We wrapped up February 2024 with A11Y Unraveled: Become a Web Accessibility Ninja by Dimitris Georgakas, and I came away with a big smile and a short list of things I wanted to try in my own work. Here is my honest review, the good parts and the hard parts.
What the book covers
Published by Apress in 2023, A11Y Unraveled sets out to make designing and developing accessible websites fun and straightforward. It is written mainly for designers, with plenty for developers and business owners too. Chapters break down common design elements one at a time, and the book also gives a plain-language tour of web accessibility laws around the world. Get the full details on our A11Y Unraveled book page.
What I loved
A tone that makes learning fun
Dimitris writes with humor and warmth. Accessibility can feel heavy and technical, and this book made learning about it an absolute joy. I laughed out loud more than once.
Smart, relevant content
The content is intelligent and meaningful, and it lines up with everything our club is working toward. Every chapter earned its place.
An organization that guides you
The structure led me through the complex world of web accessibility with ease. Each chapter builds on the last, so you always know where you are and why it matters.
Those final summaries
The closing summaries are some of my favorite pages. The very last line stuck with me: "Now go on and make something pretty. And usable. And accessible." That is our whole mission in one sentence.
The challenges I faced
A big book for a short month
At roughly 300 pages, the length was ambitious for February. I felt constantly behind and had to sprint to finish.
I wanted to inspect the code
As a developer and auditor, I kept wishing I could open the web examples and dissect the markup. My inner dev tools diva wanted to right-click and inspect. If you feel the same, pair your reading with the Chrome DevTools accessibility reference (opens in a new tab) and test the patterns yourself.
So, do I feel like a ninja?
A little! The book gave me confidence and a fresh way to explain accessibility to designers and clients. I am still searching for the perfect metaphor for embracing web inclusion, though. Ninja is fun, but accessibility works best as a team sport.
Who should read it
- Designers who are new to accessibility and want a friendly starting point
- Developers who want design context for the patterns they build
- Business owners who want to understand what accessible websites require
Keep the W3C WCAG overview (opens in a new tab) nearby as you read so you can connect each chapter to the WCAG 2.2 success criteria behind it. If you enjoy hands-on pattern breakdowns, our posts on hiding content accessibly and accessible buttons dig into the code side.
Join the conversation
How has A11Y Unraveled shaped your approach to digital accessibility? Do you feel more empowered to build inclusive web spaces, or like a ninja yet? Share your thoughts in the Accessibility Book Club LinkedIn group (opens in a new tab).
Author
Crystal Scott, CPWA
Web Accessibility Engineer
