How do people with disabilities use the internet? Accessibility and inclusive design have gained popularity recently, but a lot of web developers are still unaware of what they can do to make their sites and apps work for everyone. Even with a lot of goodwill, practical knowledge is needed: it can be overwhelming to try to use a screen reader, use the internet without a mouse, get notifications with no audio or empathise with reading and cognitive impairments. Things like ARIA and tab order logic can also be intimidating and may lead developers to make experiences worse when they think they are improving it.

This workshop will be part-talk, part-practical, to demystify accessibility: why it matters, what are the things to consider, how to test and find issues, and most importantly what you can do to fix them. Participants will have hands-on exercises of using a screen reader on their own devices, navigating using just a keyboard, and identify what's a good and a terrible experience. We will work on hands-on exercises with HTML and JavaScript to fix custom components, understand the logic, and for more experienced developers we will cover ARIA components and building accessible custom elements like accordions and tab panels.