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Eric Bailey

@ericwbailey.website
9.4K followers 2.4K following 1.9K posts

#accessibility / #a11y advocate, post enjoyer. 🌐 ericwbailey.website ✉️ ericwbailey.website/newsletter

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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
Finally: AI usage. Referencing people wanting more accessible sites over apps, a lot of LLM work seems to be geared toward both addressing the bad alternative descriptions we write, and helping to traverse barriers and friction. Still thinking through this one, but glad it was collected and shared.
A table with 3 columns and 9 rows that is titled, "In what ways do you commonly use AI to improve your online experience?" The first row is the table header row, and its columns are: "Response", "# of Respondents", and "% of Respondents". Row 2 is "To generate image descriptions / alternative text" with 1069 respondents at 60.1%. Row 3 is "To provide in-depth analysis or description of complex images" with 885 respondents at 49.7%. Row 4 is "To generate text or other alternatives for multimedia content" with 510 respondents at 28.7%. Row 5 is "To generate audio alternatives of text content" with 318 respondents at 17.9%. Row 6 is "To provide summaries of webpages or documents" with 660 respondents at 37.1%. Row 7 is "To provide guidance in performing an online task" with 722 respondents at 40.6%. Row 8 is "To perform accessibility evaluations of content" with 347 respondents at 19.5%. Row 9 is "Other" with 290 respondents at 16.3%. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
For Finding Information, it continues to be headings as majority. I hate that I keep having to train people about headings. webaim.org/projects/scr...
A pie chart with 5 values: "Navigate Headings", "Read the page", "Use 'Find'", "Navigate Links", and "Navigate Landmarks/Regions". Navigate Headings occupies 67.7%, Read the page occupies 9.7%, Use "Find" occupies 12.5%, Navigate Links occupies 6.7%, and Navigate Landmarks/Regions occupies 3.3%. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
And speaking of LLMs and the magical thinking that AI will "solve" accessibility: The people just want more accessible websites, not some hypothetical savior super app. webaim.org/projects/scr...
A pie chart with two values: "Better assistive technology" and "Better (more accessible) web sites". Better assistive technology occupies 83.9%, and Better (more accessible) web sites occupies 16.1%. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
For Web Accessibility Progress, I think "Respondents without disabilities tend to be more positive about recent progress (41% thought the web had become more accessible) than those with disabilities (31.8% thought it had become more accessible)." says it all. webaim.org/projects/scr...
A pie chart with 3 values: "More Accessible", "No Change", and "Less Accessible". More accessible occupies 32.2%, No Change occupies 44.9%, and Less Accessible occupies 22.9%. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
100% conjecture on my part, but I wonder if the increase in LLM-powered coding has contributed towards people moving away from mobile apps. LLMs produce inaccessible code by default, and the web is far more malleable—barriers can be overcome via extensions and the like. webaim.org/projects/scr...
A pie chart with two values: "Mobile app" and "Web site". Mobile app occupies 54.8%, and Web site occupies 45.2%. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
People use screen readers on their phone, another thing I wish more people knew. WebAIM's comment on the correlation between proficiency and mobile OS is also worth noting. Cheap phones run Android, and disabled people are more likely to live in poverty. webaim.org/projects/scr...
A pie chart with four values: "Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch", "Android", "Chrome OS", and "Other". Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch occupies 73.3%, Android occupies 24%, Chrome OS is a hair-thin sliver, leaving Other at roughtly 2%. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
The main reason for use is a good reminder that at the end of the day it is people who use the technology. The same reason why you're loathe to change your browser is the main reason why most people stay with the screen reader they are most comfortable with. webaim.org/projects/scr...
A pie chart with 5 values: "Existing Comfort/Expertise", "Features", "Availability", "Cost", and "Support". Existing Comfort/Expertise occupies 49.3%, Features occupies 24.3%, Availability occupies 11%, Cost occupies 9.3%, and Support occupies 6.1%. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
Browsing with JavaScript enabled remains an overwhelming majority. I'm including it here so you can tell a supposed accessibility "expert" that they can pound sand if they parrot the antiquated myth that it needs to work without JavaScript to be accessible. webaim.org/projects/scr...
A pie chart with two values, "Yes" and "No". Yes occupies 99.7%, and No occupies 0.3%. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
Browser used is directed more towards auditors and testers. Some of the old "canonical" screen reader and browser pairings might not be as commonplace anymore, so testing scripts might need to be updated to more closely reflect reality. webaim.org/projects/scr...
A pie chart with 5 values, "Chrome", "Microsoft Edge", "Firefox", "Safari", and "Other". Chrome occupies 52.3% of the pie chart. Microsoft Edge occupies 23.6%, and Firefox occupies 15.9%. The other two slices don't have visible percentages, with Safari and other's combined slices being about half the width of Firefox. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
If you're on a desktop or laptop, it's going to be Windows. This is incredibly important in that JAWS and NVDA have different modes of operation compared to VoiceOver. Most people only test on macOS out of convenience, but it is not reflective of majority experience. webaim.org/projects/scr...
A pie chart with 5 values, "JAWS", "NVDA", "VoiceOver", "ZoomText/Fusion", and "Other". JAWS occupies 55% of the pie chart. NVDA occupies 32.9%, and VoiceOver occupies 6.5%. The other two slices don't have visible percentages, with "Other" being the slightly larger than "ZoomText/Fusion", roughly half of the size of the VoiceOver slice. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
Same general thoughts for internet proficiency. People who are more online probably have a better chance of being aware of, and filling out this survey. webaim.org/projects/scr...
A pie chart with three slices. Advanced is the first slice, occupying 64.6%. Intermediate is 33.0%, and Beginner is 2.4%. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
Self-reported proficiency is always a fun one. Setting selection bias aside for the moment: It's a good reminder that just because something can technically be accessed and operated via some obscure command that it doesn't necessarily mean someone knows about said command. webaim.org/projects/scr...
A pie chart with three slices. Advanced is the first slice, occupying 57.8%. Intermediate is 38.8%, and Beginner is 3.4%. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
I'm glad they capture disability types. It's a great reminder that screen reader use is not exclusively for fully blind individuals, and also not exclusively for vision-related disabilities. I wish more people knew this. webaim.org/projects/scr...
A bar chart. The y axis is 0% through 100%, with stops that increment by 25. The x axis values are "Blindness", "Low Vision/Visually Impaired", "Cognitive", "Deafness/Hard-of-Hearing", "Motor", and "Other. Blindness' value is 83.2%. Low Vision/Visually Impaired's value is 18.0%. Cognitive or Learning's value is 3.0%. Deafness/Hard-of-Hearing's value is 7.5%. Motor's value is 1.9%. Other's value is 3.0%. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
For self-reported disability, I hope the data of the 5.2% of not identifying was discarded. I view this survey as collecting information from daily users, information from people who don't rely on the technology could unnecessarily skew the results. webaim.org/projects/scr...
A pie chart showing 94.8% of respondents self-identifying as disabled, and 5.2% not self-identifying as disabled. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 30/09/2026
For region, a reminder that it's the World Wide Web, not the wealthy Western web. This breakdown is a complicated mix of factors—too large for Bluesky. Here, we should not forget at the end of the day that it's people who use this technology regardless of location. webaim.org/projects/scr...
A pie chart showing regional breakdown. North America occupies 54.1%, Europe occupies 27.7%, then Asia, Africa/Middle East, South America, Australia and Oceania, and Central America and Caribbean occupy progressively narrower slices. No percentages for them are displayed. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 29/09/2026
tfw you know more effort went into aligning the input and container border radii than 90% of the underlying infrastructure
The America.gov landing page chat input with 100% rounded corners, placed in a square container whose borders match the curve. Inside the square is a stock photo of a man on an escalator. Above it is the headline, "Hello, America." and a subhead of "Whatever you need from government, start here." Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 23/09/2026
A dog sitting in a chair and using a computer looking down at another dog and saying, "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog." Black and white comic.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 23/09/2026
using voice control, send help
A close-up photo of a Havanese-Poodle mix staring at the camera, chin resting on a laptop trackpad. Her cute little black button nose is emphasized by its proximity to the camera.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 20/09/2026
oh shit oh fuck they found me
A truck with a license plate that reads, “WAI”.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 15/09/2026
a little too unintentionally real, Workday
You have submitted. Toast dialog notification from a cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 11/09/2026
now that's what I call WCAG, vol. 3
A disclosure in an expanded state whose title reads "Plain language summary of 'Introduction'". Immediately below it is the text, "This summary is non-normative. Cropped screenshot from the latest WCAG 3.0 draft.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 01/09/2026
Goodnight, sweet prince.
Chrome Web Store. Dear developer, we regret to inform you that your item has been removed from the Chrome Web Store. Please find the details below. Item name: Snake People to Snake People. Item ID: jhkibealmjkbkafogihpeidfcgnigmlf. Violation(s): none
Reason reference ID: Manifest V2 Deprecation. Reason: This extension has been taken down because it uses Manifest V2, which is now deprecated. Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 20/08/2026
Therapist: The global village coffee shop parking garage toll booth isn't real, it can't hurt you. The global village coffee shop parking garage toll booth:
A parking garage toll booth whose windows have been covered with folksy, brush-outlined figures enjoying a bounty of fast food. The background depicts simple repeating geometric patterns and organic whorls. It is an aesthetic that was popular in 1990s coffee shops, notably Panera and its ilk.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 18/08/2026
remember folks: your CSS is an interface, and one of the coolest things about the web is if it sucks you can change it
Logged-in homepage daily.dev, an industry link aggregation site. It uses a grid with 3 large cards per row to share links and promotional content, as well as a ton of attention-seeking cruft. Screenshot.The same daily.dev homepage, this time with the cruft removed. The three card lockup has been transformed into a far quieter and more info-dense list of headlines. Screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 07/08/2026
The phrase "Mom come pick me up at the mall I'm scared", set in large, flamboyant type in the style of the "Now That's What I Call Music" music compilation CD covers.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 20/07/2026
TIRED: Designing for user delight WIRED: Designing for wizard delight
New! You've got Orbs! Get excited, there are 250 new Orbs with your name on them. Check it out. Cropped screenshot of a promotional dialog in Discord.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 20/07/2026
A cartoon of a creepy man staring into a window, hands pressed against the glass. He is saying "Yes… Ha ha ha… YES! Parody of the sickos meme, where his shirt instead reads, "biscuit enjoyers".
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 18/07/2026
the breadvolution will not be televised
Today: Artbeat. Breadvolution. Chalk writing on a street sign for a bakery. Above it is the bakery’s URL, www.sendbread.com
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 10/07/2026
LAMP CLAM SUMMER IN THE CITY
A storefront proudly displaying a paper lamp in the shape of a clam. The clam isngently illuminated from within.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 22/06/2026
maybe jotting down ideas immediately after waking up from an intense dream isn't as good an idea as other folks claim it is
Search email for feelings. An uncompleted task that is overdue and was supposed to be marked as complete yesterday. Cropped screenshot from Todoist.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 20/06/2026
you can usually just buy the funny book you see on the internet, the next edition in this apparently ongoing series
How to talk to your dog about the fall of the USSR. An English-edition hardcover book featuring a Siberian husky wearing a winter hat with a red Soviet star on the front, sitting in front of an American Flag and staring intently at the viewer with a serious expression on their face.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 28/05/2026
also mods are asleep and I am a bundle of coffee, jetlag, and nerves, post the skeleton slide
A low polygon count 3D model of a skeleton wearing shades who is animatedly playing a saxophone. The slide's title reads, "How does ARIA work with assistive technology" and its content shows a symbol for code, application window and label that reads, "DOM" clustered together. The skeleton is positioned to overlap the "istive" part of "assistive technology", making it read as "ass technology". Is the placement intentional? I'll never tell.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 28/05/2026
I'll be delivering a talk about ARIA's history and structure, as well as providing guidelines and busting myths for #WebExpo in about two hours' time. If you've got FOMO you can read the article that this talk was sourced from: www.smashingmagazine.com/2025/06/what... #a11y
What I wish someone told me when I first started using ARIA. WebExpo 2026. Slide with a design that uses large white type on a dark blue background.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 22/05/2026
sure ok
App update message for Toast - Local Restaurants. The update message says, “Local by Toast is now Toast Local.” Cropped screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 22/05/2026
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 21/05/2026
Happy Global Accessibility Awareness Day! #a11y #GAAD
A bingo card with the title of, "GAAD Bingo". The bingo card is a five by five grid. Starting from the top left and reading to the right then downwards to the first cell of the next row, the grid's cells are: Increased errors compared to the last WebAIM Millions report. Links only indicated using color. Brand partnership with an overlay company. Conspicuously absent message due to current political climate. Disability de-centered to communicate value for all. No accessibility statement. Promotional images don’t have alt text. The phrase “Differently abled” in quotes. Decorative Braille. AI agent with an unnecessarily feminine name. People are de-centered in favor of hyping technology. Post written by external consultant. A free space with the same title, featuring the Vitruvian Man symbol commonly used to indicate digital accessibility placed upside down and a sub-caption that reads "I am so tired" in tiny text. Disability dongle is debued or promoted. Videos are missing captions. SEO or AI benefits emphasized more than human-facing value. SEO or AI benefits emphasized more than human-facing value. Inspiration porn. Company does not have remote work roles. Overlay company astroturfing. The phrase, “Alt tags” in quotes. Illustration uses a hospital wheelchair. No focus styles. C-level employees openly using the R-word on X. Unsolicited PDF remediation spam. Full-screen parallax scrolling effects.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 13/05/2026
the OG user flow
The launch screen for the Amiga game Pipe Mania. Pixel art depicts a scared plumber surfing on a tangled red pipe, frantically attempting to stem the flow of green goo gushing out the front of the pipe by twisting an oversized wrench. The title is placed above the plumber, written out using the same green goo styling. A prompt informs the player they can press F1 to play the game or F2 to set options. Copyright information is placed below the prompt at the bottom of the screen. Screenshot.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 11/05/2026
I also wish browsers were better about exposing alt text, because I'm very proud of:
The first antenna looks more haphazard, like an 1940s abstract art sculpture made in response to a Jazz trumpet solo. The second antenna looks like a drunk spider on its back attempting to frantically claw its way out of its predicament.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 09/05/2026
we are Not Amused
A Havanese Poodle mix with a scruffy puppy cut staring at the camera with a serious case of sassy side eye.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 21/04/2026
ARIA is inevitable when you work on web accessibility. Here's everything I wish someone told me when I first got started, presented at @webexpo.bsky.social in Prague on May 28th. #a11y webexpo.net/prague2026/s...
A photo of me smiling, framed by the text, "What I wish someone told me when I first started using ARIA". Next to my photo is a badge that reads, "I'm speaking at WebExpo! Add promo code s t a g e e r i c to save 40 EUR." The frame is labeled as a conference talk presented by Eric Bailey, Senior Accessibility Designer at GitHub. The talk has also been labeled, "Accessibility", "Design Systems", "Design Thinking & UX", and "Frontend Dev".
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 02/04/2026
The "we're all trying to find the guy who did this" meme, with OpenAl's logo pasted over the face of the man wearing the hot dog costume.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 22/03/2026
About to undertake this journey myself.
Ralph Wiggum sitting at the back of the schoolbus chuckling and saying, “I’m in danger.” Screen capture from The Simpsons.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 18/03/2026
sometimes you gotta make your own fun
A slide from a talk I'm working on that has a title that says, "Roles". Below it is some tasty-looking bread rolls in a baking dish.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 16/03/2026
A four panel meme of a man putting on clown makeup and wig. The first panel is captioned, "submitting a talk pitch" and shows him applying a base layer. The second panel is captioned, "getting your pitch accepted" and shows him applying clown-style exaggerated eye shadow and lipstick. The third panel is captioned, "writing an entire talk from whole cloth" and shows someone putting a rainbow-colored Afro-style wig on the clown's head. The fourth and final panel is captioned, "doing the design in Google Slides" and shows the clown smiling weakly at the camera.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 11/03/2026
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 11/03/2026
when you definitely know how AIRA should be used and also have confidence that people understand the value of your product
aria-label="Viva Insights - Get insights about your work, while you work. Insights to help you protect time to get work done, automatic to dos, and more." Screenshot of a code example I found in the wild.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 22/02/2026
she’s a level 3 barbarian
An adorable Havanese Poodle mix resting her head on a printout of some pen and paper RPG rules, laid out on our dining room table. She is looking up at the camera with brown button eyes and nose, and an almost plaintive expression. A yellow mechanical pencil rests on the printout, neglected because this was too cute to not take a photo of.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 18/02/2026
The phrase "Live, laugh, morge" written in a handwritten script in the style of tacky "Live, laugh love" home goods items.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 14/02/2026
renaming all my devices “The goddamn {device name}” in a desperate attempt to extract some joy continues to pay off
“AirPods Battery Low. The goddamn AirPods need charging.” Cropped screenshot of an iOS lock screen notification.
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Eric Bailey @ericwbailey.website · 05/02/2026
work in tech and you can be both!
A bad of original-flavor Lays potato chips touting that they’re “Baked, not fried.”
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