Igalia Chats Accessibility and the Free Labor Funnel
Nov 4, 2025
Alice Boxhall, a web standards engineer specializing in accessibility, joins Valerie Young, co-chair of the ARIA working group, to dive into pressing challenges in accessibility standards. They discuss the persistent neglect of accessibility as a post-hoc task, leading to significant consequences. Valerie outlines the critical browser–API–assistive tech funnel, emphasizing the need for early design considerations. The conversation highlights the emotional dynamics of critiquing proposals and the reliance on unpaid contributions, calling for better integration of accessibility throughout the development process.
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Neglect Is The Root Problem
- Accessibility failures on the web largely stem from systemic neglect rooted in ableism and assuming disabled people are expendable.
- Standards and engineers must treat accessibility as a core competency and start requirements with disabled users' needs.
Accessibility Must Span The Whole Stack
- New UI patterns must map through browsers to platform accessibility APIs and assistive technologies to be accessible.
- If accessibility APIs lack concepts for a pattern, no downstream remediation can fully fix it later.
Small CSS Change Broke Accessibility
- A developer replaced screen-reader-only CSS with display:none, unknowingly removing hidden text from assistive technology.
- This shows how fragile accessibility work is when later contributors lack specialist knowledge.