Dave Davies

Dave Davies

@davedavies.dev

Web Accessibility Specialist 🦾 Helping you build better websites and apps for everyone https://davedavies.dev/

100 followers40 following206 posts

Dave Davies reposted

RNIB Connect Radio
@rnibradio.bsky.social

On Thursday 7th of May the Senedd Election is taking place in Wales. But what support is available to blind and partially sighted people heading to the polling stations? RNIB Connect Radio’s Allan spoke to Liz from @rnibcymru.bsky.social, and Ella from the Electoral Commission UK, to find out.

Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

Let’s play spot the bad UI. Left is in-app, right is in-browser. Same company, different interfaces. Muscle memory has almost caught me out too many times 🫠

Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

As the AI companies start pushing people to buy things through their apps, improving accessibility on your product pages makes your store easier to understand for any agent, on any surface, using any protocol. davedavies.dev/blog/ai-as-a...

davedavies.devAI as a sales channel: how accessibility affects your product visibilityAI is starting to influence how people discover and buy products. This article explores what that shift means for your store, why accessibility matters beyond compliance, and how to keep your products...
Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

Ever been tempted to use an accessibility overlay? They're not good for a number of reasons - but here's a example of overlays often make the experience more difficult instead of fixing actual accessibility issues. davedavies.dev/reviews/pass...

davedavies.devAre accessibility widgets useful?Watch an accessibility widget in action and see how overlays often make the experience more difficult instead of fixing actual accessibility issues. A short video review for anyone considering an acce...
Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

I've been reading a lot recently about how AI platforms are starting to experiment with keeping the entire shopping experience within their apps (with varying results). Interestingly - the bots often seem to struggle with poorly marked up, inaccessible product pages.

Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

So here we are with another good reason to make sure your product pages are accessible (and your site in general, actually), well-structured, and clear. I wrote some thoughts: davedavies.dev/blog/ai-as-a...

davedavies.devAI as a sales channel: how accessibility affects your product visibilityAI is starting to influence how people discover and buy products. This article explores what that shift means for your store, why accessibility matters beyond compliance, and how to keep your products...
Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

The stupidest modern day inconvenience is having to charge my doorbell. I always forget, so I end up without a doorbell for days until I remember to charge it again.

Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

Just reading that Shopify merchants took a massive $6.2 BILLION in total sales on Friday, up 25% from last year. From last year’s UK Black Friday data, roughly 12% of online spend was lost because customers with access needs hit barriers and abandoned their purchase.

Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

So if we apply the same loss rate, Shopify merchants likely left in the region of three quarters of a billion dollars on the table because customers with access needs couldn’t complete their purchase. Is this concrete data? No.

Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

But I keep finding Shopify stores with major accessibility issues, so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities. Half it? That is about $375 million. Half it again? That is about $187 million. In ONE day. Even the most conservative version of this number is still huge.

Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

Many product pages make you choose an option before you can add the product to the cart. But if those options are custom and not built properly, some customers won’t even know the choices are there.

Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

The frustrating thing is these custom controls could just be regular HTML inputs, styled for the UI, and everything would work perfectly. Focusable, operable, announced correctly. Here's example of this in the wild: davedavies.dev/reviews/acce...

davedavies.devAre your product options blocking customers from buying?See why custom product option components fail for keyboard and screen reader users — and how fixing their semantics helps more customers choose what they want and buy with confidence.
Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

Do you ever test your “Add to cart” flow using only a keyboard? When the cart drawer opens, the focus should move inside it. If it doesn’t, the experience breaks for keyboard users. Here's why this happens, why it's a problem, and how to fix it. davedavies.dev/reviews/wher...

davedavies.devWhere’s your focus? (does your product page break navigation?)See what happens when the cart drawer opens but the keyboard focus doesn’t follow — and how fixing it makes the whole shopping journey smoother.
Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

You can watch a video too, if it's more your thing. On every site I reviewed recently, none of them moved the focus to the cart draw. This breaks WCAG 2.4.3, 2.4.12 and probably 2.1.1, but more importantly it adds frustration for your customers. Build your products to make it easy to buy.

Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

I came for the font and left with a new word. Prosody! Rhythm, and sentence melody in captions. I use captions a lot, but also with the sound low. I'm interested to see how these take off, and if they're useful.

Dave Davies reposted

RNIB Cymru
@rnibcymru.bsky.social

Surfability's VI taster weekend is back for 2025! Last year’s event saw dozens of blind and partially sighted people take to the waves for the first time but we want this year to be even bigger! 🏄 Register for a spot here: bit.ly/4i5f5eE

Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

“Accessibility takes too much time.” So does rebuilding your product after losing users who can’t access what you’ve built. People with disabilities aren’t edge cases - they’re your real audience.

Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

Accessibility isn’t just ethical - it’s smart. 1 in 5 people has a disability. That’s not a niche audience, that’s your users. Inclusive design increases reach, improves SEO, and protects you from legal risk. So why wouldn’t you do it? www.nngroup.com/articles/inc...

nngroup.comInclusive DesignInclusive design describes methodologies to create products that understand and enable people of all backgrounds and abilities. It may address accessibility, age, economic situation, geographic locati...
Dave Davies
@davedavies.dev

Someone out there is only able to read your content because you added alt text. Someone else navigated your site with a keyboard because you made it possible. Accessibility isn’t about perfection - it’s about care and inclusion.