Pedal Point Solutions Blog

Top Articles

A Venn diagram with three overlapping circles labeled Content, Context, and Purpose; the section where all three circles overlap is labeled "alt text" Here’s a simple recipe for good image alt text Answering three simple questions about an image can make it easy to create alternative text that's meaningful and relevant.
White silhouettes of a man and a woman dance beneath the Disability Pride flag. The man is holding a red-tipped cane in one of his hands. Blind Sight: The Pride Behind the Pride, a Thank-You to Those Who Dance with Us July is Disability Pride Month—a time to honor the experiences, rights, and dignity of people with disabilities. This month, many of us assert our identities, share our stories, and push for change in a world not yet built with us in mind. But today, I want to use this moment to shine a light in a different direction.
A set of stairs with textured horizontal surfaces and bright yellow lines on their edges Blind Sight: How a guy with low vision navigates stairs Navigating stairs with minimal depth perception can be complicated, but employing creative and sometimes non-visual coping strategies and context clues can be a big help.

Latest Entries

Venn diagram of three overlapping circles labeled Content, Context, and Purpose. Content answers What? and pairs with the preposition "of." Context answers Where? and pairs with "about." Purpose answers Why? and pairs with "for." All three circles overlap in the center on the words "alt text." Guided Alt Text Generation: fill in the blanks, get alt text that actually works August 23, 2026 "Generate alt text for this image" gets you generic mush every time. Here's the three-word prompt trick that gets AI to actually think like you do about content, purpose, and context.
Illustration of a browser window containing a large yellow button labeled “Vibe code it!” A magnifying glass over the button reveals the underlying code as a div with a class="button" attribute, suggesting the button is visually styled but not semantically coded as a real button. AI-Generated Code is Inaccessible by Default May 25, 2026 AI coding tools can generate polished interfaces at remarkable speed, but polished is not the same as accessible. This post looks at why AI-assisted code often inherits the web’s inaccessible patterns, what the WebAIM Million and real-world testing reveal, and why developers still need to prompt, test, and refine with accessibility in mind. The vibes may be strong, but the markup still needs supervision.
Brightly wrapped square gift boxes in different colors and patterns are lined up neatly on a tabletop in soft daylight. Introducing FAR, AMP, and LABS, Pedal Point’s new packages shaped by real work January 4, 2026 Accessibility work doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. FAR, AMP, and LABS are new 2026 offerings designed to meet teams where they are, delivering clarity, momentum, and practical learning in ways that fit real budgets and real workflows.
Extreme closeup of a camera shutter almost fully closed behind a lens reflecting colored lights How a 3-Minute A11y Snapshot Helps Me Turn Curiosity into Connection October 25, 2025 Sometimes the best way to start talking about accessibility is simply to show what’s possible. This post shares how a quick, three-minute website check can spark curiosity, open doors, and turn meaningful conversations about inclusion into lasting client relationships.
The Case for Vision logo appears above a collage of photos showing the product in use. These include a student watching a teacher's hand writing on the whiteboard through an iPad mounted on stand and a hand pinching an iPhone screen to zoom in on a menu beneath the device. A red and white Play button used to start video playback is superimposed on top of the collage. Making a Case for Vision: a Story of Inclusive Marketing for Assistive Tech October 3, 2025 What happens when accessibility work takes an unexpected turn into music and video? My journey with Case for Vision led to a jingle, a set of inclusive promo videos, and a creative collaboration with blind, deaf, and neurodiverse artists. It’s a story of friendship, innovation, and marketing done right.
A sign reading “Accessibility matters here” rests on top of a torn contract and a partially visible judge’s gavel. The contract is ripped down the middle. Accessibility Statements are not Legal Contracts. They’re Value Signals. August 25, 2025 When a popular blog post called accessibility statements “corporate lies,” I had to speak up. These statements aren’t legal contracts—but they are powerful tools for accountability, trust, and user-centered improvement. Here’s why throwing them out does more harm than good.
A smiling dark-skinned woman with curly hair listens to her phone through white earbuds, alongside the text, “Discover how screen readers can make life easier for everyone,” on a gray background. You Don’t Have to Be Blind to Use a Screen Reader August 18, 2025 Screen readers aren’t just for people who are blind—they can boost productivity, reduce eye strain, and make everyday tasks easier for anyone. This post explores how they work, why more people are using them, and how you can get started today.
Pedal Point Solutions logo with tagline 'Learn, practice, and experience digital accessibility' in orange text. To the right is the Disability\:IN badge indicating certification as a Disability-Owned Business, featuring a circular blue and green design. Pedal Point Solutions is Proud to Announce Its Certification as a Disability-Owned Business August 4, 2025 Pedal Point Solutions is now officially certified as a Disability-Owned Business Enterprise (DOBE) through Disability\:IN. This milestone reflects the company’s deep commitment to inclusion, innovation, and lived accessibility expertise. As a blind-founded agency, Pedal Point brings authentic insight and trusted leadership to every client partnership.
A magnifying glass sits atop a laptop's keyboard. The image within the magnifying glass is blurred. Don’t Lose Focus: Why Keyboard Focus Indicators Matter for Everyone July 21, 2025 Keyboard users rely on visible focus indicators to navigate and interact with websites—but many designs ignore or erase them entirely. This article explains what focus state is, who it benefits, and how to design and test your own focus styles so no one gets left behind.
White silhouettes of a man and a woman dance beneath the Disability Pride flag. The man is holding a red-tipped cane in one of his hands. Blind Sight: The Pride Behind the Pride, a Thank-You to Those Who Dance with Us July 14, 2025 July is Disability Pride Month—a time to honor the experiences, rights, and dignity of people with disabilities. This month, many of us assert our identities, share our stories, and push for change in a world not yet built with us in mind. But today, I want to use this moment to shine a light in a different direction.
Headshot of DeAnn Elliott, a woman with wavy brown hair, smiling and wearing a light pink blouse under a beige textured blazer. To the left of her photo is a quote in bold black and red text that reads: “Access to information is the foundation for education, employment, social inclusion, and dignity.” – DeAnn Elliott, Insite Access. Access in Action: A Conversation with DeAnn Elliot of Insite Access June 20, 2025 In this candid and insightful Q&A, DeAnn Elliott—founder of Insite Access and participant in the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind internship program—shares how her lived experience shapes her work as a manual accessibility tester. From parenting with assistive tech to building a business rooted in usability and dignity, DeAnn’s journey offers practical wisdom and a powerful case for inclusive digital design.
Two illustrated posters contrast the words “but” and “and” using stick figures. The left poster, red, slightly tilted, and partially obscured by the one on the right, shows two angry stick figures standing back-to-back with arms crossed and the word “but...” between them. The right poster, upright with a pastel gradient background, shows two smiling stick figures shaking hands above the word “and.” The power of “and”: one word that can transform accessibility conversations June 8, 2025 What if changing just one word could defuse tension, build empathy, and move your accessibility conversations forward? Replacing “but” with “and” is a simple yet powerful shift that opens doors instead of closing them. Whether you're advocating for inclusion or just trying to be heard, this is a technique worth mastering.
Festive tinsel, twinkly lights, and golden stars hang on a red wall When is an image decorative? When it looks good but says nothing May 26, 2025 When is an image decorative—and when does it deserve a voice? This practical guide helps content creators, designers, and developers decide which images need alt text and which ones should stay silent. You’ll get clear criteria, domain-specific tips, and work-arounds for platforms that don’t play nice with alt="". Skip the noise, keep the meaning, and make your content cleaner for everyone.
Telling time with sound: how I built an accessible audio clock in 15 hours using AI May 19, 2025 What happens when a blind musician, an idea about telling time with sound, and an AI co-developer walk into a browser? You get Song Clock—a quirky, accessible ear-training app built in 15 hours without writing code. Come for the a11y, stay to hear what time sounds like.
The text "WebAIM Million 2024 vs 2025" hovers above an arrow gently sloping downward from left to right The WebAIM Million: What Changed from 2024 to 2025? April 24, 2025 The web is slowly getting more accessible—but not fast enough. Each year, WebAIM scans one million home pages for accessibility issues. I’ve pulled the biggest insights from the 2024 and 2025 reports so you can see what’s improving, what’s not, and what it means for your website.
A bottle of red fruit punch sits on a table with a bed and window in the background. Disability and Divine Appointment: How an Unlikely Friendship Changed My Life April 6, 2025 Some friendships begin in ways you’d never imagine. When I responded to a stranger’s cry for help, I didn’t realize it would lead to months of companionship, advocacy, and deep spiritual formation.
Simon Miner speaks at CSUN 2025 about building empathy to drive accessibility initiatives. Photo by Chelsea Nguyen. CSUN 2025: One of the Best Conferences of My Life March 31, 2025 Attending CSUN 2025 was an unforgettable experience filled with insightful sessions, groundbreaking innovations, and inspiring individuals. It was a rare and powerful environment where accessibility wasn’t just a topic of conversation—it was a lived experience.
axe-con 2025 - Building accessible experiences - Virtual Conference: February 25-27, 2025 The best of axe-con 2025 March 6, 2025 Deque's axe-con is one of the top web accessibility conferences, and the 2025 event certainly lived up to its reputation. With an array of insightful sessions, it was packed with valuable takeaways. Here’s a recap of some of my personal favorites.
A tray of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies Reaching the Cookie Jar: Creating an Accessible Cookie Banner February 16, 2025 Here's how I updated a home-grown cookie banner to make it more accessible.
Cars zoom through a busy intersection with a brightly painted crosswalk and overhanging set of stoplights Blind Sight: Why did the blind guy cross the road? August 26, 2024 I am legally blind, and I live near a busy intersection near Boston. I don't typically use a cane to get around familiar places, but this intersection is still challenging when drivers don't observe the walk signals. I wondered if anything might change if I used my cane. Here's what happened.
The word 'lost' in dark lettering fading away into an eerie greenish fog Color contrast in the real world: strategies for accessible text with complex backgrounds August 12, 2024 Picking an accessible background color for text is straightforward, but the art of good color contrast gets more nuanced for backdrops with multiple colors and other visual effects. Here's how to ensure your text and background elements stand out from each other and avoid the most common web accessibility barrier.
The Site Unseen logo - a blue stick figure walks with a cane in front of a globe Get a taste of how blind people experience the web with Site Unseen July 29, 2024 Here's a primer on the Site Unseen Chrome extension, a tool that helps you appreciate how blind people use the web. Site Unseen enables you to foster empathy for those with vision disabilities, build the case for accessible web design, and test for web accessibility issues.
A set of four circles of purple, blue, green, and red arranged in a square labeled with four different approaches to accessibility advocacy - moral/ethical, user experience, business, and legal. A white square in the middle labeled "Accessibility Advocacy" overlaps with all the other circles. 4 approaches to advocating for accessibility and how they fit together July 8, 2024 There are several perspectives from which to advocate for digital accessibility. This post describes four of these approaches and explores how they connect with and compliment each other to strengthen the overall case for accessible websites, apps, and other digital products.
Cartoonish pictures of a handicap-accessible van, globe, eyeglasses, eye, ear with a hearing aid, clapping hands, and other figures from the cover of the book "Against Technoableism" by Ashley Shew Against Technoableism, or why tech can’t fix my disability June 24, 2024 In her book "Against Technoableism," Ashley Shew explores the intricate and sometimes sinister relationship between technology and disability and how it impacts you and me every day. Here are my key impressions and takeaways.
A brightly-colored blue bird on a tree branch stands in stark contrast to a background divided vertically into swaths of solid blue and black. The text 'the importance of high color contrast' is written above the bird in almost the same hue as the blue background, making the portion of the statement atop the light blue background very difficult to read. A non-techie’s guide to choosing accessible color combinations June 10, 2024 Insufficient contrast between text and background colors is the most common accessibility issue on the web. However, choosing accessible color combinations doesn't have to be difficult. Here's a step-by-step process for doing so that requires zero technical knowledge.
The sun sets behind jagged mountain peaks overlooking a tree on the bank of the Colarado river How a trip to the Colorado mountains taught me about dynamic disability May 27, 2024 Disability is not static, but fluctuates and zigzags depending on time, environment, circumstance and many other factors. I learned this first-hand when I traveled to the Colorado Rockies.
A Venn diagram with three overlapping circles labeled Content, Context, and Purpose; the section where all three circles overlap is labeled "alt text" Here’s a simple recipe for good image alt text May 13, 2024 Answering three simple questions about an image can make it easy to create alternative text that's meaningful and relevant.
The hammers beneath an upright piano cover above the instrument's keys Blind Sight: More on how a blind guy learns to play piano May 2, 2024 Additional thoughts on how blind people can become proficient at playing the piano.
A green sign with the universal symbol of accessibility of a person in a wheelchair and a big checkmark hangs on a brick wall Your website needs an accessibility statement. Here’s why. April 15, 2024 Adding an accessibility statement to your website boosts your brand reputation, reduces legal risk, and more. Learn the fundamentals of setting one up.
The sun peeks out from behind the moon at the end of the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse A total solar eclipse as an accessible natural wonder April 8, 2024 Musings about accessibility and today's solar eclipse.
A faded and cracked "Click here" webpage button atop a gray fissured background. Don’t click here! March 25, 2024 "Click here" buttons and links are unhelpful, inaccessible, and banal. Here's why and what to do instead.
Closeup view from the bottom end of a piano keyboard in sepia tone Blind Sight: How to practice piano when you can’t see sheet music March 18, 2024 How do blind people learn to play piano? Here are some reflections on a few of the methods I have used to thrive as a pianist with low vision.
An array of lit lightbulbs arranged in three rows with the bulb in the center shining brightest Blind inventions shape your world. You’re using them right now. March 11, 2024 Blind people and their advocates are incredibly resourceful, and their creations have profound impact on the entire world. In fact, you are likely using several technologies developed with and for blind people right now.
A diagram of various stick figured people depicting examples of permanent, temporary, and situational disability for the senses of touch, sight, hearing, and speech Disability is part of everyone’s story, and that’s a good thing March 4, 2024 Unless we or those closest to us live with a significant physical or mental impairment, it is tempting to see disability as peripheral to our lives. But is that really the case?
axe-con 2024 - Building accessible experiences - Virtual conference, February 20-22, 2024 The best of axe-con 2024 February 26, 2024 Deque's axe-con is one of the best web accessibility conferences around, and the 2024 event was no exception. There were so many great sessions. Here's a rundown of some of my favorites.
Close up of feet walking uphill on a wooded trail Blind Sight: How a legally blind guy goes hiking February 19, 2024 People who are blind and visually impaired can find freedom and fulfillment in the great outdoors. Here are some strategies I use to make sure my hikes are as enjoyable as possible.
Two sets of hands pulling in opposite directions on a taut rope as if playing tug-of-war Skiing with my eyes closed: Is blindness intrinsic or irrelevant to who I am? February 12, 2024 I wrestle with the paradoxes inherent in blindness and their impact on my identity. How can I hold the ambiguity and opposing forces related to my vision in tension with each other?
An analog alarm clock sits next to an ink well and quill pen atop some discolored parchment How to find time to write accessible web content February 5, 2024 The truth is that web accessibility takes extra time, energy, and resources, but adding few steps into your workflow can mitigate much of the cost of creating accessible web content.
A waveform of the visible light spectrum from violet to red atop a black background Do I see too well to be blind? January 29, 2024 I often feel too sighted to be blind, but too blind to function fully and freely in a sighted world. Andrew Leland helps me articulate and make sense of this in his book "The Country of the Blind."
A boy's legs skip across the numbered squares of a pink and blue hopscotch board 3 common skip link problems and how to fix them January 22, 2024 Skip links are essential components for any accessible website with header navigation, and a bit of intentionality will help you avoid common pitfalls when implementing them.
A set of stairs with textured horizontal surfaces and bright yellow lines on their edges Blind Sight: How a guy with low vision navigates stairs January 15, 2024 Navigating stairs with minimal depth perception can be complicated, but employing creative and sometimes non-visual coping strategies and context clues can be a big help.
Close-up of keyboard with a blue key labeled "Accessibility" Automated accessibility testing is great, but it’s not enough. Here’s why. January 8, 2024 Computers are notoriously bad at answering the question “why?” While automated testing has its space, and that space is getting bigger, it cannot ever fully replace a real live person testing a website for accessibility.
Happy New Year 2024! Introducing the Pedal Point Blog New year, new blog January 1, 2024 As I consider the beginning of a new year, I find myself thinking about things that drive us to do web accessibility. Looking ahead, I think one of the most basic motivators is this. We do digital accessibility for ourselves and for those we love.