JavaScript and Accessibility: Don't Blame the Language

There is a long-held belief among developers that any application built using JavaScript is necessarily not accessible. This belief is reinforced by the rapid adoption of JavaScript frameworks and UI components that are immature, and by the corners that get cut when time to market takes priority over inclusivity.

But JavaScript is not to blame!

As a completely blind JavaScript developer, I can state with some certainty that JavaScript is not to blame. That long-held belief is, in fact, a misbelief. There are, however, a few things you need to know when building client-side applications with JavaScript, to ensure that your applications are universally accessible.

What you will learn:

1. Where the belief that JavaScript is inaccessible came from
2. Why the use of JavaScript easily leads to inaccessible applications
3. What are the most common causes of inaccessible JavaScript applications
4. How the use of modern frameworks like React can make JavaScript accessibility easy

Slides available at https://ezufelt.github.io/drupal-north-javascript-accessibility/#/title