COVID-19 is forcing more of us to work from home than ever. Here is how you can effectively communicate with your co-workers during this time Pick the Appropriate Method of Communication Email, slack, text message, phone, chat, conference call —…
Staffing accessibility — Consultants vs. employees
It’s a complicated decision, here are the factors to look at to decide which route is right for your organization Part two of a two-part article. Read Part one here which addresses the cost of each type of resources discussed in this…
Simulating Disabilities
When is it OK? When is it disrespectful? My thoughts on a complicated topic Simulation is a common but misguided approach to invoking empathy for disability and accessibility-related issues. This is often done in group settings and is incredibly common in…
Measuring Accessibility Outcomes
Peter Drucker said “you can’t manage what you can’t measure”. Here’s how to gauge the success of disability inclusion / accessibility initiatives utcome is frequently quantitatively measured using benchmarks. Let’s say you need to get somewhere. You need four pieces of information…
This week in accessibility: NFB v. EPIC
The inaccessible defendant won this round, but don’t count on their victory helping you in a similar situation. Recently, a Massachusetts district court decided in favor of a defendant who sold inaccessible software and dismissed a suit against them that was filed…
Deconstructing Accessibility Statements
Don’t read legal-ese? This will help you understand what accessibility statements actually say, and more importantly, why. This is MY interpretation of accessibility statement legal-ese. I am not your lawyer. You need to make up your own mind. With your…
VMware’s First Accessibility Hackathon
The first week in February marked VMware’s first accessibility week which consisted of an accessibility summit followed immediately by an accessibility hackathon. The fact that VMware held a successful accessibility hackathon only a year after starting its accessibility program is something to…
7 things that turn good accessibility into great accessibility
“It’s easy to pick on people who do a crappy job at accessibility. Why don’t you write an article on how to get people good at accessibility to up their game?” I was asked in one PM. Challenge accepted. The…
My Superbowl hangover
It is the Tuesday after the “big game” as I write this article. My annual headache is back. I don’t drink. Year after year I get aggravated beyond believe because the Superbowl producers give you a few seconds (if that)…
10 things that indicate designers have no clue about accessibility
Once you see more than one of the items below, you can be fairly sure that accessibility was not considered in design and development People frequently reach out to me* asking if a particular site is accessible. This happened last…