I’m a user experience writer (more than a UI copy writer) and content strategist in the Seattle area. I design help, training and support features for an IT admin tool. I also consider myself something of an accessibility expert – especially in writing screen reader text.
In my free time I love painting and hiding rocks around Whidbey Island, embroidery, cross stitch, Zen Tangling, and tie-dying. My other hobby is robotics and I’ve got a really cool Pi car. I’m a total geek: I collect Funkos and Playmobil, read hard science fiction and graphic novels. And I don’t ever want to hear you talk smack about Sam and Dean Winchester (Supernatural 4-ever!).
(*How do screen readers know what to say) In my last post, I explained how screen readers know what to say and that there are 3 main attributes that affect it: Name, Role, and Value. The role and the value are fairly static and easy to predict. But the accessible name can be derived from…
As a UX writer, I can’t write good screen reader text unless I know what the element is going to say automagically. And screen readers know what to say based off of these three attributes, which are part of every element: Name: The name can be the visible label (what you see in the UX),…
Read more How do screen readers know what to say? (HDSRKW2S Part 1)
I must humbly say that I do not think that I passed the certification exam that I took on Monday and now I’m “Schrödinger’s test taker” in that I have both passed and failed – until I get my results. Here’s the advice that I’d give to myself about how to study: Yes, you really…
Read more Studying for the IAAP Web Accessibility Specialist Certification exam
Placeholder text in fields isn’t accessible. And although it can be made accessible to screen readers, it is still inaccessible to people with low-vision or cognitive disabilities. Placeholder text MUST NOT be used as the only method of providing a label for a text input. WCAG 1.3.1: https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/info-and-relationships.html The label MUST persist! Placeholder text disappears…
Read more Why can’t placeholder/watermark text in fields be used as the field label?
As a UX writer, I focus on a very neglected area: Accessibility. Or more specifically, UX writing for accessibility. I’ve been working on my certification from the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, with plans to take my test in June. I became interested in writing for accessibility during an experience review of a website with…
Words are design 