You submit a form. An error flashes: “Invalid.” That’s it.
Invalid what? Invalid how? Invalid because you used the wrong format, or invalid because the email is already taken, or invalid because the server had a seizure and forgot what an email even is?
For all the user knows, the system is lying. The form is broken. They’re blocked, with nowhere to go.
That’s where WCAG 3.3.3: Error Suggestion comes in. And its message is simple: tell people how to fix it.
Comments closedBefore I Can Fill It, I Need to Know What You’re Asking
There’s a form I encountered recently that had twelve fields. No labels. Just placeholder text inside each input that disappeared the moment you started typing. If you forgot what a field was asking for, you had to delete everything you’d entered just to see the hint again.
Twelve fields. Zero labels. Infinite frustration.
That’s not a design choice. That’s a barrier. And it’s exactly the kind of thing WCAG 3.3.2: Labels or Instructions exists to dismantle.
Comments closedWe’ve all been there. You fill out a form. You hit submit. Nothing happens. Maybe the border turns red. Maybe a little icon winks at you. Maybe your computer hums aggressively. But nobody tells you what went wrong.
You stare at the screen. “Did it fail? Did it work? Am I now married to a stranger?”
Silence is rude. Silence is inaccessible. And silence violates WCAG 3.3.1: Error Identification.
Comments closedWhy Labels Need to Match Across Pages
You’re at a party. Someone introduces themselves as “Michael.” You shake his hand, have a nice conversation, move on. Later that evening, you see him again across the room. You walk over and say, “Hey, Michael!” He looks at you blankly. “It’s Mike now.” Weird, but okay. A while later, you spot him by the snack table. “Mike!” you try again. He turns around. “Actually, it’s Mikey.”
You’d stop trying, right? You’d start avoiding this person. Not because you don’t like them, but because the rules keep changing and you can’t keep up.That’s what inconsistent identification feels like on a website.
Comments closedYou’re filling out your taxes. Your cursor lands in the first field. You start typing. And halfway through entering your email address—whoosh!—the form submits automatically.
Now you’re looking at an error page because you didn’t finish. Or worse, you submitted incomplete data and lost what you had typed. Your screen reader says something confusing. You have to start over.
Comments closedIf I had a podcast, I would tell you to close your eyes and imagine the following. But this is a blog post…
You’re walking down a hallway, hand out, ready to turn a doorknob. Your hand lands on the knob… and suddenly the door slides open before you touch it. Or worse, the room you thought you were entering is actually a closet full of vacuum cleaners. Disorienting, right? Jarring? A little bit scary?
That’s how a user feels when they tab through a webpage and a piece of content jumps, moves, or redirects them without asking for permission first.
Comments closedDon’t stop. The HHS Office for Civil Rights was due to implement rules enforcing WCAG 2.1 A and AA as the required standard for any digital asset from an organization receiving HHS funding starting Monday May 11, 2026. As expected following the shift for ADA Title II, HHS just delayed the rule.
Under the revised timeline:
- Recipients with 15 or more employees will now have until May 11, 2027, to comply.
- Recipients with fewer than 15 employees will now have until May 10, 2028, to comply.
I said it before and I’ll say it again. This is not a time to let up and relax. Especially for groups receiving these funds. Inaction on your part will likely to real world damage to individuals in need of those resources. Much more so than some of the Title II efforts.
You also have to deal with state laws. Many states have enacted their own version of the ADA and what is required for digital systems. Then there is the fact that the DOJ and HHS have been using WCAG 2.1 A and AA when assessing accessibility for several years already. Lastly, there are still private lawsuits. These won’t stop. Keep doing the work, more time allows you to make this habit and process or dig deeper if those are in place.
The current administration doesn’t care about civil rights. Disabled people have been fighting for generations to get equal access. It has been more than 35 years since the ADA passed and two generations grew up on the internet in that time. Yet, disabled people are still considered permissible to discriminate against.
Even though the administration doesn’t care, they do not make up the majority of this country. I hope you realize how wrong it is to deprive the disabled the same access to the world just because it took a little more effort.
Don’t wait. Don’t stop. Hell, go faster.
Comments closedHere’s a scenario I see all the time. A designer hands me a mockup with these elegant, tiny icons in a row; maybe a toolbar with edit, delete, and share buttons, each one maybe 16 pixels square. Looks clean. Minimal. Modern.
Then I put my thumb on it. And I miss. Every. Single. Time.
Comments closedHeadings and labels need to describe the content they are identifying in the content. This means when you have a H1 is should describe the page as a whole. Labels need to describe the data they are collecting. Seems simple. And usually it is. Let’s look at some examples of when it isn’t as clear.
Comments closedI’ve been encountering a pattern lately of developers trying to do things right when it comes to live regions, but not understanding how they essentially work. This tip is to provide a super high level on how they function.
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