Design vs. accessibility and the CSS visually-hidden class

In the realm of web development, design and accessibility often conflict, necessitating workarounds to achieve a balance, such as the use of the CSS visually-hidden utility class. This class makes content accessible to assistive technologies without altering the visual design, serving as a crucial tool for enhancing accessibility in elements like icon buttons, skip links, live regions, and heading structures. While the class offers significant benefits, it can also introduce issues, particularly for screen reader, touch-based, and voice control users, as it can create additional stops or make elements undetectable. Alternative methods, like using opacity or moving elements off-canvas, are discussed, though they come with their own challenges. The article emphasizes that the key to resolving these issues lies in clear communication between development and design teams to find better patterns and avoid relying solely on hacks.