Let's talk about accessibility (in person event)

It's been a long time, but we are finally back to organising in-person events! Join us for our first in-person event since COVID!

Key event details:

Date: Wed 6 September

Start time: 6:00pm (doors open at 5:30pm)
Note: please arrive before 6:10pm as you need to be swiped up

Location: Level 6 341 George Street (Atlassian offices)

Note: this event will not be online/recorded (due to logistics/approval reasons)

🎤 We have two amazing speakers talking about accessibility! 🎤

Look Ma, no Tab key! Building an accessible rich content editor - Isabel Brison

Any accessibility 101 will tell us that basic keyboard navigation consists in making sure all interactive elements on the page are reachable with a keyboard, preferably in a sequence that matches visual order.

The standard way of navigating is pressing the Tab key to move focus between elements, until we arrive at the element we wish to interact with. But in a complex application, that simple flow can become incredibly painful. Enter keyboard shortcuts, and Arrow key navigation: these improve the experience, but if not implemented correctly can create problems with screen reader software. Add to that variations in international keyboard layouts, and we’re deep in developer nightmare land.

This talk recalls lessons learned while improving accessibility on a rich content editor (the WordPress block editor), going into some of the problems that pop up when implementing keyboard interaction on a complex interface, and some of the ways they can be addressed.

Isabel is a software developer at Automattic and has been a maintainer and full time contributor to the WordPress open source project for the past 3 years.

When not writing, reviewing or otherwise wrangling code, she enjoys getting out in the sun, growing herbs and veggies, and working on art projects.

Hands-free Computer Use... wait, what?! - Zoja Savkovic

Yes, you read that right! Join us as Zoja Savkovic, Software Engineer at KAYAK, takes us through how to use a computer HANDS-FREE with the use of an eye-gaze tracker & voice control system.

Zoja is currently Software Engineer at KAYAK, the world's leading travel search engine, where she keeps busy making sure travel planning and searching are as seamless as possible, so that people can travel the world with confidence.

She's been a software engineer for just about 8 years. Prior to that, she was an electrical engineer in the building services industry. She has a degree in Electrical Engineering and a Science degree with a maths major. In all her roles she's always sought out ways to connect with the tech community, particularly women in tech, so she is excited to be giving back by doing a talk of her own!

She set out on a quest to use the computer hands free when experiencing some repetitive strain in her hands, and found this software called talon which allowed her to do this with voice control and eye gaze tracking. She hasn't looked back since and is passionate about spreading the word about this, so that it can help others.