2021

Many accessibility defects originate in design, so why do the bulk of accessibility considerations fall to developers and quality assurance? In this talk, we will discuss why we need more accessibility designers, what it means to be an accessibility designer, and the day-to-day responsibilities of an accessibility designer. Learn how you can advocate to create accessibility designer roles and begin to train yourself to specialize in accessibility as a designer.

Do all deaf people know how to read lips? Know sign language? Can they drive? There are many misconceptions about deaf and hard of hearing people. Meryl will set the record straight on common misconceptions. Come to this A11yTalks session to get the facts about deaf and HoH people to enrich your accessibility and inclusion efforts.

Two of the biggest gaps in digital accessibility include lack of accessibility guidelines around mental health and how to bridge the knowledge divide between advocacy and professional. Albert Kim, the founder of Accessibility NextGen and a W3C invited expert on mental health, will be discussing his digital accessibility journey and the role Accessibility NextGen is playing to help people in the early stages of their accessibility journeys learn and grow together.

Father Hen's House is a newly started Youtube series project where Father Hen addresses topics through the lens of disability, sexuality, & gender mainly.

The videos are broken into small 3-part series that cover a topic through the different lenses, often with the help of guest speakers. The goal of the project is to provide a digital resource to answer questions that people may be afraid to ask. Father Hen will go over the project's inspiration and where the project is going.

 Overlays are technologies implemented on websites with the aim of increasing accessibility. Even if these overlays could do as they claim, they would still have a fundamental flaw. You can never out code bad design. During this talk let's discuss how overlays will never be the answer and the importance of accessible, inclusive, and usable designs.

What are some of the most common issues found in PDFs when it comes to accessibility – and how do you fix them? This talk will give you a high-level overview of the standards and testing methods, including information on PDF/Universal Accessibility (PDF/UA). Helen will lead us through a live demo showing the differences between PAC3 and the Adobe accessibility checker, plus give us helpful remediation advice for common issues you might encounter.

Conversations about money and accessibility are frequently centered on the expenses of implementing accessibility in digital products and applications. Missing from these conversations are the economic realities faced by disabled people and the price of assistive technology. In this talk, we will look into the repercussions of overlooking the reality that individual finances play in digital accessibility.

This is a digital accessibility success story that started on Twitter where a screen reader user reported a content barrier on a COVID-19 website. The accessibility process to remove the barrier illustrates the need for important conversations, a good faith effort, and a roadmap for continuous improvement. Based on the blog article “A Little Bird Told Me.”

Accessibility work is complex. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you’re first starting out – especially if you don’t have access to an accessibility specialist on your team or in your organization. Devon will go through common misconceptions about digital accessibility work and introduce ways to think about disability, assistive technology, and a more holistic approach to accessibility.