Learn 11ty, Canvas and Screen-reader

Eleventy was created to be a JavaScript alternative to Jekyll. It’s zero-config by default but has flexible configuration options. Eleventy works with your project’s existing directory structure.

Eleventy uses independent template engines. We don’t want to hold your content hostage. If you decide to use something else later, having your content decoupled in this way will make migration easier.

11ty

Our Twitch Scenes will use the static site generator Eleventy (11ty) to leverage templating features for creating the scenes. This lesson covers the base project which is available in the project repo under `/lessons/00-base`.

This lesson includes templating for the stream details and initial styling of the details section within the scene layout. The primary templating language in use is [Nunjucks](https://mozilla.github.io/nunjucks/templating.html).

Setup Eleventy Project for Creating Twitch Scenes

WAI-ARIA, the Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite, defines a way to make Web content and Web applications more accessible to people with disabilities. It especially helps with dynamic content and advanced user interface controls developed with Ajax, HTML, JavaScript, and related technologies. 

aria

Learn to test for accessibility using Google's Lighthouse tool -- an open-source, automated tool for auditing web pages.
Lighthouse can audit with quite a few different tests (SEO, performance, PWA, etc.). We will only be looking at the Accessibility portion. The audit will show any issues that the site has with links to learn more as well as which elements specifically failed the tests.  


Test Web Accessibility using Lighthouse

The pluggable linting utility for JavaScript and JSX.

eslint

We have a number of options to use when testing for accessibility issues concerning alternative text for images.  The react-axe library and axe browser extension will both report when an image is missing alternative text.  The tota11y browser extension will annotate any images that are missing alternative text.  Running eslint with the eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y plugin installed will report on any `<img>` elements missing an `alt` attribute.  Finally, we can use a screen reader to actually hear what is read when an image has focus.

Test for Image Alternative Text Accessibility Issues

Images must have text alternatives that describe the information or function 
represented by them so they can be read and understood by those using screen readers.

## Alternative text for images
* All `<img>` elements should have an `alt` attribute provided
    * When not provided many screen readers will fallback to reading the file name instead
* The `alt` value should not include words like _“image”_, _“picture”_ or _“icon”_
    * Screen readers are already announcing that the element is an image
* Images that are decorative only and provide no information or function to the page should be hidden from Assistive Technologies by providing an empty `alt` attribute (`alt=””`)

## References
* https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/
* https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/decision-tree/
* https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/tips/
* https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/informative/
* https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/functional/
* https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/textual/

Define Images with Appropriate Text Alternatives

React is one of the web’s most popular frameworks for building JavaScript applications. 

If you know what you’re doing, React can drastically simplify how you build, use, and maintain code.

Whether you’re a React newbie or you’re ready for advanced techniques, you can level-up with egghead. Explore our in-depth courses, lessons, and community resources to build more powerful applications and crack open your career.

react

Labeling inputs, elements, and widgets add context and clarity for assistive technology such as screen readers. Some elements do not already have some sort of labeling text being displayed visually, such as a `<button>` without descriptive text or an `<icon>` or part of a more complex widget.  Others may have some form of text label but it does not provide enough context to be useful enough for those that cannot see it.  The addition of an `aria-label` attribute to the element will provide it with an accessible label so that when that element is focused by a screen reader, for instance, a label is read provides better context for the element and what a user can expect from it.

Add Accessible Labels to Provide Elements with More Context

Labeling inputs, elements, and widgets add context and clarity for assistive technology such as screen readers.  When there are already one or more other elements that themselves can be used to provide labeling text to another element an `aria-labelledby` attribute can be added to that element.  

Some examples of appropriate use cases for using an `aria-labelledby` are:
* Combine multiple labels together
* Associate headings with regions
* Label for a widget

Add an Accessible Label to an Element from the Text of Other Elements

When dynamic changes occur to content on a page they are usually visually apparent to users who can see the page but may not be made apparent to users of assistive technologies. ARIA live regions provide a way to make those dynamic content changes able to be announced by assistive technologies.

## ARIA attributes
* `aria-live`: the priority with which updates are read
* `aria-atomic`: whether the screen reader should always present the live region as a whole, even if only part of the region changes
* `aria-relevant` - takes a list of what type of changes should be announced

## Resources
* https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility/ARIA/ARIA_Live_Regions
* https://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/aria-1.1/states_and_properties#aria-live
* https://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/aria-1.1/states_and_properties#aria-atomic
* https://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/aria-1.1/states_and_properties#aria-relevant
* http://html.cita.illinois.edu/nav/form/aria/index.php?example=3

Define a Live Region to Ensure Dynamic Changes are Announced by Assistive Technologies

Keyboard/screen reader navigation relies on focus proceeding in a logical and linear 
order and not getting lost such that the user does not know where they are 
or how to get back to the desired point in a web page.

## References
* https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.1/#managingfocus
* https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/accessibility/focus/
* https://reactjs.org/docs/accessibility.html#programmatically-managing-focus 
* https://reactjs.org/docs/accessibility.html#programmatically-managing-focus
* https://reactjs.org/docs/refs-and-the-dom.html
* https://reactjs.org/docs/hooks-reference.html#useref
    * https://medium.com/@teh_builder/ref-objects-inside-useeffect-hooks-eb7c15198780
* https://www.gatsbyjs.org/blog/2019-07-11-user-testing-accessible-client-routing/

Appropriately Set the Focus on Each Page Load of a Web Application

Landmark regions are used by screen readers to make it easier for users to navigate the content on the page by defining the structure of the page.  Tools like the Rotor in VoiceOver rely on landmark regions to provide users with the ability to skip directly to the desired section of the page.  We can do this either using HTML5 landmark elements or `<div>` elements with aria roles. In the past, the recommendation was to use both but now we should only use one or the other.

The following are ARIA roles for landmark regions:
* `banner`
* `complementary`
* `contentinfo`
* `form`
* `main`
* `navigation`
* `search`
* `application`

## References
* https://dequeuniversity.com/assets/html/jquery-summit/html5/slides/landmarks.html
* https://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/wiki/Using_ARIA_landmarks_to_identify_regions_of_a_page
* https://www.w3.org/TR/html-aria/#docconformance

Define Landmark Regions of a web page using ARIA roles

The Chrome Developer Tools (DevTools for short), are a set of web authoring and debugging tools built into Google Chrome.

chrome-devtools

Using our accessibility auditing toolkit we can find issues concerning landmark regions in our web application.  The react-axe library will report findings in the JavaScript console of the browser.  We could also run the axe browser extension to see the same results.  The tota11y browser extension will annotate any landmark regions on the page and therefore if none are annotated it may indicate that they aren't any (_NOTE: tota11y will only annotate landmark regions using aria roles and not those using HTML5 elements_).  Finally using the VoiceOver Rotor in Safari will show us whatever landmark regions have been defined in the Landmarks menu. 

Test for Landmark Region Accessibility Issues in React

Landmark regions are used by screen readers to make it easier for users to navigate the content on the page by defining the structure of the page. Tools like the Rotor in VoiceOver rely on landmark regions to provide users with the ability to skip directly to the desired section of the page. We can do this either using HTML5 landmark elements or <div> elements with aria roles. In the past, the recommendation was to use both but now we should only use one or the other.  We should prefer HTML5 to ARIA roles when possible.

The following are HTML5 elements for landmark regions:
* article
* aside
* header
* footer
* main
* nav
* section

## References
* https://dequeuniversity.com/assets/html/jquery-summit/html5/slides/landmarks.html
* https://www.a11ymatters.com/article/intro-html5-sectioning-elements/
* https://www.w3.org/TR/html-aria/#docconformance

Define Landmark Regions of a web page using HTML5 sectioning elements

screen-reader

We can find issues with heading levels by utilizing our accessibility auditing tools.  The library react-axe, as well as the browser extension axe, will report any findings concerning heading levels.  The browser extension tota11y will annotate all heading levels on a page and show any in red that have issues.  Finally, we can check the Rotor in VoiceOver in Safari.  The Rotor should have a Headings menu and will list in order all of them that are found on the page.  If headings are missing or inappropriate this will help us find them as well.

Test for Heading Level Accessibility Issues

Similar to Landmark Regions, Heading Levels are used by web browsers, plug-ins, and assistive technologies to provide in-page navigation.

## Rules
* Each page should have at least one `<h1>`
* Pages should be structured in a hierarchical manner
    * `<h1>`: being the most important (usually page titles or main content heading)
    * `<h2>`: usually major section headings
    * `<h3>`: sub-sections of the `<h2>`
    * and so on
* Do not skip heading levels - always follow consecutive order
* Do not use text formatting, such as font size or bold to give the visual appearance of headings.  
    * Use actual heading (`<h1>` - `<h6>`) for all content headings
* Do not use heading levels to achieve visual results only

## References
* https://webaim.org/techniques/semanticstructure/
* https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/page-structure/headings/

Correctly Define Heading Levels of a Web Page

Labeling inputs, elements, and widgets add context and clarity for assistive technology such as screen readers. Some elements do not already have some sort of labeling text being displayed visually, such as a `<button>` without descriptive text or an `<icon>` or part of a more complex widget.  Others may have some form of text label but it is not descriptive enough for those who cannot see it.  The addition of an `aria-label` attribute to the element will provide it with an accessible label so that when that element is focused by a screen reader, for instance, a label is read that better describes the element and what a user can expect from it.

Add Accessible Labels to Elements Whose Labels are Not Clear Enough

Labeling inputs, elements, and widgets add context and clarity for assistive technology such as screen readers. Beyond adding accessible labels to elements and widgets we can also provide additional descriptions.  Similar to how an `aria-labelledby` attribute works, an `aria-describedby` attribute can link the text from another element or elements to be used as a description for the given element.  

Some example use cases for using an `aria-describedby` are:
* providing instructions
* providing important usage details

Add Accessible Descriptions to Elements

A large number of people are unable to use the web effectively due to an impairment or disability.

As developers there are several tools and techniques we can use to make our web applications accessible, ensuring a great user experience that includes everyone.

We all agree that Accessibility is important. However, it’s a broad landscape and can be overwhelming figuring out where to start!

Erin Doyle is an expert in creating accessible React applications and has developed a course that will give you a concrete process for testing, refactoring, and building your applications with accessibility in mind.

After this course, you'll have a jump start on auditing and fixing accessibility issues in your applications and gain a better understanding of your target users and how to approach your web app design from their perspectives.


Develop Accessible Web Apps with React

A <canvas> element provides scripts with a resolution-dependent bitmap canvas, which can be used for rendering graphs, game graphics, or other visual images on the fly.

canvas

The `canvas` element exposes a 2d context which allows you to draw lines using the `moveTo`, `lineTo`, and `stroke` api. You can combine this with Mouse events to make a simple drawing app.

Draw with Your Mouse on an HTML Canvas

What's in a name? In this lesson, I'll explain the concept of naming interactive elements for screen reader users, including forms, buttons, and links. You'll learn how to debug accessible names and descriptions using the Chrome Accessibility Developer Tools (previously a Canary experiment, now in Chrome), using multiple labeling techniques. We'll also listen to the effects of proper accessible names and descriptions in Voiceover and Safari.

For more information and the nitty-gritty browser implementation algorithm, refer to WAI-ARIA 1.1: 
- https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.1/#namecalculation
- https://www.w3.org/TR/accname-1.1/

What is Accessible Name Calculation?

There are many techniques for hiding content in user interfaces, and not all are created equal! Learn how different hiding techniques in HTML, CSS and ARIA impact keyboard and screen reader users in addition to visual display. As a bonus, we'll also take a look using a screen reader on a mobile device.

How Visible vs. Hidden Elements Affect Keyboard/Screen Reader Users

In this lesson, we cover several different ways to animate graphics drawn to Canvas.

Animating with Canvas

In this lesson, listening for and handling mouse and keyboard events in Canvas is covered.

Listening for Mouse and Keyboard Events with HTML Canvas

I've been using Cursor as my primary editor for over a year now, but recently I've heard wonderful things about Windsurf AI Agent features. I decided to record myself building out something I've always wanted to make, but never made the time for.

In this lesson, I demonstrate how to leverage Windsurf's powerful agent process to create a fun word-guessing game inspired by Heads Up. Watch as I build an interactive application featuring category selection and word navigation, complete with data hosting on GitHub Gists and deployment to GitHub Pages - all in under 30 minutes (before editing the lesson down to 12 minutes)!

What makes this project particularly exciting is how Windsurf eliminates the typical friction points of development. While this game was always on my project wishlist, the overhead of setup, configuration, and deployment made it hard to justify the time investment. Windsurf's agent process handles all these pain points seamlessly, from managing URLs to orchestrating deployment.

This lesson perfectly showcases how AI agents can help developers bring their backlog of project ideas to life, transforming what would typically be time-consuming tasks into efficient, enjoyable development experiences.

Build a Word Game with Windsurf's Cascade AI Agent



Discover how to harness the power of Cursor IDE's Composer Agent feature to optimize your code. In this lesson, you'll witness an AI agent doing all the work to generate test suites, implement performance benchmarks, and create optimized function variations - all without writing a single line of code. You'll learn how to validate performance improvements through data-driven benchmarking, ensuring that optimizations are backed by concrete metrics rather than speculation. This hands-on demonstration showcases a groundbreaking approach to automated function development that combines the precision of test-driven development with the efficiency of AI-powered optimization.


Agent-Driven Development in Cursor: Testing, Benchmarking, and Optimizing Functions

This course is aimed for using `zod` effectively in projects based on TypeScript (both browser and node.js). The benefits you gain with this course is not just simply coding, but also understanding when/why/how should you perform runtime validation.

`zod` is the missing piece to TypeScript's capabilities, which can guarantee type-safety only in compile-time.

`zod` can be used whenever the compiler cannot guarantee what happens in runtime. And... it's a very frequent usecase, such as HTTP calls, websockets, etc.

In this course you get quickly up and running by:
1. using `zod` with primitives and objects
2. adapting `zod` quickly to existing projects thanks to automatic generators
3. changing the strategy frm type-first to schema-first
4. using error-throwing `parse` or non-error-throwing `safeParse` basing on your needs
5. applying `zod` to the most common usecase - validating API responses
6. handling errors the most convenient way (out of many!)

Take advantage of runtime validation with `zod`. Take advantage of the detailed lessons in this course 🔥

Effective Runtime Type Checks with Zod


Cursor can now automatically run commands in the terminal and walk step-by-step towards building out your entire project. You give it a goal, then it will suggest the commands you need to run and the files that you need to create and you can work with it to achieve what you're building. This lesson does a quick walkthough of using a Cursor Agent to build a project from scratch and guide it along the way. Cursor Agents definitely feel like a sneak peek at the future of programming!

Cursor Agents Initial Impressions - Allow an AI to Build Your Entire Project

Mock Service Worker is an API mocking library that allows you to write client-agnostic mocks and reuse them across any frameworks, tools, and environments.



Mocking WebSocket APIs with Mock Service Worker


While using anonymous functions might seem convenient, they can create difficulties when trying to identify performance bottlenecks during profiling. This lesson will demonstrate how named functions make it easier to pinpoint and address performance issues, ultimately leading to more efficient and debuggable code. Learning this practice will greatly improve your ability to locate and fix performance issues in complex projects.

Always Name Functions in JavaScript


When attempting to load the same module twice in JavaScript you'll hit a cache and code won't re-run. In scenarios where you actually do want to have state in your modules, you'll have to use a cache-busting technique by passing a query parameter to a dynamic import. This lesson walks through how to add a query parameter, how to add the appropriate types for loading dynamic modules in TypeScript, and when these techniques are valuable.

Import the Same JavaScript Module Multiple Times with Cache Busting



The include keyword in GitHub Actions empowers you to add custom variables to your matrix strategy, providing flexibility beyond standard configurations. In this video, we'll explore how include allows you to define specific combinations of variables, enhancing control over your workflow runs. You'll see how this feature enables you to tailor jobs for unique environments or scenarios not covered by the default matrix options. By leveraging include, you can efficiently manage complex build processes with greater precision. This technique helps you streamline your CI/CD pipeline, making it more adaptable to your project's evolving needs.

Use GitHub Actions Matrix Include for Complex Job Configurations

While running `zod` schema validation agains domain-rich objects, the error message saying that _a string is not a number_ might not be really useful.

Especially, when you need to provide a meaningful feeback to the user, e.g. after they have submitted a form with lots of data.

`zod` allows to customize messages on a very granular level. We can also extract repeatable customization to `zod` error maps.

Finally, in order to process an error message further (e.g. display it to the user), we need to handle the `zod` validation errors effectively. Especially, when a big object validation has failed and we could receive a handful of errors.

That's what we learn in this lesson. 🔥

Customize zod Error Messages and Handle zod Errors Effectively

customize zod validation messages, customize zod schema property messages, reuse error maps across different schemas, navigate through zod error objects

You might want to run `zod` schema checks in different styles.

Sometimes you prefer to conditionally throw the error - that's what `parse` does. But another time you'd prefer to receive a `boolean` property that determines whether the validation was successful or not - and perform further actions accordingly.

Additionally, the error-throwing API of `parse` works extremely well with [TypeScript assertion functions](https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/release-notes/typescript-3-7.html#assertion-functions). Their combination is just... perfect! 👌

That's what we learn in this lesson.

Use parse and safeParse Runtime Type-checks with zod

use zod parse function to conditionally throw ZodError, use zod safeParse to get a boolean value and run typescript type guard over success property

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