Notes # 4: Web Accessibility In Ukraine, French Standards, U.S. Legal Update...

Personal Notes

Last week, I worked on compiling the results of our digital accessibility certification survey and writing an article about our findings. You can find the article below in the “An Article From Me” section. I won't discuss the results here, but one thing that breaks my heart. We posted our survey on LinkedIn and email groups. We also disseminated it via WhatsApp. But, only 30 people filled our survey and most of them were disabled people. The ownership of the disabled is good news. My issue is the low level of participation of the non-disabled community working in the field of digital accessibility. I know they consider accessibility issues while coding or testing but they do not consider themselves as digital accessibility professionals. This creates a loneliness and digital accessibility silo. So, if you are doing something, even a little thing, on digital accessibility, please say “I am working on digital accessibility”. We need visibility and promotion of the non-disabled community.

News

Ukraine - Web Accessibility Of 100 State Authorities’ Websites 2025 Study: I read a lot of news on disability inclusive reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine before. A newly released UNDP report shows us a concrete step for that. According to the report “The number of government websites with a high level of basic accessibility has increased more than four times over the year”. They made this progress under Russian invasion, in a crisis situation. So, Ukraine shows us that accessibility can be prioritized when you want to prioritize it. After now, I will not accept “this is not our priority” argument.

RGAA 5 Is Coming: The RGAA is a French accessibility standard based on WCAG, and a new version is set to be released at the end of 2026. The new version will bring broader coverage beyond websites, alignment with WCAG 2.2, simplification of the language, and a stronger legal framework with a designated authority and an online service for tracking accessibility statements. I am excited about RGAA 5 because I have been trying to use the WCAG2ICT document to implement WCAG criteria in mobile apps, but it doesn't really work. Additionally, we need a detailed framework like this in Turkey.

Tell The Federal Government Not To Change The Title II Accessibility Regulations: The ADA Title II rule requires state and local government agencies to make digital products accessible, and the deadline is approaching. However, something is happening. Let's start with the definition of an Interim Final Rule. It is a federal regulation that becomes effective immediately upon publication, bypassing the standard prior notice-and-comment process (For Turkish readers: similar to 'Kanun Hükmünde Kararname', as I understand). The Department of Justice has sent an "Interim Final Rule". We do not know what is in those revisions because it is not public. However, this makes it possible that the Department of Justice could change the Title II web and mobile accessibility rule before the upcoming April 24, 2026 deadline. Using legal instruments against accessibility? No words to say.

Protecting Small Businesses From Predatory Website Lawsuits Act: Another frightening legal update from the U.S. The proposed act suggests extra administrative steps for users to file a lawsuit over an inaccessible consumer-facing website or mobile app. You have to first inform the business and then wait for the administrative review. So, businesses will have ample time to remediate accessibility issues. This may create a barrier for 'born-accessible' products because a business will have the opportunity to wait until they receive an accessibility notice from a user. The proposed act aims to do this by amending the ADA. Ken Nakata mentions that: "Past attempts to build in administrative burdens into the ADA have failed, and there's no reason to think that this effort won't fail as well. Disability advocates need to stay alert, however."

Inspirations

Let's Break Some WCAG Rules - YouTube: Elise Kristiansen talks about some WCAG rules and 'shows' their impact on users. This is the most interactive Accessibility 101 presentation I have ever seen. I enjoyed the language and focus order slides the most. She did what can be done with a PowerPoint presentation.

I Used Claude Code And GSD To Build The Accessibility Tool I’ve Always Wanted: There are some user needs that accessibility standards cannot cover. At this point, AI and vibe coding can be a solution. This article is a great example of that and has inspired me to work on a high-contrast adaptability tool.

Font Friday – Karst: Oliver Schöndorfer's Font Friday is back! Fonts are important for accessibility, especially for people with dyslexia and partially-sighted, like me. However, there is no clear guidance on how to choose fonts. I learned a lot from Oskar's blog and YouTube videos on typography and readability. Font Friday is his weekly evaluation of selected fonts.

An Article From Me

Last month, we started a need analysis survey on digital accessibility certification in Turkey. For now, there is no Turkish mechanism to validate accessibility professionals. According to the results, we see that certification could be a way for that. The results also provide valuable insights into accessibility certification: Is There A Need For A Digital Accessibility Certification In Turkey?