Awesome web a11y resources - MagentaA11y & The Accessibility Book

We just had Charlie Triplett on our podcast last night (episode airs in a couple weeks), he leads the a11y efforts over at a well-known US cellphone provider here in the US. We talked about two of his a11y projects, and they are really awesome and look very useful (and are completely free!).

# Magenta A11Y

[https://www.magentaa11y.com/](https://www.magentaa11y.com/)

This is a byproduct of his work at his employer. It has a few things that are features I've not seen elsewhere:

1. User stories / gherkins (under "accessibility checklists") that specifically offer manual test cases that engineers or QA can run through. (More on that in a sec) 2. Specific demos showing *how* to do various a11y remediation methods. This includes one "[Inaccessible web page demo](https://www.magentaa11y.com/demos/basic-inaccessible-webpage/)", which is *wild:* it's a page that passes all automated a11y tests (aXe, etc.) but is a HUGE failure for *actual* accessibility (like, screenreaders struggle with it, keyboard navigation fails, etc). This is all stuff that Charlie's seen in the real world, and the HTML source *looks* like it should be fine. 3. Explanations for *how* to do a11y testing -- the process to use, methods, practical advice. If your team says "we *want* to do a11y but aren't sure how to start", this is for you.

The reasons behind the checklists with practical user stories is because, as Charlie explains it (paraphrased): "WCAG guidelines explain the intent, or the impact, of how to make technology accessible, but not specific actionable steps that can be taken to remediate problems". So where WCAG may say "the page should be accessible with a keyboard", this checklist provides the missing documentation on "..and here's how you *actually* test for this". The demos provide examples of *how* to do it.

# The Accessibility Book

[https://www.thebookonaccessibility.com/](https://www.thebookonaccessibility.com/)

This is a totally free, no sign-up, no subscription, no obligations at all, book that is available, in full, online. The chapter headings are: "Leadership buy in", "Strategic goals", "Tactics", "Policies", "Plain langauge rules", "Reports & targets".

There is *a little* overlap with MagentaA11Y, conceptually, but the book is more of a high-level look at how to actually implement and integrate a11y work into your team's workflow, as well as how to get buy-in from management (which, as much as we may all be annoyed by it, is going to be a necessity to some degree since a11y testing requires hours, which is labor time & money that is diverted from writing new features).

You can *also* purchase it as a file for $42, and there are other practical assets that your team can buy that may facilitate you - if you find it useful it's a kindness to support his efforts! There is zero obligation here -- he genuinely just wants this knowledge out there because the more of us can work on a11y efforts, the better the web is for everyone. He says that he may publish it as a proper book later, but he's still adding more content to it.