Skip to search Skip to main content

Does the <body> rule the mind or does the mind rule the <body>?

Indecisive Skip Links and their Targets – the Renaissance of the <hr> Element

Posted

Updated

Do not forget
They tried to turn you
Into a public target

Morrissey, “I am not a Dog on a Chain”

Sometimes, it is easy to identify the position of skip links. Mostly when content blocks follow with a lot of interactive elements, or just a lot of content. But what about their target? Do you always know where to skip to? Do you know what follows your widget, component or element? There are many articles about skip links, but none about their targets. Maybe this is the first…

Accessibility Issues concerning Windows High Contrast Mode

Posted

Updated

And in the darkened underpass
I thought oh God, my chance has come at last
(but then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn’t ask)

The Smiths, “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”

There is more to Web Accessibility than screen readers and machine readability. One of the more excotic topics there is user preferences via operating system or user generated style sheets. The more commonly known was introduced by Microsoft with Windows 7:

Windows High Contrast Mode (Win HCM).

A Presentation on Progressive Enhancement

Posted

Updated

Why pamper life’s complexity
When the leather runs smooth
On the passenger’s seat?

The Smiths, “This Charming Man”

Here is a little presentation of a talk I recently held to my colleagues on Progressive Enhancement. It was made to convince my backend oriented fellow developers to implement stuff the right way with some best practice frontend technique.

Proposal for a more accessible Download Link

Posted

Updated

And people who are uglier than you and I
They take what they need, and leave

The Smiths, “A Roush And A Push And The Land Is Ours”

If you want to offer downloadable files to your user, how do you perfectly wrap those for all of them? Just putting a hyperlink around a file name seems so outdated. With modern HTML5, this can be made much better and more accessible.

An accessible microinteractions button

Posted

Updated

Any man could get used to
And I am the living sign

The Smiths, “Vicar In A Tutu”

Microinteractions consist of the subtle feedback moments in small single tasks, for example a light switch. The light bulp itself returns the feedback immediately after the switch is used. Another example might be vibrating cellphones when you receive a message. This haptic feedback is so powerful you even feel it, if the phone is in your pocket.