The results of WebAIM’s 10th Screen Reader User Survey are now available. This survey was conducted in December 2023 and January 2024 and had 1539 respondents. Supported by BrowserStack Support for this research is funded in part by a donation from Here are a some of the notable items from this survey: JAWS remains the highest reported primary desktop/laptop screen reader at 40.5% of respondents, though usage dropped compared to NVDA which is now the primary screen reader for 37.7% of respondents. VoiceOver usage remains relatively stable at 9.7%. Primary screen reader usage varies by regi ..read more

WebAIM is thrilled to announce a strategic collaboration with BrowserStack, which shares our objective of creating an accessible digital world. WebAIM + BrowserStack = A shared vision for accessibility Late last year WebAIM Director Jared Smith sat down with the co-founders of BrowserStack to discuss our shared vision for inclusion and digital accessibility testing. He was impressed with their commitment to accessibility and excited about the ways we might work together. WebAIM has long been at the forefront of championing accessibility—striving to make the digital landscape inclusive for all ..read more

In the early years of Microsoft Office, support for screen reader users was limited, and in most cases required third-party software and workarounds. In Office 2007, the Ribbon interface was introduced. This “Fluent UI” was a boon to productivity for some users, but it initially posed significant challenges for screen reader users. To its credit, Microsoft moved quickly to develop keyboard shortcuts and other navigational aids to provide a more equivalent experience. Microsoft continued to improve support for screen readers users in Office 2010. It also introduced the Accessibility Checke ..read more

In August 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking soliciting feedback on its plans to define requirements and technical standards for making the web and mobile services, programs, and activities offered by State and local Government entities accessible to individuals with disabilities. The notice poses 67 questions regarding the implementation of new standards. Below are WebAIM’s responses to several notable questions. Question 2: Are there refinements to the definition of “web content” the Department should consider? WebAIM recommends the Department ensure ..read more

Remediating a website’s accessibility barriers can be a daunting effort. As WebAIM’s evaluation lead, I’ve worked with scores of companies, nonprofits, universities, and school districts to help them close existing accessibility gaps and avoid creating new ones. Naturally, one of the first questions a site owner asks is what they need to do. The answer invariably involves WCAG Level A and AA. But what about Level AAA? Since accessibility complaints—and laws, in the few places that have them—typically only mention Level A and AA, the AAA success criteria are seldom even considered. Even the Web ..read more

Introduction I’ve been evaluating websites for accessibility with WebAIM for nearly two years. Evaluating a website can be a daunting task, as there are many components to evaluate: images, color, page structure, and more. Other important aspects to test include keyboard navigation, reflow, and screen reader compatibility. So, where should you begin? Here are a few things I’ve learned so far in my time as WebAIM’s lead web accessibility evaluator. Evaluate Piece by Piece Web pages are typically made up of three distinct regions: the header (which usually contains the navigation region), the m ..read more

Introduction In the past couple of months, Zoom has made significant improvements to their support for captions and sign language interpreters. Automated captions are now available by default (without needing to be enabled by the host) in multiple languages and with more intuitive controls. Speaker identification within captions is scheduled to be added soon. Sign language interpreters can now be viewed in a separate window. Participants who need interpreters can now control the size and position of the interpreter window, and interpreter windows can be hidden from view by people who may find ..read more

As WebAIM has developed the WAVE accessibility evaluation tool over the years, many of our improvements have been driven by our own evaluation work. Here are some “power user” tips I use to get the most out of WAVE. Note: This article is for those who are already familiar with WAVE. If you are somewhat new to WAVE, we recommend reviewing the video introduction on the WAVE homepage. We also recommend reviewing our web accessibility evaluation guide for details on how to use WAVE as part of a thorough web accessibility evaluation. Use WAVE Browser Extensions Using the WAVE website is a good wa ..read more

Flexbox is a CSS technique for positioning content in rows and columns in a way that adapts well to responsive layouts. Flex items can grow or shrink to fit neatly within the space that they occupy, but their structure is not constrained to the rigid row-and-column model used in tables. Flexbox elements can also reposition themselves from row to row as needed. This is all well and good visually, but what about the screen reader experience? The Problem The hitch is, while the eye can explore the content in two dimensions, a screen reader necessarily linearizes the content into a one-dimensional ..read more

Screen Sharing Has Become Much More Common For many of us, phone calls have largely been replaced with meetings over video conferencing platforms like Zoom. One advantage to these platforms is the ability to share computer screens. We have all likely been in virtual meetings where someone says, “it’s easier if I just share my screen,” and it’s true that screen sharing is often an effective way to demonstrate tasks or share information. However, screen sharing comes with some accessibility dangers. Everyone benefits from clear verbal descriptions of onscreen actions. We have all been in situati ..read more