Say you’re demo-ing how a screen reader reads a page at work. The you want to add your thoughts or feedback, and don’t wish to speak over the screen reader voice. Or, the people you are demo-ing to have their hands over their ears (I’ve experienced this).
To start reading again, simply press the key again.
“80% of people who use captions aren’t deaf or hard of hearing and there 48 million Americans with hearing loss.” @3PlayMedia
This won’t be the only mega-list someone puts out, but it’s mine, and I’m sticking to it. 🙂
I will link out to other as they come online.
As organizer of a local digital accessibility meetup, I’m always looking for local accessibility wins, case studies that others can experience and learn from.
This post results from the need to validate a personal viewpoint I had related to coding for accessibility.
Via Twitter and Survey Monkey, I polled anyone who would give the topic a little attention the following question:
Related to accessibility, how do you code?
Stemming from a recent post on the Twitter accounts every designer must follow, and timed coincidently when I was planning to send out several “FollowFriday” tweets, I’m sharing a list of the people you must follow on Twitter if you have any interest in digital accessibility. And as I fall under the category of “human,” if I missed anyone who really should be included in this list, please share them in the comments below.
Where’s Part 2, you ask (even if you didn’t, behave…). I know I will leave off people and organizations due to time, forgetfulness, etc. Therefore, expect me to share more Twitter accounts in the future.
Note: everything I know about accessibility is due to these steller individuals. To them, thanks for all you do.
I call Jennison “The Great Connector,” not just because he’s a Digital Accessibility leader at LinkedIn (get it, connector … LinkedIn), but because he has done so much to start communities in Toronto, the San Francisco bay area, and assist with making accessibility matter in many other cities across the globe, including my hometown, Chicago. Not to mention the co-founder of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (read how it all got started).
My new favorite button name as spoken by my screen reader: "ctl00$MainDivContentPlaceHolder$doNothingForIE button."
— Jennison Asuncion (@Jennison) August 10, 2015
Steve is an integral part of what we have with HTML today. Steve posts on the latest nuances with HTML5, ARIA and more. Steve tweets great resources and tips.
ARIA role semantics cancel native #HTML5 element role semantics
HTML5 attribute semantics cancel aria-* state & property attribute semantics
— Steve Faulkner (@stevefaulkner) August 12, 2015
Léonie’s powerful presentations, such as “Design like we give a damn!” have become standard study material for up-and-coming accessibility folks. Léonie tweets valuable resources on digital accessibility.
Use sans-serif fonts, and simple and common words to make text easier for people with #Dyslexia. #OWC7
— Léonie Watson (@LeonieWatson) August 2, 2015
I first became familiar with Marcy during a JavaScript for Everybody presentation. During this presentation, she demonstrated attempting to navigate a recently redesigned airline website that was consider slick. Yet we quickly observed that it wasn’t accessible by all. Marcy’s now an Accessibility Engineer at Adobe, an Angular core team member and curates Accessibility Wins, a blog highlighting great accessibility features of websites.
Learn about Accessibility Testing in *less* time than it takes to have pizza delivered. ? My talk from @jsconf: http://t.co/xB4CpcCrwQ #a11y
— Marcy Sutton (@marcysutton) June 29, 2015
Billy Gregory is the co-organizer of the Toronto Accessibility Meetup, and an accessibility “guy” at The Paciello Group. You’ll find Billy posting some interesting accessibility stuff, like the tweet that turned into a poster everyone wanted.
That time my snarky tweet got turned into a poster! nice work @neamanw pic.twitter.com/CWgXqoApc9 (my tweet for alt: https://t.co/Q9DtP0gep8)
— Billy Gregory (@thebillygregory) March 30, 2015
Former rocker turned web accessibility consultant and developer, Karl has made a name for himself, first blogging on the perils of accessibility testing, then creating tenon.io, an automated accessibility testing API.
Remember that time I got irritated at the Access Board and the 508 Refresh delay? (4 years ago) http://t.co/bjT7bovNBP
— Karl Groves (@karlgroves) July 29, 2015
What happens when you place Billy Gregory and Karl Groves together in one place? Accessibility Mayhem! Billy & Karl as the Viking & Lumberjack almost brought the house down at the annual CSUN convention with chants from the crowd of “WTF ARIA!” Their video briefs create awareness of digital accessibility issues in a unique and entertaining way.
New Viking and Lumberjack episode! #A11y in the Real World
http://t.co/d39hEHws9j
— Viking & Lumberjack (@VandLShow) June 3, 2015
Joe is a web developer, accessibility consultant, and WordPress plugin developer. He has aided in moving WordPress towards accessibility as a contributor to Make WordPress Accessible, and WordPress Core.
If you build themes for #WordPress, you should take a look at the #a11y pattern library for themes! https://t.co/PKl5GrVNXM
— Joe Dolson (@joedolson) August 4, 2015
I met Jordan at WordCamp Milwaukee and had seen his presentations on video. Jordan is as much of an evangelist for accessibility as he is for WordPress. He frequently posts on accessibility, WordPress and the web industry in general.
WC Hamilton raised the bar this year, great job! Check out my #wordpresstv video on WP a11y http://t.co/EtwVoeM5HY #wcyhm #a11y #wpa11y
— JordanQuintal (@JordanQ416) August 12, 2015
Henny is an accessible UX, mobile and multimedia currently for the Paciello Group, formally with the BBC. Great tweets with resources to the latest information on accessibility.
I’ve worked in accessibility for 15 years and we’re STILL warning people off using the TITLE attribute http://t.co/cXpHOGhoOe. Just say no.
— Henny (@iheni) July 29, 2015
I’ve been following Derek when he was one of the early leaders of web standards (think Jeffrey Zeldman – @zeldman). Derek focused on his love for teaching and accessibility. Derek runs Simply Accessible, a team of accessibility specialists changing the perception of accessibility on the web. He posts tidbits and links to presentations and resources, and a wee bit on Scotch.
A meetup group in my city had this in the description: "watch me pump up a random Vimeo video with 10,000 new views in a few minutes." Ugh.
— Derek Featherstone (@feather) July 22, 2015
Paul is continually testing and tweeting on his discoveries when it comes to developing for accessibility. He posts tweets on his latest demos frequently.
Native HTML5 <video> elements never keyboard accessible so you have to make your own <button>s with HTML/JavaScript pic.twitter.com/thQ25xpprD
— Paul J. Adam (@pauljadam) August 4, 2015
Dylan works at Deque and like Paul J. Adams, tweets and retweets a plethora of valuable information on digital accessibility. I’ve found the resources shared to be invaluable.
What is accessibility? http://t.co/4A93kjlYnk This is a topic that has been simmering – it feels like the right time to take a stand #a11y
— holistica11y (@dylanbarrell) February 17, 2015
Like Derek Featherstone, I’ve known of Aaron for seemingly forever. Best known for his work, writings and presentations on progressive enhancement, there’s always a valuable accessibility spin to his teachings. Aaron is the author of Adaptive Web Design and now advocates for web standards & accessibility at Microsoft.
Videos from my presentation at #aeadc: https://t.co/DT5zKVx2th
— Aaron Gustafson (@AaronGustafson) August 11, 2015
Jared is the Associate Director at WebAim.org, a fantastic resource for digital accessibility. He’s been sharings his knowledge and experience on accessibility for over six years.
I hope that women who are experiencing sexism in technology fields know there’s a safe (safer?), welcoming place in accessibility.
— Jared Smith (@jared_w_smith) August 10, 2015
Denis is a Senior Web Accessibility Consultant at Simply Accessible. He tweets frequently on his observations, experiences and valuable resources. And wears a mean AD/DC-themed HTML t-shirt.
"Refreshable braille displays are relatively expensive, ranging from $5,500 to $11,000" http://t.co/svN57MbQbr – and we complain about Jaws?
— Denis Boudreau (@dboudreau) August 6, 2015
Jonathan got his start at the BBC, creating the foundation for accessibility that leads all industries today. He is the author of Including your missing 20% and helped author BS8878, the British Standard for accessibility. Jonathan shares valuable tweets and experiences on accessibility.
Everyone Is Different: Global Accessibility Awareness Day: http://t.co/nMiCD3WIfs via @uxmastery
— Jonathan Hassell (@jonhassell) May 25, 2015
Author of @EasyChirp & @WebAxe; day job at eBay. Posts and retweet valuable information. Plus, shares my name and my favorite decade of music … the 80s.
Cutting the Mustard with CSS Media Queries http://t.co/R0aZjrjDbZ by @sitepointdotcom #css #rwd #webdev
— Dennis Lembrée (@dennisl) August 10, 2015
Bruce is a self-described Web standards lovegod, co-wrote Introducing HTML5 and works at Opera. He tweets on web standards, accessibility and entertaining oddities. He also spars with Steve Faulkner from time to time.
Authoring Tools Accessibility Guidelines 2. Because disabled people need accessible web-based CMSs, too. http://t.co/eaor1UJYaN
— Bruce Lawson (@brucel) July 29, 2015
Sam shares out alot of great accessibility resources and some darn valuable advice from a personal perspective.
Using HTML5 and JavaScript to deliver extended audio description for embedded multimedia: http://t.co/00VVgnRmqP #ViDesc #A11y
— Sam J (@mixolydian) August 5, 2015
Patrick is always seeking and sharing digital accessibility knowledge and tidbits that enrich everyone else’s lives.
weird VO behavior/bug: <a href="#"></a> if focusable, but <a href="#"> </a> isn't https://t.co/br2DVwctOo #a11y /cc @cookiecrook
— patrick h. lauke (@patrick_h_lauke) August 11, 2015
Wendy is the co-author of Universal Design for Web Applications and a Strategist for Microsoft. She tweets valuable information and resources.
Building it into the tools and libraries should help. Let's make it as easy as possible. https://t.co/ayvAUU08vu
— Wendy Chisholm (@wendyabc) August 2, 2015
It’s not the number of tweets, it’s that one tweet a week I look forward to. That’s when she announces the latest edition of her Web Design Update, which typically start off with fantastic accessibility resources from the past week.
Today's Web Design Update: http://t.co/3WRHqNh1q3 Subscribe info: http://t.co/dJjeZXgB4O #accessibility #a11y #webdesign
— Laura Carlson (@laura_carlson) August 12, 2015
Every time I see
a post from Adrian, I get excited. Many of his presentation are reference material for me. Then there’s the Homer Simpson moments:
Found in the CSS for the new and improved http://t.co/00ylHpgXiQ: :focus{outline:0;} #a11y
— Adrian Roselli (@aardrian) August 12, 2015
As Lainey’s Twitter handle suggests, Lainey is a disability rights lawyer specializing in digital, tech+ info access. Her posts cover the gamut within the legal realm of accessibility.
Lawsuit against @eHarmony: dating website not accessible to #blind people. @Newsweek story here:http://t.co/QGwBDJwhYa #a11y HT @SFdirewolf
— Lainey Feingold (@LFLegal) August 12, 2015
Joseph is a leader not only in the accessibility community, but also the WordPress community. In fact, Joseph is a member of the WordPress Accessibility Team.
Until everyone is included in education, truly included, then some of us will always be the unknown other. #Axschat
— Joseph Karr O'Connor (@AccessibleJoe) August 11, 2015
An authority in the accessibility field, the Paciello Group posts valuable information frequently.
Newly announced Teaching Accessibility initiative highlighted in http://t.co/3V0ecJqose ADA 25th anniversary special: http://t.co/CuGZx8Z6a0
— The Paciello Group (@paciellogroup) July 24, 2015
IBM Accessibility is a leading organization related to research and experience in the accessibility field.
Moving from a model of compliance to one of innovation in #government http://t.co/yixWMxIB1W (via @Tony_Trenkle) #accessibility #ada25
— IBM Accessibility (@IBMAccess) August 12, 2015
Another leading organization in the accessibility field. SSB Bart shares out knowledge in the form of articles & blog posts, presentations, etc.
The Digital Accessibility Maturity Model: Dimension #10 – Training http://t.co/lsF7iug3UO
— SSB BART Group (@AccessDemand) August 1, 2015
A unique account that holds weekly Q&A sessions via Twitter using the hashtag #AXSChat.
2 hours until #Axschat with @kurtyaeger join us @dboudreau @denmark98 @bryankramer @BendyGirl @AccessibleJoe pic.twitter.com/ouqutF7nYz
— AXSChat (@AXSChat) August 11, 2015
Recently, I posted some resources from a recent accessibility conference. And the post has become fairly popular. Which scares me.
I attended my first International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference (or CSUN as most attendees call it). I can honestly say, I was humbled and overwhelmed simultaneously.
The 30th annual CSUN 2015 was held in San Diego the first week of March. Held over five days, the week offered two days of eight workshops, followed by three days of six sessions daily, of approximately 413 sessions. The sessions covered the gambit, from technical to roundtable discussions on topics concerning the disabled. I estimate that attendees 60% web professionals, 40% people with disabilities, with a surprising overlap of these audiences (happily so).