Artiklar

For a webinar on November 11, I wanted to show how I code and test iOS apps using VoiceOver as a blind developer. To make it realistic, I built a small e-commerce prototype that naturally ended up with the same types of accessibility issues I often encounter in real projects. The premise was simple: build the app “normally,” without deliberately creating accessibility issues, and then fix whatever emerged, all without changing a single pixel of its visual design. This article walks through how I improved the VoiceOver experience on the Product Detail Page (PDP), and how those changes impacted Full Keyboard Access and Voice Control.

Wheelchair users experience accessibility challenges at fuel and charging stations that most people never notice. The issue isn’t our disabilities, but the way fuel and charging stations are designed. This is finally starting to change. The European Accessibility Act (EAA) now requires self-service terminals to be accessible, which is a big deal for anyone who has ever struggled with a poorly placed payment screen.

If your company builds websites, apps, or digital services for cities, counties, school districts, or any other state or local government body in the US—there’s a major accessibility deadline coming your way.

Are you looking to comply with the ADA, perhaps in order to win government contracts in the US, or just to show the world you care about accessibility and inclusion? Then you need something called a ”VPAT”. Here is what that means!

A while ago, I was using an iPad app where the main call-to-action wasn’t marked as a button. As a blind VoiceOver user, I simply couldn’t find the one thing the entire screen was built around.
I tried tabbing with Full Keyboard Access; nothing.
I tried Voice Control; still nothing to target, nothing to say.

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) – formally Directive (EU) 2019/882 – became EU law 2019 and forces private companies to provide digitally accessible products and services to EU consumers. But when? Deadlines for companies can be hard to grasp because … it depends! Don’t worry though, this guide will clear it up!

Ads online today are not built with accessibility in mind. I’ve asked if there are good ad-platforms out there and the answer is a silent tumbleweed rolling slowly across the dessert. Why is it like this? Time for advertisement platforms to step up!

In my early teens, when my sight was slowly entering the low-vision territory, I loved football (soccer, if you’re American). These days, despite being blind, I still follow scores and a few leagues. My favorite iOS app for keeping up with football is Forza Football, thanks to its outstanding support for VoiceOver, Apple’s built-in screen reader for blind and low-vision users.

If your company is covered by the European Accessibility Act (EAA), you’ll need to handle two types of accessibility reporting: a publicly available accessibility statement and a report to the national monitoring authority whenever you discover an accessibility issue. Here’s a hands-on guide to both.

Smart tech lets me be a writer, a cat owner, and a caffeine addict on my own terms. That’s not just convenience – that’s access.

The EAA has come into effect and many businesses and organisations have worked to meet the accessibility requirements set by the EU Accessibility Directive. For public websites and private organisations providing public services, this deadline means that their digital services must be accessible to all users, including people with disabilities.

Tech giants such as Microsoft and Apple are integrating glassmorphism into their design languages, aiming for a refined, unique, modern and engaging user interface (UI). However, the appealing nature of frosted-glass effects raises questions about accessibility, especially for consumers with cognitive and visual impairments.

I see… ICT”, says Daniel while reading the tea leaves in his steaming cup. Let’s see what important message does the future bring?

It’s been annoying me for a very long time that accessibility statements are so damn bureaucratic. People take the templates provided which are made for legal compliance – and they suck. Why not make the statements a place for people to receive help and get easy to understand information on the things that might not work so well for them?

Does making your website accessible feel a bit intimidating or overwhelming? Are you unsure where to begin? Don’t worry, here are a few quick steps to look for low-hanging fruit, with no technical expertise required!

June 28, 2025. That’s the deadline for all banking services and e-commerce in the EU to be fully compliant with the European Accessibility Act (EAA). Here’s a straight-to-the-point summary of what you need to know!

In June 2025, the European Accessibility Act will be enforced. Most of the buzz is around websites and apps, but many physical devices will also be covered by the new legislation. Let’s look at that more closely and create some buzz around the accessibility of touch screens and other physical devices!

You may think QR codes are great for securing your login, or letting users read more online about a product marketed in a newspaper ad. But there’s a high risk of creating barriers for people with disabilities unless you use QR codes correctly. This article is your ultimate guide to accessible QR codes!

I got a chance to try out the Apple Vision Pro for an hour. Having a vision impairment myself, I obviously dove straight into the accessibility settings to find out if this new, hyped technology would work for me. Let’s go through how it went.

I hate to see how many marketing emails that go to waste and frankly, suck! It really has irritated me throughout the years – so much it became my contribution to Axe-con 2024 and this article.

Here are seven great free tools that help you measure color contrasts and create beautiful, accessible color schemes that fulfill the contrast requirements in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

You’ve all seen them, tiny switches that let you toggle a setting. And maybe, just like me, you sometimes pause, thinking “…Is it on or off?” That’s because toggles suck!

Letar du efter en gratis snabbguide, en ”cheat sheet” eller en ”one pager” för hur man testar mjukvara med skärmläsare? Då är du på rätt plats!

Looking for a free quick guide, a ”cheat sheet” or a ”one pager” for screen reader testing? You’ve come to the right place!

Interacting with our fan base is a fulfilling part of my job. Yesterday I got a request to write an article on why the font size on this site sucks. So let’s not waste any time and get straight to it!

Can you keep a secret? Here’s why you should keep testing your product with users, but not say that’s what you’re doing. Basically – how to test with users without anyone knowing!

In the EU, the laws on digital accessibility for the public sector all point to a standard called EN 301 549. It’s been updated, and here in Europe a lot of people who work with web sites and apps are asking what this means for them.

Accessibility is exciting, user-centered and should make you jump out of bed each workday morning with a proud grin on your face. Accessibility legislation is boring, text-centered and makes you snooze your alarm at least four times before getting up. But let’s see how to use the boring laws to get to do exciting, high impact work!

I’m a dad since a few weeks back. This means I spend my days trying to keep a tiny, helpless lump of life alive. Scary stuff! I’ve also realised that this dad-thing comes with a ton of accessibility needs.

The world has changed due to Covid-19. A lot of people are in quarantine, voluntary or involuntary. Shops and restaurants are closed or have new rules to restrict crowding. One way to support local restaurants is to buy prepared meals in takeaway apps. But, how are these takeaway apps in terms of accessibility?

There’s a new kid in design town: neumorphism. It’s predicted to become a big design trend ahead. Let’s look at what neumorphism is, the potential accessibility pitfalls and how to use it responsibly.

At Axess Lab we strive to make the world more accessible for people with disabilities. But what’s the point of an accessible world if we can’t survive in it?

A screen reader is an assistive technology, primarily used by people with vision impairments. It converts text, buttons, images and other screen elements into speech or braille. Let’s go through what a screen reader is, how it works and see blind people in action!

There is no better way to understand the importance of accessibility and inclusive design than learning from actual users with disabilities. Here’s a collection of our favorite YouTube videos where people showcase how they use assistive technologies like screen readers, eye tracking, zoom and switches.

Stephen Hawking used something called a switch to communicate, author books and surf the web. Just like Stephen, millions of people around the world with motor impairments use switches to access technology. Sadly, the awareness and knowledge about this assistive technology is generally low. So it’s time to switch the spotlight on switch users!

Web teams usually spend a tremendous amount of time, money and energy on designing lovely, beautiful start pages. Let’s apply the psychological concept known as the peak-end rule to question that and introduce a flipped approach to web design.

To be honest, I don’t really have time to write this article. I’ve got loads of other things I should be doing. But it needs to be written. Now. So I’ve popped up my laptop on the bus and am angrily typing away.

It’s well known in the accessibility community that the road to an inclusive digital world is through awareness. And what better way to raise awareness than wearing an awesome, head-turning accessibility t-shirt?

Axess Lab is a team of IT professionals who want to make life easier for everybody. And it seems to be working!

There are lots of stereotypes about the elderly and tech or the world wide web. Many portray the over-sixty crowd as being unable to cope with modern tech.

Hi Instagram! We’re thrilled to see you’re improving your accessibility by making it possible to write alt-texts for images. As a token of appreciation, we’ve made you part of our Axessified-series! This means you get some top-notch, tailored inclusive design tips to help you take the next step on your accessibility journey!

Hey Accessibility Scotland! I like you guys even though you invented golf…

A lot of the accessibility initiatives today are focused on web sites and apps. But there’s of course more to the digital world than that. In this article we’ll look at a case where a team has done great work to make their digital comic accessible to people with visual impairments.

It’s pride week here in Stockholm, Sweden! So we thought we’d celebrate by sharing a few tips on how to create a LGBTQ-inclusive digital environment.

Many websites have an accessibility feature called skip links that help some users navigate the site. However, there’s a problem with basically all skip links on mobile devices, which hurts your site’s accessibility instead of improving it.

In this article we’ll examine an overlooked accessibility problem that mainly affects users with hand tremors. It’s in almost every interface out there, but barely ever highlighted in accessibility guidelines or discussions. It’s also super easy to fix!

I am a screen reader user, and I am annoyed! I repeatedly encounter the same problem on websites. It’s about text splitting up. Let me share my agony with you!

A switch is an assistive technology primarily used by people with motor impairments to access and control computers, smartphones, electric wheelchairs, smart home appliances and more. Let’s look at some switches in action and go through how you design switch friendly interfaces.

Many people I meet think title texts, also known as tooltips, improve both the accessibility and usability of their sites. They don’t. In fact, they can even cause problems. Let’s see why!

Under 2018 ska vi göra massor av spännande projekt som gör digitala världen mer tillgänglig. Vi letar efter utvecklare med hjärtat på rätt ställe som vill göra skillnad i världen!

Open source is awesome and even though we’re a startup we’ve found a way to pay our employees to contribute to the community. Here’s how and why we do it.

It’s been a great 2017 at Axess Lab! We celebrate by listing our most popular articles all year.

”It would be great to see actual examples of accessibility in action. Like before and after accessibility improvements.” I got this great comment from a woman in the audience at a meetup. So let’s make that idea a reality!

There are a lot of unfortunate misconceptions about people with disabilities. Many trickle down into IT-teams who use them as arguments not to care about accessibility. So it’s time to set some things straight!

Users spend a large portion of their days in apps. However, there is not yet as much focus on app accessibility as web accessibility. It’s time to change that!

I just got the new iPhone X. To my surprise, the first impression was not good at all for me as a user with a visual impairment. Apple usually don’t let me down, but now they seem to have made blunder.

Captchas were invented to protect websites from spam. However, like the well-meaning invention of nuclear fusion, captchas too got some unethical and destructive side effects. Here’s why captchas suck and what to do instead.

Jumping on a new trend is risky business, both in fashion and web design! Here is why trends often hurt the user experience and exclude users with disabilities. I’ll also go through what you can do to avoid this from happening.

This post contains everything you need to know about alt-texts! When to use them and how to perfectly craft them. By me, Daniel, a web developer with vision impairment who use a screen reader in my day-to-day life.

Using charm and humor in interfaces is a hugely underestimated technique that can make the user experience delightful, memorable and sharable. Here’s how to design, write and illustrate your way to smiling users!

Worried about the new directive on accessibility that you need to follow? Great, you’re in the right place! Here’s everything you need to know about the directive and a seven step guide on how to comply.

We often get asked how many people have a disability. So here is everything we think you need to know about the statistics.

If you’re trying to make your website or app accessible, you’ve probably stumbled over the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). But don’t waste your energy trying to understand them. Just don’t.

Datepickers often cause problems to assistive technology users and fail several basic criteria in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). But datepickers can – and should – be made accessible. Here is how to do it and a few examples you can steal or get inspired by!

It’s Colorblind Awareness Day today! To celebrate, we raise awareness by giving you some practical examples of how design can hurt or help users with color vision deficiencies.

If you’re an art director or font fanatic, you might want to sit down for this. Take a few deep breaths. Go to your happy place. Because I’m going to explain why fonts are overrated and what actually matters for readability.

Icons used correctly can enhance both the user experience and look of your interface. Sadly, more and more designers are using them in the wrong way. And it’s hurting both the usability and accessibility of the interface.

I recently met people with motor impairments to do user research. To my surprise, they turned out to prefer online shopping sites to public health care sites. This in Sweden, a country at the forefront of technology and with supposedly the best health care in the world. Is this really possible?

There are around ten times as many people who use screen magnifiers than screen readers. However, focus always seems to fall on screen readers in accessibility discussions and guidelines. Let’s change that! Here are a few tips on how to make your interface accessible to screen magnifiers.

Showing buttons as disabled until a form is complete might seem like a good idea. It is not. They usually create a lousy user experience and exclude many people with disabilities. Here’s why disabled buttons suck and what to do instead.

Standing in line isn’t fun for anyone, but it’s often extra annoying for people with low vision due to inaccessible technology. In a pharmacy in Stockholm we found an awesome, simple solution by Qmatic. Check out this 13 seconds video (captioned) to see it in action!

”If you have a disability, what’s the hardest thing about browsing the web?” The answers to Safia Abdalla’s tweet are truly eye-opening and shows us what web accessibility should really be about.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 are planned to be released in June 2018. Even though a lot may change before the release, we already have some indication of what’s going to be new in the 2.1 update.

Like regular user tests, it’s not rocket science to test with users with disabilities. And it will give you so much more than reading checklists or testing with non-disabled users.

Hello! We are Axess Lab, a Swedish startup focusing on digital accessibility. Glad you’ve found us!