Accessibility for Bloggers: This Party's Just Getting Started

At this point, I'm not sure anyone could count the number of blogs that focus on how to improve your blog, usually with the aim of making more money. Wouldn't it be great if there were just as many comprehensive resources focused on making blogs more accessible to people with disabilities? There are a lot of great resources out there on accessibility, but precious few focused specifically on blogging.

In 2002, Mark Pilgrim created the classic Dive Into Accessibility. He combined stellar information about why you should make your blog accessible with specific direction on how to make changes in the most commonly used blogging tools of the day. While the "why" information has held up well over time, the "how" has become somewhat less useful over time - as is inevitable on the internet.

In 2005, the American Foundation for the Blind released How To Make Your Blog Accessible To Blind Readers. It was a good rough draft of a guide for the most common issues that bloggers could address, but a little light on the "how," especially when you consider the wide variation in what options blogging tools offer for editing and customization.

Now in 2009, Glenda Watson Hyatt is jumping into the field over at her blog, the Do It Myself Blog. Glenda is known as the "left thumb blogger" because she does all her typing with her left thumb - which you couldn't possibly guess by watching her network on Twitter. She is the author of a Simplified Web Accessibility Guide and has plenty of other experience consulting and writing about web accessibility. Encouraged by Lorelle, who has long been an advocate for blog accessibility, Glenda is now stepping up her accessibility evangelism to tackle the blogosphere.

In Combining Two Passions to Build an Accessible Blogosphere, she nails the exact issue I've observed since I started thinking and writing about this topic:

Individuals are attracted to blogging because it is a relatively easy way to share their stories and knowledge and to build a community of like-minded people. However, because many bloggers come to blogging with minimal, if any, web design experience, they are doing small things that unintentionally exclude individuals from their blogs; things that can easily be rectified.

I'm excited to see what Glenda comes up with. She brings a wealth of experience to the table, as well as the perspective of a user with mobility issues - a population that often comes in second to users with visual disabilities when web accessibility is being discussed.

So Glenda, welcome! And perhaps in 10 years, the "accessibility for bloggers" corner of the blogosphere will have multiplied so much that no one person can keep track of it all!

By : Skye