Tag, You’re It: Blog Questions 2025
Eric tagged me in to answer ten questions about how and why I blog.
Ben Myers
Web developer. Accessibility advocate. Human T-rex.
Latest posts
Don’t Use aria-label on Static Text Elements
Don’t use the aria-label or aria-labelledby attributes on divs, spans, or other elements representing static/noninteractive text-level semantics, unless you’re also updating roles.
Subtitles, Closed Captions, and Open Captions: What’s the Difference?
A lay of the land of the different kinds of synchronized transcription, featuring a creature with atom rays of superhuman strength.
Lost in Translation: Tips for Multilingual Web Accessibility
Practical tips I wish I’d had for navigating the intersection between web accessibility and internationalization/localization.
Build a Blogroll with Eleventy
A step-by-step guide to adding a blogroll, complete with each blog’s latest posts, to your Eleventy site.
I’m a Spotless Giraffe.
AI models were perplexed by a baby giraffe without spots. They’re perplexed by me, too.
How I Write Alt Text for Code Snippets on Social Media
Because blind and low-vision programmers deserve a little better than “code snippet.”
The Curious Case of “iff” and Overriding Screenreader Pronunciations
Markup hacks to override screenreader pronunciations can get a little iffy. Here’s some techniques to try instead.
The Web Needs a Native .visually-hidden
For years, developers have passed around a set of styles like a magic incantation. It’s time we made it a web standard.
Create Shareable Automatic Captions for Live Online Events with Web Captioner
Stuck using a platform for live online events that doesn’t support captions? Here’s how to generate captions you can share in a few quick steps.
A First Look at the Websites and Software Applications Accessibility Act Bill
Congress just introduced a new bill to ensure digital accessibility for websites and applications. I took a look.
Style with Stateful, Semantic Selectors
See how building with accessible semantics from the get-go can give you expressive, meaningful style hooks for free.
How I Doubled My Lighthouse Performance Score in One Night
I spent some time seeing if I could get my Lighthouse performance score up. Here’s how I fared.
How to Fix Your Low-Contrast Text
Solve 30% of the web’s accessibility defects with just the help of a calculator!
Build a Twitch Chatbot for Sharing Your Content Using Algolia Search
Finding and sharing links to your content in your Twitch chat is now just a command away!
Ben’s Humane Guide to Technical Blogging
Hi. I’m a sporadic technical blogger. Here’s a few things I’ve learned about blogging for fun.
On the ‹dl›
The semantics you didn’t know you needed.
Takeaways From “Adapting Comics for Blind and Low Vision Readers: A Roundtable Discussion”
“Are we adapting the form of comics or the content of comics?”
Takeaways From Axe-Con 2021
What I learned from Axe-Con about automated accessibility testing, design systems, data visualization, organizational influence, and more.
I Finally Understand Eleventy’s Data Cascade.
Where does Eleventy get all of its data? Which data overrules other data? I’ve documented my whole mental model of Eleventy’s data cascade.
RSS Readers: Yet Another Case for Semantic Markup
I found a pleasant surprise in my RSS reader, and it reminded me why I write semantic markup.
Implement a Skip Link for Navigation-Heavy Sites
Add a link to the beginning of your page to help keyboard navigators skip over repeated links.
aria-label, aria-labelledby, and aria-describedby: What’s the Difference?
Diving deep into three attributes that bring clarity to elements in assistive technologies.
Out With The Old, In With The New
How and why I rebuilt my blog from the ground up with Eleventy.
Maintaining Focus Outlines for Windows High Contrast Mode
I’m using outline: 3px solid transparent; from now on.
Lexical and Dynamic Scope
A peek inside the matryoshka dolls that power your programming. Written mainly for JavaScript developers.
CSS Can Influence Screenreaders
How CSS bleeds into content and influences screenreader announcements.
New Year, New Terminal: Alias Your Directories the Unix Way
The trick I use all day to speed up development and make my Unix terminal delightful.
New Year, New Terminal: Alias Your Directories the Windows Way
The trick I use all day to speed up development and make Command Prompt delightful.
What Is ARIA?
A beginner’s guide to ARIA: what it is, what it does, why you should use it... and when you shouldn’t.
The Accessibility Tree
Understanding the flow of page contents from browser to screenreader caused me to radically rethink accessible markup.
How (Not) to Build a Button
When you reinvent the wheel, you might miss a few spokes.
How Domino’s Could Topple the Accessible Web – Part 1: Public Accommodations
The popular pizza chain has a big part to play in the unseen war over the web.