August 2020 - Sheri Byrne-Haber's Blog

Tilted sign that says “Back to Basics” hanging on black chalkboard

Ten basic accessibility facts

All accessibility managers should be comfortable communicating the following facts and the reasons behind them. Fact #1: All accessibility (digital and physical) is a civil right. The Americans with Disabilities Act is a civil rights law for people with disabilities.…

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Cookie banners and accessibility

Yes, these do matter, especially if you are using a cookie banner to handle your privacy disclosures, super especially if you can be sued in California. What is a cookie? Cookies are small text files created by a website that…

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Air plant with spiky green leaves, bare roots, and purple and pink flowers

Books on Disability Resiliency

Fictional and real-life accounts of disability resiliency that pass my sniff test as a disabled person Part one of a two-part article: Read part one “My favorite books on accessibility and related topics.” What makes a good disability resiliency book?…

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Man sitting in small working space with laptop looking frustrated

All the reasons you might not have gotten that job

Many of which have nothing to do with you. I have spent some time over the last few months mentoring people finding themselves out of work courtesy of COVID. Some of them have applied to jobs at VMware; others are…

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Building an “accessibility brand”

Meaningful accessibility discussions happen when you are not in the room. Having a personal accessibility brand can help deliver your message in your absence. Branding isn’t just for companies anymore. Post-pandemic, in our almost-completely digital world, a personal brand is…

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Whiteboard that says “To-do list: Pivot!”

Pivoting to fully remote accessibility testing

Five months into the pandemic w/ no finish line in sight, temporary changes must be reassessed and made permanent to improve productivity. We are now five months into the pandemic. That is enough lived experience to have determined that: This…

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a room with an office from old science fiction movie

Sci-fi and Accessibility

There is a non-obvious connection between the two We had our monthly team meeting earlier this month. There were introductions (we had new team members) and some ice breakers where people were called on to answer a question from our…

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Two SDNY Decisions in One Week Show Courts Are Done Messing around with Questionable Accessibility Litigation

Courts in SDNY have been showing their impatience with repetitive, cookie-cutter accessibility lawsuits for years. Two decisions from the Southern District of New York were issued last week. Together, they send a message that the accessibility field has needed to…

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Locked Out: Why OTP and 2FA Often Fail Users with Disabilities

Two-factor authentication (2FA) and one-time passwords (OTPs) have become cornerstones of digital security. For most users, they are a minor inconvenience: a quick glance at a phone, a tap of a button, and they are in. For millions of users…

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Getting Developers to Care about Accessibility: Carrots and Sticks

Most developers aren’t intentionally hostile to accessibility. They just weren’t taught about its importance. Plus, change is hard. Building accessibility into an inaccessible organization requires more than a style guide or a WCAG checklist. Successful change requires understanding what actually…

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Why you shouldn’t trust the people who built your inaccessible site to fix it

You commissioned a website. The agency delivered. The site contains blood, sweat, tears, and no small amount of your organization’s money. And then, you find out about Title II. Alternatively, you may receive a demand letter. The agency that built…

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Eight Skunkworks Projects That Advance Accessibility Without Approval

The term “skunkworks” comes from Lockheed Martin and originally referred to a secretive team building experimental aircraft during World War II. These days, it’s tech shorthand for small, scrappy groups that work independently and solve problems faster by skipping formal…

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Embedding Accessibility SMEs in Remote Teams

The longer I work in accessibility, the more convinced I become that organizational structure is what determines whether accessibility efforts succeed or stall. Intent is merely a small component of success. Companies love centralizing accessibility teams, until time zones, handoffs,…

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The Many “Blindnesses” of Neurodivergence That Have Nothing To Do With Sight

When people hear the word “blindness,” they often think of vision loss. But for many neurodivergent people, the word describes something entirely different. Neurodivergent “blindness” is a functional gap characterized by difficulty processing certain types of information in real-time, even…

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When “Neutral” Isn’t Really Neutral: 12 Everyday Practices That Disproportionately Impact People with Disabilities

Policies don’t need to mention disability to be discriminatory and ableist. Many systems, requirements, and social norms present as “equal treatment” while quietly erecting barriers that disproportionately exclude people with disabilities. This exclusion isn’t always malicious or even intentional. However,…

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The Screen Reader Stutter: Why Your Content Repeats Itself and How to Fix It

Screen reader users hate it when things announce twice. Some people call this “WCAG Stuttering.” Repeated announcements are completely unnecessary and slow down assistive technology users. But one thing they hate more than slow is ambiguous. Clarity leads to screen…

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The Other Half of Accessibility: Why Soft Skills Determine Whether Programs Succeed

Introduction When it comes to accessibility management, success is not about ticking boxes or meeting minimum requirements. It’s about creating an environment where everyone, regardless of their abilities, can thrive and feel included through equitable treatment. This end-state requires a…

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