Syed Hassan

Tech Notes Google IO, the annual developer conference, once again amazed audiences with its groundbreaking announcements. Held on May 10, 2023 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA, this year's event showcased a wide range of exciting developments across various domains, with a less notable focus on accessibility during the keynote. In this blog post, we provide a comprehensive overview of the key accessibility-related announcements made at Google IO 2023, highlighting the…

Tech Notes As a blind software developer and accessibility specialist who has been using a screen reader for 14 years, I can say that learning how to effectively use a screen reader can feel daunting. In fact, many who are new to understanding digital accessibility may not even know exactly what a screen reader is or how it works. A screen reader is an assistive technology software that allows people who are blind or visually impaired to use computers, phones, and tablets independently. These…

Tech Notes As a blind accessibility tester with 16 years of screen reader experience, the most frequent accessibility issue I encounter while using and testing digital assets on both mobile and web platforms is the violation of the “Name, Role, Value” guideline, which often poses some serious challenges to screen reader users as it essentially makes navigation a guessing game. While we at AFB always champion usability over basic compliance, we also always root our findings in the Web Content…

Tech Content Website accessibility overlays are becoming increasingly common because of the quick and easy accessibility fix they are often promised to provide. However, they not only fail to serve assistive technology users with an effective user experience but also fail to protect website owners from litigation, which is often a principle premise for their usage. At the AFB Talent Lab, we strongly recommend that you do not use any third-party scripts to try to fix your site’s underlying…

Tech Notes Videos have quickly become a popular online medium, being regularly consumed by millions of people around the world engaging with information on a daily basis. And with that comes the challenge of ensuring everyone can easily access the content without missing any information that might only be presented visually. Unfortunately, accessibility is often overlooked during digital video production, even though when considered from the beginning, it dramatically increases viewership and…