Rebuilt HTML — PaddleOCR-VL (Baidu)
Semantic HTML reconstructed from the OCR item tree (headings, text, lists, tables, form fields). overlay · view JSON
Accessibility Mythbusters
THE MYTH
“Accessibility is only developers’ responsibility.”
FICTION!
Accessibility is a team effort, not a hand-off.
DESIGNERS
Choose readable colours, clear layouts and usable interactions. 83.9% of top home pages have low-contrast text
83.9% of top home pages have low-contrast text
CONTENT CREATORS
Write clear headings, meaningful links and useful image descriptions. 53.1% of top home pages have images missing alt text
53.1% of top home pages have images missing alt text
DEVELOPERS
Build accessible structure, controls and keyboard interactions.
51% of top home pages have form inputs with no label
TESTERS & RESEARCHERS
Find barriers and learn from disabled people's experiences. Automated tools find only 30–35% of issues. Manual testing finds the rest.
Automated tools find only 30–35% of issues. Manual testing finds the rest.
PRODUCT OWNERS & LEADERS
Make accessibility a priority, with time and resources. The organisation holds the legal duty, not individual developers
The organisation holds the legal duty, not individual developers
Sources: WebAIM Million 2026 · W3C WAI Accessibility Roles and Responsibilities Mapping · Equality Act 2010. Full sources overleaf.
DON'T PASS THE BUCK. BREAK THE BARRIERS.
Everyone has a role. Each role is different.
The facts behind the fiction.
Why accessibility belongs to every role, not just developers.
WHY IT MATTERS
1 in 4 1 in 6
69%
£17.1bn
people in the UK are disabled (16.7 million)
people worldwide have a significant disability (1.3 billion) of disabled shoppers click away from hard-to-use sites. Only 8% tell in online sales UK retailers could be missing each year
of disabled shoppers click away from hard-to- use sites. Only 8% tell the site owner.
DWP Family Resources Survey 2024-25 · WHO, 2023 · Click-Away Pound Survey 2019 of disabled shoppers click away from hard-to-use sites. Only 8% tell the site owner. £17.1bn
THE WEB TODAY: MANY FAILURES START BEFORE CODE
95.9% 56.1
83.9% 53.1%
of the top 1 million home pages fail WCAG checks detected errors per home page, on average
have low-contrast text: a design decision are missing image alt text: a content task
WebAIM Million, 2026. Six error types make up 96% of all errors found.
One heading, three jobs — how the W3C splits a single feature
Writers
Designers
Developers
Write the heading text and communicate the heading level
Define how the headings look
Code or mark up the headings so assistive tech can use them
Fix it early, pay less
Development: ≈$350 cheaper per defect than in QA
QA: ≈$450 cheaper per defect than in production
Production: $800+ per defect
Deque estimates: early work can cut accessibility spend from ~15% to 5% or less of a budget.
The law looks at the organisation
“
UK: Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018, including a published accessibility statement
When accessibility is left until late in a project, the responsibility often falls on developers.
EU: the European Accessibility Act has applied to many products and services since 28 June 2025
DON'T PASS THE BUCK. BREAK THE BARRIERS. Accessibility for all
W3C WAI, Accessibility Roles and Responsibilities Mapping
Accessibility for all
Sources: WebAIM, The WebAIM Million (2026) · W3C WAI, Accessibility Roles and Responsibilities Mapping (draft) · Deque, “Doing the numbers: Digital accessibility and shifting left” (2024) · DWP, Family Resources Survey 2024 to 2025 · WHO, Disability fact sheet (2023) · Click-Away Pound Survey 2019, via AbilityNet · GOV.UK, Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies · Directive (EU) 2019/882, European Accessibility Act.