The AI Model Accessibility Checker (AIMAC) is a groundbreaking, open-source tool designed to hold Large Language Models (LLMs) accountable for how effectively they generate accessible HTML. By using neutral, nonspecific prompts, just...
Welcome to DubBot! We're excited to help you get up and running! Just because our software is self-service doesn't mean you’re on your own! Our Client Support Team works closely with you to get to know you and your team,...
There was an interesting conversation on the DubBot support line the other day. A potential client had asked one of our account executives to "compare and contrast" the accessibility checking features of DubBot with their organization’s...
DubBot is proud to sponsor this outstanding event where agency leaders, technologists, creatives, and higher education professionals converge to discuss accessibility, digital strategy, content, and user...
For most colleges and universities, commencement is over, signifying the end of another academic year. Summer term has arrived! For many faculty, this is a time of rest, reflection, and regrouping. That regrouping may include a new or updated...
A sustainable, continuous accessibility monitoring strategy is essential for ensuring long-term digital accessibility compliance and improvement. Here are some key elements that make such a strategy effective and sustainable. Build Accessibility...
Why Spelling Still Matters Misspelled words damage credibility and erode trust — they also disrupt user flow and negatively impact search engine rankings. Maintaining proper spelling across your website is a strategic advantage....
Tomorrow, May 15, is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)—a day to shine a light on digital access and inclusion for the more than one billion people worldwide living with disabilities and impairments. How will you be...
May 15 holds special significance for many of us in the accessibility community — it's the day we proudly celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). Behind this crucial annual event lies a dedicated organization: the GAAD...
If you work in higher education IT, you know the Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT). It can be a heavy lift at times, but it’s essential for keeping tabs on vendor risks around security and privacy. It helps...
What is meant by crawling a website? Just like a librarian who meticulously inventories every shelf in a library, writing down the title, author, and subject of each book, a website crawl, also known as a spider crawl or web crawl, is the process...
I first wrote about overlays in February 2021 in a post titled "The Problem with Overlays." The post is pretty simple. It defines overlays, gives examples of how they function, and explains why they are not an acceptable solution for your...
Last week, while scrolling through a social media channel, I stumbled upon an interesting article from NPR. The article's subject is "that more than half of the 1,260 Americans surveyed say they're watching shows with subtitles on because the...
Accessibility remediation work can be very detailed; a single issue can span hundreds of web pages. Effective task management is crucial for successful remediation projects and efficient workflows. Breaking a large project into small, manageable...
We've all been there. You click on a link only to be met with the dreaded "404 Not Found" page. Broken links leading to "404 Not Found" errors frustrate users. Beyond the inconvenience, these errors harm your website's search engine...
Making your PDFs accessible doesn't have to be a daunting task. By focusing on a few fundamental principles, you can significantly enhance the usability of your documents and reach a wider audience. Here are four key principles for making PDFs...
Before I discuss accessibility for mobile apps, I want to differentiate between mobile apps and mobile websites. A mobile website is like any website you visit on your computer, but it is designed to be responsive and function well on mobile...
Have you ever noticed that most WCAG accessibility standards emphasize how content is delivered, not the content itself? While Section Headings (2.4.10) and Reading Level (3.1.5) relate to content, they are Level AAA criteria. Generally,...
In March, I wrote a blog post focused on the importance of labels, specifically for familiar web components such as documents, icons, image maps, and form controls. These elements are often top-of-mind when creating accessible web...
I was offline all day last week for a small road trip. On the drive home, I was thinking about what the next blog post should be about. I keep a running list of topics on my computer, and while driving down I-95, I was running through that list in...
Achieving a comprehensive accessibility evaluation requires automated scans and manual testing. Manual testing allows for the simulation of how people with various disabilities use the web, which can uncover accessibility barriers that automated...
While automated tools, like DubBot, quickly crawl large amounts of content to rapidly identify common accessibility barriers, that represents just half of the complete picture. A comprehensive accessibility evaluation of WCAG compliance requires...
When writing a Request for Proposal (RFP), it is crucial to include clear and specific accessibility requirements to ensure that the products or services procured are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. At a minimum, the...
If you are working to achieve search engine optimization (SEO), you know that "content is king!" Your website must have high-quality, informative, and engaging content. Proper spelling and good readability are two integral elements of high-quality...
While we often frame accessibility through guidelines and standards—WCAG compliance, screen reader compatibility, and color contrast—it can be easy to lose sight of the actual human impact of accessibility—real people...
Imagine a spice rack with only abstract symbols on the jars. You might recognize a chili pepper as "spicy," but what about a swirly symbol? Is that cinnamon or something else entirely? You're left guessing and potentially ruining your dish. Now...
DubBot is proud to be an exhibitor sponsor for DrupalCon Atlanta 2025! DrupalCon is the essential conference for advancing your skills with curated sessions and panels from the Drupal community's most influential contributors. Join us...
Imagine following a recipe with the baking instructions before the ingredient list, or trying to assemble furniture with the final step illustrated first. Or think of a GPS giving you directions to turn left after you've already passed the...
As accessibility considers users with disabilities, website performance considers devices and connection speeds. Optimizing for performance is critical to creating a genuinely accessible online experience. What is Website Performance? Website...
A well-placed quote in a blog post can significantly enhance its impact and effectiveness. Quotes are essential for providing evidence, enhancing credibility, and enriching the narrative while maintaining clarity and coherence. But when writing...
Sign Language Recognition (SLR) systems convert visual sign language—gestures, body movements, and facial expressions—into accessible spoken or written forms. This conversion is achieved through complex AI algorithms and...
The wait is over! We're thrilled to announce the official launch of the DubBot WordPress plugin. After a successful beta period, this plugin is live and ready to streamline your content quality workflow directly within your WordPress editor. For...
While the concept of chatbots has been around for decades (the first chatbot, ELIZA, was created way back in 1966), they've become a widespread part of the internet experience in the last 15-20 years. Chatbots are valuable tools that offer 24/7...
For many, searching, finding, and finally reading that really good book is a familiar, pleasurable experience. We stroll through the bookstore (or online), search for a specific title or browse the new releases, make our purchase, and dive into...
Color is a powerful tool. It evokes emotions, adds vibrancy to our surroundings, and significantly influences how we navigate the world. However, for people with low vision, color vision deficiency, or color blindness, color can also be...
With the recent update to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards, state and local governments must ensure that their web content and mobile apps comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level A and AA success...
Just like buyer personas help us understand our target audience, accessibility personas help us understand the specific challenges and needs of users with disabilities. Accessibility personas educate us about our users in ways other data cannot,...
In the DubBot app, you can create Sites. A Site is just what it sounds and reads like. You customize DubBot crawls for your entire website. Or, as best practices suggest, you can "break" your website into smaller sites to make crawling faster. For...
"What does progress over perfection mean when it comes to accessibility? It means to get started. Don’t wait until everything is done and perfect. The small steps make a big difference." ~ Collective Speakers, Meryl...
The digital accessibility team at Ohio University is launching a new initiative, "Accessibility Habits," to increase accessibility awareness across the campus. Last week, we spoke with Jill Bateman, the Digital Accessibility Coordinator and CPACC,...
Closed captioning has become an essential standard for deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals. Yet its equally important counterpart, audio description, often remains overlooked. Audio description provides narrated commentary that...
Toxic work environments are often characterized by detrimental factors such as: Siloed departments—Poor communication and collaboration between teams, hindering overall productivity and innovation. Excessive emphasis on...
The first item on the list in Jakob Nielsen’s "10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design" is the visibility of system status. This heuristic states, "The design should always keep users informed about what is going on through...
Destructive buttons aim to prevent accidental data loss. They are typically used for actions with irreversible consequences, such as closing an account, deleting files, or removing personnel records from a database. Destructive buttons usually...
Both ALT text and the <figcaption> element enhance image accessibility but require different writing styles. Let's look at the less familiar <figure> and <figcaption> elements to help clarify that requirement. What is...
By working together, hosts and guests can create a truly inclusive and enjoyable New Year's Eve party where everyone feels valued and celebrated. Here are two last-minute checklists for hosts and attendees to help ensure a successful and...
The new year is almost here, so it's time to get serious about those New Year's resolutions. 🥳 This year, aim to take your accessibility knowledge and skills to the next level. Resolve to earn an accessibility specialist...
Happy Holidays from DubBot!
While image maps are less commonly used than they once were, they can still be useful in some situations. An image map is a good idea when you want to create interactive elements within a visual image, such as a map, diagram, or product picture....
WCAG doesn't cover all possible accessibility issues and solutions. While it is the best place to start to make your website compliant, it's not the whole picture when it comes to accessibility. There is a substantial body of accessibility advice...
To wrap up 2024, our engineers have identified the top five accessibility hurdles the DubBot app reported to our clients. #1 Color Contrast SC 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) Level AA Have you ever struggled to read a website on your phone outdoors?...
Introducing the beta DubBot WordPress module. DubBot subscribers can now experience a simplified version of the DubBot interface directly within your WordPress editor. Using DubBot’s accessibility and content quality checks,...
Feedback mechanisms are essential for collecting and sharing constructive input, evaluations, or suggestions for improvement. They can be as simple as a quick chat or as formal as a survey or review and are instrumental in providing actionable...
Just last year, DubBot, in collaboration with our friends at Lullabot, announced the release of our Drupal module. The Drupal module offers comprehensive functionalities for optimizing your website’s accessibility and...
You might read the blog's title and think, "How much is there to know about links and buttons?" A hyperlink, or link, is for moving from one page to another, and a button triggers an action, like the submit button on a web...
There’s a misunderstanding that accessible design is inherently unattractive. However, accessibility and aesthetics are not mutually exclusive; achieving both is possible with thoughtful design. Let's look at some of the key elements...
After weeks of comparing schedules and two cancellations, my best friend and I were finally going to have dinner at the new vegan cafe downtown. I plugged the address into my GPS, and off we went, following the directions exactly, only to be...
Website cookies are important because they help website owners comply with data privacy laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). They also give users control over their personal data by informing them about cookie use and...
It's unlikely that people will stop using generative AI tools for coding assistance. It's natural for people to adopt tools that make them more effective, like no-code website builders (Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, etc.), which empower people to...
What exactly are footnotes? Footnotes are notes that are placed at the end of a page and used to reference parts of the text (generally using superscript numbers). Writers use footnotes for several purposes, including citations,...
Ignoring website accessibility can come with a hefty price tag, both financially and in terms of reputation. According to "The WebAIM Million," WebAIM's 2024 report on the accessibility of 1,000,000 homepages, "95.9% of home pages...
If your organization wants to redesign its website, don’t forget to include DubBot in your tool kit. The accessibility testing capabilities can be incorporated from the start, including for secure development environments. Just...
Understanding the difference between "change of context" and "change of content" is critical for web accessibility. A change of context represents a significant shift in the webpage's structure or navigation, while a change of content is a minor...
Have you ever been on a website where the background seems to move at a speed different from the foreground, creating a 3D effect? That's called parallax scrolling. First used in 2007 with Javascript and CSS 2, parallax scrolling didn't gain...
Marketing that resonates with our personal identities and experiences is more likely to capture our attention and influence our buying decisions. That kind of marketing is inclusive marketing. Inclusive marketing is a strategy that recognizes and...
Authentication is the process of verifying a person's or system's identity. It's similar to showing your passport at customs. Authentication helps to ensure that only authorized individuals or systems can access restricted resources. Those...
October marks National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), a time to celebrate the diverse talents and contributions individuals with disabilities bring to the workplace. This year's theme, "Access to Good Jobs for All," emphasizes...
A design system is a central resource collection of reusable components that streamline digital product development, ensuring consistency and efficiency. An accessible design system includes accessibility documentation, guidelines, and...
Have you ever found yourself staring at a CAPTCHA, squinting and tilting your head, trying to decipher the distorted letters or images? CAPTCHAs are notoriously inaccessible. So why do so many websites use them? And how can they be made more...
We're excited to celebrate Penny Kronz's recent win at the HighEdWeb Annual Conference! For her presentation, "Accessibility Insights," Penny was awarded the coveted Red Stapler Award. This is her second year in a row to win this prestigious...
Email plays a vital role in both personal and professional communications and interactions. However, its effectiveness hinges on ensuring it's accessible to everyone, regardless of their abilities. Accessible emails are just as important as...
People with low vision often need to resize text to make it more easily readable. Understanding the units px, em, and rem is essential for creating websites that accommodate these needs. In this post, we'll explore the differences between these...
Tables are powerful tools for organizing and presenting information clearly and concisely. Still, if not designed correctly, they can also be a source of frustration for people with disabilities, especially screen reader users. This...
"You say tomato; I say tomoto." This familiar phrase highlights the differences in pronunciation but underscores the importance of personal choice and preference. When it comes to language, the choice between Person-First and Identity-First...
As a proud supporter since 2018, DubBot is thrilled to continue our sponsorship with HighEdWeb. This year, DubBot is a Platinum Sponsor and Accessibility Partner for the HighEdWeb Annual Conference. Join us in person (or virtually) for the Annual...
DubBot is proud to be a sponsor for #EvolveDrupal NYC! This outstanding event is hosted by our partner and friends at Evolving Web. DubBot’s VP of Client Services, Penny Kronz, will deliver her presentation titled...
This is the second blog in a series titled "Social Media & AllY." See part one here - "Social Media & AllY - Part 1: Design Elements & Written Content." Part two of a two-part blog series explores practical tips for creating...
Social media has become an integral part of our lives, connecting us with friends, family, and communities. However, navigating these platforms can often be challenging for individuals with disabilities. Creating accessible social media content...
Hey there, DubBot fans! Want to show off your love for DubBot? We've got just the thing for you! Complete this short web form, and we'll send you a free DubBot sticker..or two! It's a small token of appreciation for being part of the DubBot...
In our recent blog post, "The Accessible PDF: Techniques for Creating a Document Everyone Can Use," we discussed the essential characteristics of an accessible PDF document: Proper Structure Readable and Searchable Text ALT Text Logical...
What is Tabindex? "The tabindex global attribute allows developers to make HTML elements focusable, allow or prevent them from being sequentially focusable (usually with the Tab key, hence the name), and determine their relative ordering for...
The decisions designers make regarding colors, spacing, fonts, etc., directly impact the accessibility and inclusivity of the websites they design. Accessibility is crucial for website designers. This checklist offers practical...
Accessibility audits are a vital first step in creating digital experiences that are usable by everyone, regardless of ability. What is an Accessibility Audit? An accessibility audit is a comprehensive evaluation of your digital platforms and...
College is a time of growth, independence, and new experiences. However, for students with disabilities, navigating the accommodation process can be a journey marked by unique challenges and opportunities. According to the Postsecondary National...
As technology continues to integrate into the learning experience, it's imperative that all students, regardless of ability, have equal access to digital resources and information. Digital accessibility is a critical issue that higher education...
Why does math need to be accessible? Watch this video, and you will see and hear why. We rely heavily on numbers to communicate and share ideas every day. From cultural traditions to financial planning, medicine to law, numbers are everywhere...
Toggle switches are the digital equivalent of a physical on / off switch. They're used everywhere, from online exams to mobile apps. One of the most recognized uses of toggle switches is your operation system or browser's preference page(s). For...
Yesterday, Tuesday, July 30, was the HighEdWeb Accessibility Summit. I attended a poster session titled "Designing, developing, and testing accessible web carousels," presented by Michael Bolton from Carnegie and Alayna Setterlind from Carnegie...
Focus indicators help users who rely on a keyboard or assistive technology to navigate a page. They help users know exactly where they are within a digital document or webpage and make navigating with a keyboard easier, just like a cursor...
Do you ever wonder if the new software, app, or online help documentation you're considering is accessible to everyone? An Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) is a tool that promotes inclusivity by telling you how well a product meets...
PDFs can offer stability, portability, and a clean presentation for documents across many platforms. But let's face it: PDFs are not everyone's friend. A PDF can present significant challenges in accessing information for people relying on...
QR codes are powerful tools because they combine the simple design of QR codes with the prevalence of smartphones. Instead of typing out a potentially long and complicated URL, users can scan the code with their phone's camera. This saves time and...
What Are Landmarks? HTML landmarks are like major landmarks in a big city—the park, the library, the capital building—instantly recognizable areas or buildings that serve a specific purpose. Landmarks identify specific...
WCAG won't just be for websites anymore. WCAG 3 will address the accessibility of web content on desktops, laptops, tablets, mobile devices, wearable devices, and other Internet-of-things devices. WCAG 3 will apply to various types of web...
Imagine a potential client or student visiting your website, eager to learn more, but their experience is hindered by the low contrast between background and text or the fact that they can't navigate your site with a keyboard. A website experience...
HighEdWeb, the association for digital professionals in higher education, offers unique opportunities for you to expand your knowledge alongside a diverse group of higher-ed digital experts. DubBot, a supporter of HighEdWeb since 2018, is proud...
Fireworks may have just faded, and the barbecues are still smoldering, but the spirit of independence is far from over. While we celebrate the United States' independence on July 4th, let's not forget another vital day for equality just around the...
Jared Smith, Associate Director of WebAIM, has stated, "There is not a best typeface or font." Alas, it's a hard truth. However, some fonts have characteristics that make them more accessible than others, and there are pro tips you can follow to...
Creating accessible forms is not just a choice; it's a necessity. Many seemingly simple web forms can pose significant challenges for users with disabilities. This blog will guide you through some fundamental principles that will help you craft...
Have you ever clicked a button and felt like you've entered the digital abyss? No spinning wheel, no progress bar, just... silence. Frustrating, right? That frustration can be caused by a lack of or an inaccessible progress...
