Procurement as the Key to Accessibility - 01-2026

Procurement and purchasing are important tools for achieving digital #accessibility. However, implementation often falls short. Purchasing departments look for the most convenient solution, requirements are unspecific, or there is a lack of expertise. Without accessible procurement, however, accessibility is difficult to achieve.

Interesting Articles

This article explains that not only must your own content be accessible, but also integrated third-party elements such as chatbots, payment services, or package tracking must not create barriers. Advertising is a special case where the legal scope of the requirements is not yet fully clarified, but generally speaking: content must be accessible. B. do not create any keyboard traps or usability barriers.

Third-party content must also be accessible

This article discusses the requirements of the EN 301 549 standard, specifically regarding the documentation of accessible products and applications. Chapter 12 requires, among other things, an accessible and discoverable accessibility statement, clear information on assistive functions, support-related communication channels, and accessible documents (web and PDF). The importance of documentation is particularly emphasized for software and hardware.

Accessibility Documentation according to Chapter 12 of EN 301 549

The W3C Accessibility Maturity Model offers organizations a comprehensive roadmap for establishing digital accessibility in the long term. This application helps in assessing the maturity level.

W3C Accessibility Maturity Model

Assistiv Labs describes how "evergreen accessibility audits," unlike annual audits, enable continuous, human, and reliable verification of accessibility—e.g., B. after every code update, instead of once a year.

Evergreen Accessibility Audits

The new Canadian standard "Plain Language" defines how organizations develop clear and understandable communication that people can easily find, understand, and use. It promotes inclusive content and helps systematically reduce information barriers.

CAN-ASC-3.1:2025 – Plain Language

Inclusive Imagination is an initiative that focuses on inclusive, accessible games and products – e.g. B. accessible board games and accessories – to ensure that all people, regardless of ability, can participate in the game and the community.

Inclusive Imagination

One post discusses why AI systems often fail to capture the nuances of sign languages ​​and how the lack of involvement of deaf communities in the development of such systems can lead to access issues and cultural barriers.

AI, Sign Language & Inclusion: Why the Deaf Community Must Not Be Left Behind

Good News of the Month

In this podcast episode, Pete Horsley, founder of the disability tech accelerator Remarkable, talks about how innovation and collaboration – For example, with Toyota Australia – advancing technology-driven solutions that can improve the everyday lives of people with disabilities. He and the host discuss why inclusive design benefits everyone and how policy measures can boost demand for innovation. How Toyota & Remarkable Are Powering the Future of Disability Tech With Pete Horsley This ruling strengthens the rights of severely disabled people: Employers must examine and enable home office options if these contribute to accessibility and health protection. This is an important step towards an inclusive working world.

A work item to improve accessibility in the D-Stack Home project has been created in the D-Stack repository. This underscores how accessibility is becoming increasingly important in open-source software communities.

D-Stack Home – Accessibility Work Item

Canada has published the CAN-ASC-6.2 – Accessible and Equitable Artificial Intelligence Systems Standard – the first of its kind, providing organizations with guidelines for developing AI that is accessible, fair, and inclusive for people with disabilities. The standard is a milestone in international comparison and aims to ensure that AI systems are accessible and equitable from the outset.

Canada releases world’s first standard on accessible and equitable AI

German: Good news regarding accessibility at Deutsche Bahn! People with a German disability ID card and the "B" designation can now book their tickets for travel within Germany completely digitally – including free seat reservations for themselves and their companion. Previously, further contact with Deutsche Bahn was necessary after purchasing the ticket.

More information in the Deutsche Bahn FAQ

More posts

  • More About Speech Queues – A technical article about the internal speech queue behavior of screen readers and how live region announcements are queued for audible output.
  • Accessible Notifications and Messages – Guidelines on how to design notifications and messages so that all users can easily understand updates, errors, and status changes.
  • The Shadow DOM – An article about the Shadow DOM concept on the web, which enables the encapsulation of components and is important for modern UI architectures.
  • Understanding Speech Queues – A complementary analysis of how screen reader speech announcements are managed and which layers in the browser/assistive tech stack play a role.
  • End-to-End Event Architecture – A detailed explanation of the architecture of browser events and accessibility events, including how events are processed in the browser.

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