Austin Accessibility and Inclusive Design

Cam has noticed that sometimes organizational leaders can be quick to adopt WCAG 2.2 AA as an internal standard or policy; however, they may do so without really understanding the standard. In particular, they might not realize some important things that WCAG requires and places limitations around.

In this session, Cam will draw attention to some requirements that are too frequently overlooked, both to help aspiring accessibility specialists better understand WCAG as well as to help leaders better plan for what will be required. We’ll look at the need for podcast transcripts, accurate captions, and audio descriptions (including traditional, extended, and integrated descriptions), and since it’s the WordPress accessibility meetup group, we’ll look at how the Able Player plugin can help site owners manage these concerns.

We’ll look at 1.4.5 Images of Text and its implications, and we’ll explore other success criteria that have important implications for common design choices (such as carousels). WCAG 2.2 AA is absolutely achievable, but it does require unlearning some of the ableism that permeates the web.

After the presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Describe requirements under WCAG Guideline 1.2 Time-based Media and plan accordingly.
2. Explain WCAG 1.4.5 Images of Text and its higher-level implications for organizations.
3. Identify other WCAG 2.2 AA requirements with implications for common design choices (such as carousels).

About the Speaker
Cam Coulter is a writer and accessibility nerd, among other things, who thinks incessantly about ethical technology, speculative fiction, and intentional community. They work at Santa Clara University as Deputy ADA/504 Coordinator for Digital Accessibility, where they support people who use assistive technology and work to improve campus-wide digital accessibility. Cam is a Certified Professional in Web Accessibility (CPWA), and they have previously worked as an Accessibility Consultant at Level Access as well as in disability services, directly supporting adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Thank you to our sponsors:

A lot has changed in Accessibility Checker Pro over the past year. We’ve spent that time rebuilding the plugin around one goal:
Helping you find and fix accessibility issues faster, without pulling you out of WordPress.

The redesigned Accessibility Checker helps you spot problems, prioritize your next steps, and track your progress faster, while making issues easier to understand and action.

Join us for a deep dive into what’s changed and how Accessibility Checker Pro 2.0 can make your accessibility work easier. This is a great webinar to drop into, whether you’re considering using Accessibility Checker for the first time, are a long-time customer, or you’ve been away for awhile and are curious to see how the software has improved.

We’ll explore how to:

• Find what needs your attention most with Pro 2.0’s Issues Explorer, including powerful filters, grouping, and bulk actions.
• Review issues while you edit with the new Block Editor sidebar.
• See exactly where problems appear when using a front-end builder, using the redesigned Front-End Highlighter and its built-in explanations and supported fixes.
• Track your progress with weekly accessibility email reports, and get instant feedback on fixes as you deploy them with our new issue-specific re-scan feature.
• Save time across websites by importing and exporting settings and fix configurations in Pro, great for large institutions or agencies.

Come see what changed over the last year, and leave with practical ways to make accessibility part of your publishing and maintenance routine using Accessibility Checker Pro.

About the Speakers
Chris Hinds
COO at Equalize Digital
Chris Hinds is the COO of Equalize Digital, Inc., a company specializing in WordPress accessibility. He oversees the business development, human resources, and financial operations of the company, and acts as an early-stage accessibility consultant for countless organizations who are looking to create more accessible outcomes with WordPress.

Chris and the team at Equalize Digital believe that one day, all people will have access to information and tools on the internet, regardless of ability. In support of that vision, the company focuses on products, services, public advocacy, and education that advance the cause of accessibility and empower others to be agents for positive change in their respective organizations.

Paola Gonzalez
Content Specialist at Equalize Digital
Paola Gonzalez is a professional marketer and content specialist who focuses on web accessibility. Paola has used WordPress since she was introduced to the platform in 2012 during her first marketing class, and she’s passionate about creating top-quality content that covers even the most boring topics.

Paola is the content specialist at Equalize Digital, focusing on enhancing WordPress accessibility and raising awareness about web accessibility. She is also part of the WordPress Accessibility Meetup planning team.
Beyond her professional endeavors, Paola enjoys the cultural vibrancy of opera, reading thrillers, playing video games, and following the thrilling speed of Formula 1.

Automated accessibility scanners like Accessibility Checker, WAVE, axe, and SiteImprove flag issues that require human review or judgment. When you see these issues, you need to assess if they are an accessibility failure and, if so, how to fix them. These “Needs Review” issues are among the most common issues we get asked about.

In this presentation, Amber will provide real-world examples of elements that flag in automated accessibility reports and discuss how to assess if they’re truly problems. Attendees will learn how to think critically about and act on reports delivered by Accessibility Checker and similar accessibility browser extensions.

About the Speaker: Amber Hinds
Amber Hinds is the CEO of Equalize Digital, maker of the Accessibility Checker plugin and a leader in the WordPress accessibility space. Amber is the lead organizer of the WordPress Accessibility Meetup and a board member of WP Accessibility Day, a nonprofit that runs a 24-hour virtual conference on WordPress accessibility. Since 2010, she has led teams building websites and web applications for nonprofits, K-12 and higher education institutions, government agencies, and businesses of all sizes, and has become a passionate accessibility advocate.

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Accessibility work doesn’t just involve detecting and resolving issues in your content or code. You’ll also be deciding what to do with years of outdated content, or figuring out the best way to surface large quantities public meeting information.

Join us for a practical look at the products in Equalize Digital’s growing Remediation Suite: ArchiveWP, and BoardScribe. We’ll explore where each tool fits into your WordPress accessibility work and the systemic problems each can help you solve going forward.

In this session, we’ll cover:

• Using ArchiveWP to organize and clearly label outdated content while keeping it available for reference, to help meet archived content exception rules under some accessibility regulations.
• Using BoardScribe to improve how you present meeting agendas and minutes, addressing issues such as ambiguous links, missing table headers, and poorly structured meeting listings.

Adopting better standardized practices, alongside the right tools and systems, helps you make accessibility the “default state” for everything you do. That’s what working smarter (not harder!) means to us, and in this session we’ll show you how to do that.