When you are expecting a child, your mind fills with visions of a picture-perfect future. You think about first words, school pictures, friendships, proms, and the milestones of independence like getting their first driver’s license, job, or going to college.…
Applying Ted Lasso management lessons to accessibility
I am one of a jillion people anxiously awaiting season 3 of Ted Lasso. One of the reasons for its popularity is the life lessons it teaches on management and relationships through the lens of dramatic comedy (aka “dramady”). Here…
Making PowerPoint decks more accessible
An essential component to maximizing remote participation by people with disabilities Part two of a two-part article. Part one focuses on how to optimize the video conference experience for the event. One of the lasting impacts of the pandemic is that business…
Many accessibility problems would be solved if business did three things
Three adjustments to the way we do business could vastly improve the world for people with disabilities I’ll be honest, most of the time, when I do panels or talks on accessibility, I recycle a fair amount of old material.…
Most of the 25 largest American universities spectacularly fail students with disabilities.
Ultimately this will prevent us from becoming a sustainable society. Under US Section 508, any project using federal money has to be accessible to people with disabilities. This rule is codified in 29 USC § 794 (d) and applies to developing, procuring, maintaining,…
Ten Tips for Creating Effective Accessibility Workshops
For starters, re-imagine your all-day workshop in an “all you can eat buffet” format, not a single 12-course dinner. 1. Short 5–10 minute segments in repetitive “learn-do” cycles generally work better than live workshops It is challenging for people to take a…
Where to go for accessibility help when you are stuck
There are lots of resources, some obvious, some not so obvious It happens all the time, even to people as experienced in the field of accessibility as I am. You are brainstorming about how to solve an accessibility issue, and…
Inaccessibility is a disease. Why aren’t we doing more to cure it?
How many developers must know how to develop accessible code before “herd immunity” protects people with disabilities against inaccessibility? In the carbon-based lifeform world, herd immunity is achieved when the majority of a population is immune (either through infection or…
I’ve got my accessibility certification — Now what???
A successful accessibility career isn’t only about accessibility. And in tech, you need to be continuously learning. Note: I am not endorsing any of the classes below, I have not taken any of them personally. But I’ve had a generally…
Accessibility and Online Education Materials
It’s a lot harder to convert in-person materials to accessible online material than you think. And you can’t leave out accessibility. Each day there are at least a dozen new articles in my LinkedIn feed on converting dead-tree, in-person course…