A LIST Apart: For People Who Make Websites

No. 288

July 21, 2009

How to integrate accessibility with front-end development instead of treating it as an afterthought—an item on a checklist. And why not every form of writing can be expressed in semantic HTML.

Unwebbable

It’s time we came to grips with the fact that not every “document” can be a semantic “web page.” Some forms of writing just cannot be expressed in HTML—or they need to be bent and distorted to do so. But for once, XML can help. Joe Clark explains.

The Inclusion Principle

To make accessible design an organic element of front-end development, we must free our thinking from the constraints we associate with accessible design and embrace the inclusion principle. Margit Link-Rodrigue tells us how.

A List Apart explores the design, development, and meaning of web content, with a special focus on web standards and best practices. Explore our articles or find out more about us.

Editor’s Choice

originally ran: November 14, 2003

How to Save Web Accessibility from Itself

An upcoming revision to the Web Accessibility Guidelines is in danger of becoming unrealistically divorced from real-world web development, yielding guidelines that are at once too vague and too specific. Your expertise and input can help create realistic guidelines that work.