net - UK (2020-01)

Welcome

EDITOR’S NOTE

FEATURED AUTHORS

WELCOME

All too often accessibility is seen as a discipline

focusing on fringe cases. But this definition is

looking increasingly ill-fitting for the modern age.

Not only did The World Bank report last year that 15

per cent of the global population experiences some

form of disability but many accessibility features can

offer benefits to users across the board, helping

them use services in a range of environments and

situations. Clearly, accessibility is a universal issue.

In light of this, we’ve turned this issue into a

celebration of the ways accessibility intersects with

web design. In our cover feature, Mark Billen takes a

look at how the shifting landscape of tools, libraries

and technologies is opening up new benefits and

boundaries in terms of accessibility. On top of this,

we also investigate how designers can understand

aria-labels to handoff accessible prototypes to

developers and dig into what the Public Sector Bodies

Accessibility Regulations mean for public sector sites.

But we’re not only focusing on a11y issues: we

also have plenty of great dev and design content,

including our tutorial on unit testing React sites and

feature on coding great CSS animations.

Josh Russell, Editor

@JoshLRussell

MARK

BILLEN

Former editor of both Web Designer
and Web Developer magazines, Billen
is currently a freelance web and print
writer. He uses both of the strings he
has to his bow on page 60, writing on
the changing a11y landscape.
t: @Mark_Billen

ADAM

KUHN

Kuhn is a senior web developer at

Kong Inc, creative coder and frequent

CodePen contributor with a passion

for web animation. Showing off his

skills on page 68, he reveals how you

can code JS-free CSS animations.

t: @cobra_winfrey

RACHAEL

GROCOTT

Grocott is a product designer at

Geckoboard and co-founded Triangirls

with Anna Youngs. She explores how

women can navigate and advance in

their tech careers – and how others

can empower them – on page 20.

t: @rachaelgrocott

BEN

READ

Read is a designer and developer who

specialises in JavaScript, React and

UX. Over on page 76, he shows you

how you can use the React Testing

Library to make sure your code is

production ready.

t: @muzzlehatch_