ THE ENTIRE APRIL 2023 EDITION OF INSIDE EQUAL ACCESS
This article originally appeared in the April 2023 edition of Inside Equal Access.
According to writer and technologist Jeff Duntemann, "A good tool improves the way you work. A great tool improves the way you think."
Listed below are just some of the great tools our team has used over the past year to help create a more accessible experience for everyone. Whether you're a designer, developer, content writer, or just someone who gets excited when they find something that can make their lives easier (and who doesn't?), there's something here for you.
And the best part? All these tools are FREE.
Website Accessibility Checkers
The "I need to know if this web page is accessible but don't know where to start"-tools. These extensions install right in your browser and review your web pages for accessibility issues in seconds.
WAVE by WebAIMWAVE can identify many accessibility and Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) errors, but also facilitates human evaluation of web content. WAVE Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browser extensions are available for testing accessibility directly within your web browser - handy for checking password protected, locally stored, or highly dynamic pages. |
Axe DevTools by DequeThe free axe DevTools browser extension is a fast, lightweight, yet powerful testing tool driven by the world’s most trusted accessibility testing engine, axe-core, developed by Deque. With the push of a button, axe DevTools analyzes your site, automatically surfacing the majority of common accessibility issues. |
Color Contrast Checkers
Good color contrast makes content more visually appealing and easier to read. These tools can help make sure the colors you're choosing for your text and backgrounds are both attractive and accessible.
Colour Contrast Analyser by TPGITPGi’s free color contrast checker tool that allows you to easily determine the contrast ratio of two colors simply using an eyedrop tool. The CCA enables you to optimize your content–including text and visual elements–for individuals with vision disabilities like color-blindness and low-vision impairments. |
Colorable by jxnblkColorable is a web-based color contrast checker that can quickly identify safe color combinations and their compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). It includes options for hue, saturation, and lightness. |
Figma Accessibility Plugins
Figma is an all-in-one design platform that connects designers and developers to bring great designs to life. These tools help ensure that accessibility is considered in every iteration of the design process.
Accessibility Annotations by eBayInclude is a tool built to make annotating for accessibility (a11y) easier—easier for designers to spec and easier for developers to understand what is required. The intent is to have accessibility considerations included during the design phase of any project, and to help with the designer-developer collaboration. |
Axe for Designers by DequeEasily start building accessibility into your Figma designs and confidently pass your intent on to Developers with the Auto-Annotations Beta. Driven by machine learning, it automatically scans your designs for form controls such as buttons, radio buttons, check boxes, and labels. It then adds these annotations to your designs, including code recommendations to ensure that your intent is coded correctly by developers. |
Video Caption Generators
Accurate video captions don't just make your videos more accessible - they can be an important learning and comprehension tool too. These platforms help make adding captions to your training videos or presentations easy.
Kaltura REACH by KalturaKaltura REACH is a service that provides captions and enrichment services for your videos. It uses Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) to recognize words spoken in your video and provide machine-based captions for your video. Kaltura REACH captions are typically 75-85% accurate and can improve over time as the program adapts to learn your voice. Kaltura REACH also provides an editor to revise and improve the accuracy of your video captions. |
Microsoft Teams by MicrosoftAll Kent State University staff and faculty have access to Microsoft Teams. It can create real-time captions during a meeting, and generate a transcript which can be used to produce more accurate captions once the meeting is over. Like Kaltura, it uses Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology to create accurate captions which improve over time. |
Accessible Development Guides
There's a lot to think about when it comes to developing accessible websites and applications. Take some of the head-scratching out with these accessible development guides that make developing for users of all abilities easy.
ARIA Authoring Practices Guide (APG) by WAILearn to use the accessibility semantics defined by the Accessible Rich Internet Application (ARIA) specification to create accessible web experiences. This guide describes how to apply accessibility semantics to common design patterns and widgets. It provides design patterns and functional examples complemented by in-depth guidance for fundamental practices. |
Tips for Developing by WAIThis guide introduces some basic considerations to help you get started developing web (digital) content that is more accessible to people with disabilities. These tips are good practice to help you meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) requirements, and can be applied early and often in your development process. |