For updates, see the original Masterpost on A11y News
Universal Design
Universal Design for Learning (UDL): The Why, What, and How of Learning. Especially relevant if you are developing courses or instruction materials for teaching, onboarding, or professional development.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
Duh, this is the first thing you need when talking web accessibility! The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines - or WCAG in short - are divided into 4 Principles (Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust, together, they assemble the Power Rangers’ team called POUR-Principles) and 86 Success Criteria (definitely not listing them all here, go to W3C.org for that).
Honorable Mentions: The WCAG 3.0 Working Draft and Translations of Current W3C standards and drafts
And my favorite one: WCAG Pokécards
Legislation
Yes, I know this one is not as fun as comparing the WCAG to Pokémon. But it helps to know the baseline laws that rule the digital accessibility world. You never have to know them by heart, as long as you know where to look them up.
The European Accessibility Act is the it-girl of 2025. She’s dividing the internet: You either love her or hate her; no one’s indifferent!
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the mother of all accessibility legislation. Not to forget the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the grandmother of ICT accessibility!
Note: Most modern web accessibility laws and directives are based on the WCAG and Universal Design principles, but don’t use them directly as passing criteria.
Web Accessibility Testing Tools
The tools of the trade! And to be honest, it can also be more fun to learn through trial and error, instead of theory alone.
WAVE Tool by WebAIM: An automatic testing tool that provides WCAG references for each error, alert, and feature it finds. As with every automatic testing tool, none of them is perfect, but getting acquainted with this one in particular is helpful because the WebAIM Million Report uses it. Learning the limitations of automated testing will help you interpret the findings better.
Speaking of WebAIM: The one and only Contrast Checker, and arguably even better: the Link Contrast Checker to compare 3 colors against each other at once!
Accessibility Insights for Web: A step-by-step testing tool. Very detailed, so much so that it may look a bit overwhelming at first. But especially beginners can learn a lot!
WCAG EM Report Tool: A comprehensive auditing tool that guides you through the auditing process. It requires a bit more preexisting knowledge, but it makes up for it by providing you with a very nice report at the end.
NVDA, a free screen reader, and for many, the first screen reader they learn accessibility testing with!
Wondering what screen readers people use? Consult the latest WebAIM screen reader survey
Alt-Text
Does this image need alt text? Follow the alt-text decision tree by W3C
Need some inspiration for what to write? The Nielsen Norman Group has a good article to get you started: NNG Write Alt Text
Certifications
WebAIM
We love WebAIM in this virtual house because they give out knowledge for free. The WebAIM Introduction to Web Accessibility Course is free. The only thing you have to pay for is if you want to get a certification.
AccessibleEU
AccessibleEU does a lot of things, just like the incredible hustler it is; one of them is the AccessibleEU Online Training on Accessible Technology Design. It also comes with a Community of Practice, and both are free, no membership, no European passport required, nothing.
IAAP Certifications
The International Association of Accessibility Professionals offers a number of certifications, which are, well, internationally recognized. Notably, the following:
Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC)
Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies sounds intimidating, but it is actually only the baseline of accessibility certifications. The CPACC Body of Knowledge is available in English and German.
Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS)
Web Accessibility Specialist, more self-explanatory, but also way more technical. The Body of Knowledge is available for WAS in English, WAS in German, and WAS in Spanish.
Accessible Document Specialist (ADS)
Accessible Document Specialist does exactly that: document accessibility. The ADS Body of Knowledge is only available in English.
Advanced Reading Articles
WAI-ARIA Overview, but remember kids, the first rule of ARIA: Don't use ARIA, if you can avoid it!
Any time I stumble across interesting articles, I also post them in our subscriber chat.
Books, if you prefer analog learning.
