Accessibility Glossary
WCAG criteria, patterns, and standards — with interactive demos, detection methods, and audit data.
How accessibility is actually checked — automated scanners, manual reviews, screen readers, and assistive-technology testing.
Accessibility Statement
Public declaration of accessibility commitment, conformance level, known limitations, and contact information for reporting barriers. Required under EAA and many national laws. WAI provides a generator tool.
Assistive Technology
Any device or software that helps people with disabilities use technology. Includes screen readers, magnifiers, switch devices, eye trackers, voice control (Dragon), braille displays, and alternative keyboards. Design and test for the full range.
Automated Testing
Tools like axe, WAVE, Lighthouse catch ~30-40% of WCAG issues automatically. Good for contrast, alt text, labels, ARIA attributes. Can't catch focus order, reading comprehension, or keyboard traps.
Color Blindness Simulation
Tools that simulate color vision deficiencies: protanopia (no red), deuteranopia (no green), tritanopia (no blue), achromatopsia (no color). Chrome DevTools has a built-in simulator. Use to verify color is never the only indicator.
Manual Testing
Keyboard-only navigation, screen reader testing (NVDA/JAWS/VoiceOver), zoom to 400%, check focus order, verify ARIA states. Catches the 60% that automated tools miss.
Screen Reader Basics
Software that reads content aloud and enables keyboard navigation. NVDA (Windows, free), JAWS (Windows, commercial), VoiceOver (macOS/iOS, built-in), TalkBack (Android). Each has different behaviors and quirks.
Voice Control
Software like Dragon, plus the dictation built into every phone, lets people operate a device entirely by speaking. Users say a button's visible label to activate it — which is why a control's visible text must match its accessible name.
Zoom & Magnification Testing
Test at 200% zoom (WCAG 1.4.4) and 400% zoom / 320px viewport (WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow). Check for: horizontal scrolling, overlapping text, clipped content, broken layouts, and unreadable text. Browser zoom ≠ OS magnification — test both.