Category: podcast

Podcast #96: WordPress, Events

Post author By Dennis
Post date November 26, 2012
2 Comments on Podcast #96: WordPress, Events

Dennis and Ross are back! It’s been a while since the last podcast, and the guys catch up on events, news, and lots of great things happening with accessibility on WordPress.

Download Web Axe Episode 96 (WordPress, Events)

[transcript of podcast 96]

New Song!

So besides a new website, there’s a new Web Axe theme song! The vocal track isn’t added yet, so this episode will have an instrumental version.

The original WebAxe Theme Music is composed and produced by Jeff Ensign a.k.a. Evolution Noise Slave. Check out his work at glafizya.com.

Goings On

New website! Blogger bad, WordPress good.
Ross’ book update; almost done!
Presented “Intro to Web Accessibility” at Accessibility Camp LA.
Presented at HTML5 Developer Conference in SF on ARIA and dropdown widget.
Presented (virtually) at a11yBos.
Wrote an open letter to Slideshare; received response!
Pro HTML5 Accessibility book review.

News

HTML5 main element
- main element HTML5 draft spec
- The main Element article by filament group
- HTML5 Structural Elements with ARIA Landmark Roles (diagram by Dennis on Flickr)
Longdesc saved?!
- Proposed longdesc spec: HTML5 Image Description Extension, W3C Editors’ Draft 16 November 2012
- NVDA now supports Longdesc

WordPress

Blaskan theme. Dennis working with author.
Two important plug-ins:
- used are WP Accessibility by @JoeDolson.
- WP-Accessible Twitter feed by Rian Rietveld.
Cities project by Joseph O’Connor (@accessibleJoe).
Make WordPress Accessible discussion on WordPress.org

Events

Accessibility Camp Montreal (A11yMTL), free event November 23.
Web Accessibility Techniques and Testing, December 5 in Canberra, Australia.
Making a Measurable Difference with Accessible Instructional Materials, free webinar December 11.
The Status of Accessibility in Mobile Devices, free webinar December 11.

event gaad podcast survey

Podcast #95: Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Surveys, more

Post author By Dennis
Post date May 3, 2012
1 Comment on Podcast #95: Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Surveys, more

First, Dennis and Ross discuss a variety of topics including some current surveys and a couple articles about skip-to links. Then Dennis speaks with @JoeDevon and @Jennison about the inaugural Global Accessibility Awareness Day!

Download Web Axe Episode 95 (Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Surveys, more)

[Transcript of podcast 95]

Goings On

Ross’ book update.
Positive email response to Disability.gov critique.
Liz Ellcessor Ph.D. candidate in Media & Cultural Studies at U of Wisc interviews Dennis (Malware warning due to hosting issue).
New! a11yBuzz by @KarlGroves, an “accessibility body of knowledge”.
2 updates (validation, open in other browsers) to Web Accessibility Toolbar 2012 by The Paciello Group.
Seeing more accessibility jobs in general lately. Hiring good web developers at PayPal in San Jose, San Francisco, Austin; contact @DennisL.

Surveys

Blind or low-vision users, complete AFB’s Survey on Travel Website Accessibility.
Short survey by Blind Bargains to improve accessibility to flowcharts on mobile devices (must log in).
Survey on Books & Accessibility for person with disability, special educators, parents; from @Barrierbreak.
4th screen reader survey by WebAIM

Articles

Skip links on mobile and tablets by @iheni.
Article by @TerrillThompson “Back to Basics: Skip to Main Content Links“.
The Mobile Website Debate (Jakob Nielson vs Josh Clark vs Ross Johnson).
Usability Principles, Accessibility Style, a 3-part series by @AquinasWI.
Good examples of accessible websites by @TerrillThompson.

Upcoming Events

Accessibility Conference at University of Guelph, Ontario – May 29-30, 2012
Accessibility Camp Seattle (A11ySEA) – June 2-3, 2012
NFB National Convention 2012 starts June 30 in Dallas: http://t.co/mSQ59Op5

Global Accessibility Awareness Day

Wednesday, May 9; first one ever!
GAAD Website (launched May 2!) (updated URL)
Facebook page.
Twitter @GblA11yDay and hashtag #GAAD.
Event in Los Angeles featuring Yahoo!’s Todd Kloots and Victor Tsaran.
Melbourne Breakfast Meetup led by Adem Cifcioglu.
Event in Toronto, Canada, at OCAD University.
Event in Mumbai, India sponsored by BarrierBreak Technologies.

csun expert podcast

Podcast 94: Women of CSUN12

Post author By Dennis
Post date January 29, 2012
1 Comment on Podcast 94: Women of CSUN12

This podcast is a preview of the 27th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference, commonly known as CSUN, February 27 thru March 3 in San Diego, California. If you’re not attending to the CSUN conference this year, this podcast is valuable in learning about current issues in web accessibility and “meeting” several great people in the field. If you are going, then you can also make a better decision in which sessions you want to attend.

First, Dennis and Jennison Asuncion (@Jennison) do an excellent overview of the conference (OK, mostly Jennison). Then several guests, all women, speak about their work, their sessions at CSUN, and some other fun thoughts. Four of the women live in the UK!

Download Web Axe Episode 94 (Women of CSUN12)

[Transcript of podcast 94]

Guests

Glenda Sims / @GoodWitch
Henny Swan / @IHeni
Lainey Feingold / @LFLegal
Leonie Watson / @LeonieWatson
Sandi Wassmer / @SandiWassmer
Sarah Lewthwaite / @Slewth

More Related

CSUN12 Tweetup, Thursday, March 1 at 6:30pm
Project: Possibility / @ProjPossibility
Adobe at CSUN12 / @AdobeAccess
Manchester Grand Hyatt

articles interview podcast

Podcast 93: Teaching Mistakes

Post author By Dennis
Post date December 8, 2011
No Comments on Podcast 93: Teaching Mistakes

Dennis talks briefly about a couple of his recent presentations, a few other presentations and articles, and has a great conversation with Katherine Lynch.

Download Web Axe Episode 93 (Teaching Mistakes)

[Transcript of podcast 93]

Happenings

Busy new day job for Dennis at PayPal.
Two recent presentations by Dennis. Shout out to Norm Coombs of EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information) and John Croston (@jfc3) for putting on the Accessibility DC meetup.

Articles

How Expensive is Accessibility? (by @KarlGroves)
ARIA and HTML5 Accessibility (by @WebAIM)
Screen readers and CSS (by @RogerJohansson)
HTML5 Video Accessibility (by @SilviaPfeiffer)

Discussion with Katherine Lynch.

Katherine Lynch who works for Drexel University Libraries in Philadelphia. Katherine is a Drupal and accessibility professional and has done many presentations and written many articles. Find her on Twitter at @katelynch. Dennis and Katherine discuss her recent article 5 Teaching Mistakes Accessibility Advocates Make:

We assume that others don’t know anything.
We assume that others know too much.
We get hung up on one cause of accessibility.
We try to convert people who don’t need converting.
We blame people for not already knowing.

Podcast #92: Frustrated

Dennis vents about frustrations around web accessibility and revisit the “game plan”. He and Ross also discuss some great recent articles and review several upcoming web accessibility events.

Download Web Axe Episode 92 (Frustrated)

[Transcript of podcast 92]

Sponsor: Help make a difference and join Project:Possibility: a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating open source software that benefits persons with disabilities. Our SS12 Code for a Cause competition is an opportunity for students to learn about accessibility and make a difference by developing innovative projects for persons with disabilities, as well as the chance to work with industry professionals.

Goings On

Ross’ book update.

California court rules for JetBlue:

Court Rules in Favor of JetBlue – Airline Websites and Kiosks Not Covered by State Law (@LFLegal)
Why JetBlue, FAA [and DOT] are on the wrong side of justice (by @blindtravel)
Airlines Continue to Evade Accessibility of Check-In Kiosks and Websites (by COAT)

Old Twitter gone for good; New Twitter not accessible.

The official word about the final rollout of New Twitter.
Forced to use New Twitter & unable to use it? Try the robust and web-accessible Easy Chirp (@EasyChirp). On iPhone, try TweetList.

Frustrated!

Unfortunately, after 20 years since the World Wide Web opened to the public, I’d have to say that accessibility is worse than ever.

Laws haven’t improved. Section 508 static for over a decade. See above. Target wan’t found guilty.
Social media, banking, and Olympic websites not accessible. Google Plus Keyboard Accessibility (Web Axe)
Widgets and services. DISQUS: Shutting Out the Blindness Community from Discussion
Even government websites not accessible!
Even the W3C removing accessibility markup and attributes without an adequate substitute e.g. longdesc, summary. Leaving accessibility for last e.g. video captions.

Articles

A simple introduction to web accessibility by Ian Hamilton, BBC.
More from 4Syllables (@Writing4Web):
- Link purpose: accessibility for web writers, part 9.
- Headings & labels: accessibility for web writers, part 10.
Web Accessibility and SEO from WebAIM.
Popular Mistakes in Universal Web Design by Dennis on Design Festival.
30 (Million) Reasons for Accessible Design (not web specific)

Web Camp/Unconference Reminders

Accessibility Camp Montreal
Friday, August 26, 2011
Montreal, Canada
Twitter: @A11yMTL

Boston Accessibility Unconference
Saturday, September 17, 10am to 5pm EST
Twitter: @a11ybos

Accessibility Camp Toronto
Saturday, September 24
Toronto, Canada (OCAD University)
Twitter: @A11yCampTO Email: a11ycampto at gmail dot com

Web Accessibility London Unconference
Wednesday, 21 September 2011, 10am to 4pm
London, UK (City University London)

Accessibility Camp DC
Saturday, October 22
MLK Library in Washington, DC
Twitter: @AccessCampDC

New Song!

Goings On

News

WordPress

Links

Events

Goings On

Surveys

Articles

Upcoming Events

Global Accessibility Awareness Day

Guests

More Related

Goings On

Frustrated!

Articles

Web Camp/Unconference Reminders