Accessibility Path is a collection of resources that can help you to learn web accessibility and inclusive design. It is also my learning path of learning this topic too. So this set of resources could be opinionated because these are what I found helpful on my journey. Indeed, there is much more learning material to explore.
Learning accessibility can be tricky and require dedication. You can't learn this fast (but this can be true for everything); it can be dry. It will help if you have time and helpful learning materials. I started learning in 2019 from different sources, and although I read many books, watched courses, videos, and read articles, it is still hard to put the pieces together. Two things worth more, although - as always - practice it in real projects and write about it.
Collecting and filtering the most suitable resources can differ per person, but we can still obtain better ones. I hope this list will help you start and keep up with learning because one thing is sure it is worth it.
- Books to Read
- Videos to Watch
- Blogs to Read
- Podcasts to Listen
- Newsletters to Subscribe
- Projects to Dig In
- Data to Analyze
- Tools to Use
Books are a great resource and starting point as always. In the field of web accessibility we have some excellent guidelines for any level.
- Accessibility for Everyone - I think this is the best book to start with. Not too heavy but thorough, and it will give you a strong foundation.
- A Web for Everyone - An excellent way to approach accessibility is through user experience. UX is a broad concept that includes a11y and usability. In this book, you can view this topic from a user experience view.
- Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design - An older book about the accessibility theory. Learn with the help of the user-centered design process.
- Form Design Patterns - The forms are essential elements on the interactive web and the backbones of any application. Everybody wants to build better and more accessible ones; with this practical book, you can make too.
- Inclusive Design Patterns - A practical book about how to build inclusive front-end with various patterns.
- Inclusive Components - Similar to the Inclusive Design Patterns book but focuses more on components from the same author. Both are recommended.
- Practical Web Inclusion and Accessibility: A Comprehensive Guide to Access Needs - A practical book that approaches the accessibility from an exact disability. In my opinion, it is an excellent second book.
- Resilient Web Design - The Resilient Web Design is a free ebook by Jeremy Keith. It is not necessarily about accessibility but certainly about inclusivity. If you want to know what progressive enhancement is and why the HTML is resilient, it is a must.
If you like to learn with videos, you can find a lot of content about inclusive design. Mostly these are - at least the ones I watched - behind a paywall.
- Web Accessibility - A short, introductory, and good accessibility course for beginners from Google.
- Web Accessibility Curriculum Package - A complete course on accessibility. If you want to take the IAAP, WAS certification might be recommended.
- Start Building Accessible Web Applications Today - An excellent overall video course on Egghead.io about a lot of aspects of accessibility.
- Accessibility Tips & Tricks - Five accessibility short tips on Egghead.io.
- Accessible Cross-Browser CSS Form Styling - Create and style semantic and accessible forms.
- Web Accessibility for Designers: A guide to meeting accessibility guidelines for UI/UX designers - A well-structured, basic course about web accessibility with practical examples.
- Inclusive UX: Designing Websites for Everyone - In general about inclusive UX design, how to create anything for more people.
- A11ycasts - Various accessibility-related concepts and problems shown in a short and understandable video.
Today more people and experts write about accessibility. For the better progression it is a good idea to read them.
- Adrian Roselli - Adrian is one of my favorite authors, developer, expert. I recommend all your articles, really.
- Adam Silver - Adam is a great writer and inclusive developer. He specializes in forms. His book is one of my favorites.
- GOV.UK Accessibility - Check out how and what does the UK to be more inclusive.
- MDN - A great introduction from MDN into accessibility.
- WebAIM - WebAIM is a great player in the field of accessibility, and you can see this on its blog.
- Deque - From the Deque blog will always get the latest information and good learning resources.
- WCAG - The essential standard for you will be the WCAG as an accessibility expert. This W3 guide will help you start it!
- TPGi - You want to find the most respected accessibility experts? One of the answers TPGi (formerly known as The Paciello Group).
- Vox Product Accessibility Guidelines - You can learn a lot from VOX Media's guidelines related to a11y.
- Accessibility Wins - Showcasing accessible user interfaces and tools.
- Knowbility - Knowbility is a Texas-based non-profit organization. A respected organization specialized in accessible information technology.
- Manuel Matuzovic - Not just accessibility but (inclusive) web design and development in general. Always a good read.
Nowadays, the podcast is a popular format. It is easy to consume; you can get a lot of new information, ideal for a walk.
- 13 Letters - This podcast is brought to you by Be My Eyes. Everything about accessibility and inclusivity. Great conversations with industry leaders. It is a must.
Get regular related content through email is always a great idea. There are many new and great articles about accessibility.
- Accessibility Weekly - A weekly newsletter about anything web accessibility; start the week with great resources on the topic of a11y.
- WebAIM Monthly Newsletter - WebAIM is an industry leader with valuable content and tools. Subscribe to this newsletter if you are interested in monthly news about accessibility.
There are many public projects like inclusive components or debugger tools that we can learn a lot from.
- a11y.css - ally.css is a simple CSS file that works like a debugger. It shows the developer possible risks and mistakes that exist in HTML code. It has handy documentation where you can study how it works.
With data, we can quantify most of the things. It is no different with accessibility. It is nice to know the current state of a11y and various statistics about people who live with any disability.
- The WebAIM Million - The famous annual accessibility analysis of the top 1,000,000 home pages.
- Blindness and vision impairment - WHO's summary (statistics) about global blindness and vision impairment.
Testing accessibility is critical. You can't eliminate the in-person testing, but you can do the basics before it with some tools.
- axe DevTools - One of the more popular tools when it comes to accessibility testing. It is built into the developer consoles.
- Lighthouse - Lighthouse is a built-in Chrome audit tool where you can audit accessibility too.
- WAVE - WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool) is an excellent visual accessibility tester in the browser (with an extension), but you can also use its API.
- WebAIM's Contrast Checker - Designing with appropriate contrast is critical if you care about inclusivity. There is a lot of contrast checker that shows you the WCAG levels; I mainly use this.