Notes # 12: Accessibility Of Streaming Platforms, A11y And AI Testing, Section 504 Delayed...

Personal Notes

Every year, May 10–16 is STILL celebrated as Disability Awareness Week in Turkey (I will explain why I wrote “still” in the “In Detail” section). It is a good thing, right? Actually, I am not sure. I am fed up with these disability “awareness” things. Every year, many events are organized, many speakers give strong messages about disability, many universities invite disabled activists, and the private sector organizes many campaigns. We talk about every issue that can be discussed in terms of awareness. I don’t know what other words we can use to create “more” awareness after this. I acknowledge that awareness is the first step of action, and to do something, you have to be aware of the issue. However, if we cannot create awareness in more than fifty disability awareness weeks, we have to admit that celebrating a disability awareness week is not the right way. My main point is simple: Do not treat accessibility as an interesting thing that should be aware of. Accessibility is a basic human right, and it is so important that action is needed immediately.

News

Tier 1 Accessibility Code In The UK

Source: Ofcom

The UK’s regulator for communications services, Ofcom, published a draft accessibility code for Tier 1 streaming platforms, such as Netflix or Amazon. The Code sets out the minimum requirements for access services that Tier 1 Services have to provide. Quotas for the first, second, and third years are gradually increasing. After the fourth year, Tier 1 streaming platforms must provide 5% signing, 10% audio description, and 80% subtitling of programming hours on the platform. Streaming platforms must also report quality (e.g., accuracy, synchronicity) to the authority and must make these access services visible. The announcement of this accessibility code on the Ofcom website was accompanied by a sign language interpretation and an easy-to-read format. Besides these accessibility measures, the Code’s realistic gradual quota approach makes me hopeful for the implementation.

Applause Report: 78% Of Organizations Leverage AI For Accessibility Testing, But Apps Still Stumble With Assistive Tech

Source: Street Insider

Annual State of Digital Quality In Accessibility report by Applause was released for the sixth time. According to the report, 78% of organizations use AI to improve digital accessibility in their websites and applications. Besides, 90% of organizations validate automated results with manual testing. The proportion of assistive technology users who have regularly encountered inaccessible apps seems very low to me, which is 56%. While we know that not more than 5% of all websites are accessible, according to WebAIM’s study, I would expect a worse result. So, maybe this is because of the study’s sample. It seems like the sample consists of tech-savvy participants. Even though combining AI with manual tests brings us some hopeful results.

HHS’ Office for Civil Rights Extends Web and Mobile Accessibility Compliance Deadline

Source: HHS

In Notes # 9, I mentioned Section 504 and the possibility of a deadline extension. A quick reminder: “Healthcare providers that receive federal financial assistance must implement digital accessibility standards for their website content, mobile apps, and kiosks by May 11, 2026, in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The same deadline extension as in ADA Title II can be applied to the Section 504 rule.” On May 7, HHS announced an Interim Final Rule extending the compliance dates by one year, due to reports that some recipients faced significant burdens that would prevent timely compliance.

Inspirations

ChatGPT And Claude Reflect On Their Accessibility Limitations

Source: Russ Weakley - LinkedIn

Due to the low level of documentation of assistive technology behavior, accessibility best practices, and real-world usability failures, AI sometimes misses some of the more nuanced accessibility issues. So, Russ Weakley suggests that: “Use AI to understand the theory, the spec, and the named patterns. Don’t use it to confirm that something works.” To read an article about how to guide AI to the right information, look at the article below.

The Build, Issue 2 - How I Set Up My AI To Actually Help Me

Source: Juan Olarte - LinkedIn

One of the best definitions of AI that I have ever seen from Juan Olarte : “AI does not give you knowledge, it gives you patterns based on what you provide.” In his LinkedIn article, Juan Olarte explains why we teach AI where to look and suggests practical tips on how we structure prompts. Especially in the field of accessibility, where there is a lot of incorrect or outdated information online, we should guide AI to the right place.

Beyond Furious: Apple’s Pathetic Excuses For Accessibility Failures!

Source: Lucy Greco

Sometimes even if you remediate all of the accessibility issues, your app doesn’t work perfectly. After a long work, you can still encounter small but annoying bugs. This mainly stems from usability issues of screen readers or some situational bugs. Lucy Greco mentioned an annoying issue with VoiceOver and exemplified an accessibility issue in iOS’s own app. It is clear that Apple doesn’t do its best for accessibility.

In Detail: The Short History Of 10 – 16 May Disability Awareness Week

Read this article on its own page

First, I apologize for writing about some information that I could not verify. I made serious efforts to reach the facts. I accessed UN General Assembly notes, read documents, and conducted AI searches, but I could never reach the original sources. Nevertheless, since I am sure that some misinformation is circulating in the community, I wanted to write this section. If there is anything you would like to correct, please let me know.

In Turkey, it is believed that the week of May 10–16 was accepted by the United Nations and is an internationally recognized awareness week. This is incorrect, and it can also be verified from the United Nations’ special days page. Except for some days dedicated to specific disability groups, there is no special day for disability recognized by the UN other than December 3rd.

So, where did this May 10–16 come from? The UN declared 1981 as The International Year of Disabled Persons. Within that year, the period between 1983 and 1992 was also declared as the Decade of Disabled Persons, and an action plan was published. According to information I heard from a disabled rights activist but could not verify, the dates May 10–16 began to be celebrated as a disability awareness week within the scope of this action plan globally. When the Decade of Disabled Persons ended in 1992, December 3rd began to be celebrated as World Disability Day rather than the week on May.

Turkey do not stop celebrating May 10–16 and continued to commemorate this week as an awareness week along with December 3rd.