Universal Accessibility Interest Group

Happy End of Summer Y'all!

We are kicking off our monthly chat discussion series where Anaya and I are bringing up topics of interest where we can collaborate and learn from each other. Recognizing many of us are super busy this time of year fitting in the last summer activities and starting new school years, we thought an Aug/Sept topic would work well. I know I am definately looking forward to our summer break up in Maine. Nothing but ocean, seagulls and lobsters for a week staight. Yahoo!

Recognizing accessibility is a complex body of knowledge, there are many areas where we all are learning more about everyday. What specific accessibility topics are you currently struggling with...either personally or within your institution?

Personally, I am currently trying to determine the best course of action for more professional development. Should I beef up my coding skills by formally doing a bootcamp to learn html, css, java, python and hopefully ARIA? I don't particularly enjoy coding (at least I didn't when I first learned html in library school) but I think it may help me better understand the WCAG guidelines and how to actually apply them to design decisions. I've been eyeing a Coursera offering in Web Design from the University of Michigan because it specifically covers the languages I want to learn AND includes ARIA. Some of the other coding offerings seem to ignore web accessiblity which isn't super helpful. Has anyone done any PD in this recently and have some advice? Or are you already a whiz and have some thoughts for me on if learning these languages would help with the WCAG standards?

Within my institution, I am leading a working group on A11y training which is an offshoot of our university wide Accessibility Council. This volunteer group is attempting to go through all the accessiblity trainings we have access to via LinkedIn Learning, SiteImprov Academy and others within our employee LMS (I think from Skillsoft)  and make recommendations for employees based on their roles. We hope to have a track for individual contributors, content creators and web developers so that depending on your role in the org, you can see what A11y approved trainings are available. It's been a little tough in the respect that a volunteer group is trying to push work through that should be actual job responsibilities for multiple positions. I also wish I could dedicate time to developing some our own own content which would help make accessibility more relevant to my University. It's a struggle between just getting something out there to meet at least some of the need and wanting to really do it well. Has anyone else done any similar work?

My best,

Trisha

Happy End of Summer Y'all!

We are kicking off our monthly chat discussion series where Anaya and I are bringing up topics of interest where we can collaborate and learn from each other. Recognizing many of us are super busy this time of year fitting in the last summer activities and starting new school years, we thought an Aug/Sept topic would work well. I know I am definately looking forward to our summer break up in Maine. Nothing but ocean, seagulls and lobsters for a week staight. Yahoo!

Recognizing accessibility is a complex body of knowledge, there are many areas where we all are learning more about everyday. What specific accessibility topics are you currently struggling with...either personally or within your institution?

Personally, I am currently trying to determine the best course of action for more professional development. Should I beef up my coding skills by formally doing a bootcamp to learn html, css, java, python and hopefully ARIA? I don't particularly enjoy coding (at least I didn't when I first learned html in library school) but I think it may help me better understand the WCAG guidelines and how to actually apply them to design decisions. I've been eyeing a Coursera offering in Web Design from the University of Michigan because it specifically covers the languages I want to learn AND includes ARIA. Some of the other coding offerings seem to ignore web accessiblity which isn't super helpful. Has anyone done any PD in this recently and have some advice? Or are you already a whiz and have some thoughts for me on if learning these languages would help with the WCAG standards?

Within my institution, I am leading a working group on A11y training which is an offshoot of our university wide Accessibility Council. This volunteer group is attempting to go through all the accessiblity trainings we have access to via LinkedIn Learning, SiteImprov Academy and others within our employee LMS (I think from Skillsoft)  and make recommendations for employees based on their roles. We hope to have a track for individual contributors, content creators and web developers so that depending on your role in the org, you can see what A11y approved trainings are available. It's been a little tough in the respect that a volunteer group is trying to push work through that should be actual job responsibilities for multiple positions. I also wish I could dedicate time to developing some our own own content which would help make accessibility more relevant to my University. It's a struggle between just getting something out there to meet at least some of the need and wanting to really do it well. Has anyone else done any similar work?

My best,

Trisha

Happy End of Summer Y'all!

We are kicking off our monthly chat discussion series where Anaya and I are bringing up topics of interest where we can collaborate and learn from each other. Recognizing many of us are super busy this time of year fitting in the last summer activities and starting new school years, we thought an Aug/Sept topic would work well. I know I am definately looking forward to our summer break up in Maine. Nothing but ocean, seagulls and lobsters for a week staight. Yahoo!

Recognizing accessibility is a complex body of knowledge, there are many areas where we all are learning more about everyday. What specific accessibility topics are you currently struggling with...either personally or within your institution?

Personally, I am currently trying to determine the best course of action for more professional development. Should I beef up my coding skills by formally doing a bootcamp to learn html, css, java, python and hopefully ARIA? I don't particularly enjoy coding (at least I didn't when I first learned html in library school) but I think it may help me better understand the WCAG guidelines and how to actually apply them to design decisions. I've been eyeing a Coursera offering in Web Design from the University of Michigan because it specifically covers the languages I want to learn AND includes ARIA. Some of the other coding offerings seem to ignore web accessiblity which isn't super helpful. Has anyone done any PD in this recently and have some advice? Or are you already a whiz and have some thoughts for me on if learning these languages would help with the WCAG standards?

Within my institution, I am leading a working group on A11y training which is an offshoot of our university wide Accessibility Council. This volunteer group is attempting to go through all the accessiblity trainings we have access to via LinkedIn Learning, SiteImprov Academy and others within our employee LMS (I think from Skillsoft)  and make recommendations for employees based on their roles. We hope to have a track for individual contributors, content creators and web developers so that depending on your role in the org, you can see what A11y approved trainings are available. It's been a little tough in the respect that a volunteer group is trying to push work through that should be actual job responsibilities for multiple positions. I also wish I could dedicate time to developing some our own own content which would help make accessibility more relevant to my University. It's a struggle between just getting something out there to meet at least some of the need and wanting to really do it well. Has anyone else done any similar work?

My best,

Trisha

Happy End of Summer Y'all!

We are kicking off our monthly chat discussion series where Anaya and I are bringing up topics of interest where we can collaborate and learn from each other. Recognizing many of us are super busy this time of year fitting in the last summer activities and starting new school years, we thought an Aug/Sept topic would work well. I know I am definately looking forward to our summer break up in Maine. Nothing but ocean, seagulls and lobsters for a week staight. Yahoo!

Recognizing accessibility is a complex body of knowledge, there are many areas where we all are learning more about everyday. What specific accessibility topics are you currently struggling with...either personally or within your institution?

Personally, I am currently trying to determine the best course of action for more professional development. Should I beef up my coding skills by formally doing a bootcamp to learn html, css, java, python and hopefully ARIA? I don't particularly enjoy coding (at least I didn't when I first learned html in library school) but I think it may help me better understand the WCAG guidelines and how to actually apply them to design decisions. I've been eyeing a Coursera offering in Web Design from the University of Michigan because it specifically covers the languages I want to learn AND includes ARIA. Some of the other coding offerings seem to ignore web accessiblity which isn't super helpful. Has anyone done any PD in this recently and have some advice? Or are you already a whiz and have some thoughts for me on if learning these languages would help with the WCAG standards?

Within my institution, I am leading a working group on A11y training which is an offshoot of our university wide Accessibility Council. This volunteer group is attempting to go through all the accessiblity trainings we have access to via LinkedIn Learning, SiteImprov Academy and others within our employee LMS (I think from Skillsoft)  and make recommendations for employees based on their roles. We hope to have a track for individual contributors, content creators and web developers so that depending on your role in the org, you can see what A11y approved trainings are available. It's been a little tough in the respect that a volunteer group is trying to push work through that should be actual job responsibilities for multiple positions. I also wish I could dedicate time to developing some our own own content which would help make accessibility more relevant to my University. It's a struggle between just getting something out there to meet at least some of the need and wanting to really do it well. Has anyone else done any similar work?

My best,

Trisha

Happy End of Summer Y'all!

We are kicking off our monthly chat discussion series where Anaya and I are bringing up topics of interest where we can collaborate and learn from each other. Recognizing many of us are super busy this time of year fitting in the last summer activities and starting new school years, we thought an Aug/Sept topic would work well. I know I am definately looking forward to our summer break up in Maine. Nothing but ocean, seagulls and lobsters for a week staight. Yahoo!

Recognizing accessibility is a complex body of knowledge, there are many areas where we all are learning more about everyday. What specific accessibility topics are you currently struggling with...either personally or within your institution?

Personally, I am currently trying to determine the best course of action for more professional development. Should I beef up my coding skills by formally doing a bootcamp to learn html, css, java, python and hopefully ARIA? I don't particularly enjoy coding (at least I didn't when I first learned html in library school) but I think it may help me better understand the WCAG guidelines and how to actually apply them to design decisions. I've been eyeing a Coursera offering in Web Design from the University of Michigan because it specifically covers the languages I want to learn AND includes ARIA. Some of the other coding offerings seem to ignore web accessiblity which isn't super helpful. Has anyone done any PD in this recently and have some advice? Or are you already a whiz and have some thoughts for me on if learning these languages would help with the WCAG standards?

Within my institution, I am leading a working group on A11y training which is an offshoot of our university wide Accessibility Council. This volunteer group is attempting to go through all the accessiblity trainings we have access to via LinkedIn Learning, SiteImprov Academy and others within our employee LMS (I think from Skillsoft)  and make recommendations for employees based on their roles. We hope to have a track for individual contributors, content creators and web developers so that depending on your role in the org, you can see what A11y approved trainings are available. It's been a little tough in the respect that a volunteer group is trying to push work through that should be actual job responsibilities for multiple positions. I also wish I could dedicate time to developing some our own own content which would help make accessibility more relevant to my University. It's a struggle between just getting something out there to meet at least some of the need and wanting to really do it well. Has anyone else done any similar work?

My best,

Trisha

Good morning Anaya,

I'm curious to hear more about your tests of PDF remediation software.  What were the pros/cons of each?  Which one did you recommend for purchase?  

Happy End of Summer Y'all!

We are kicking off our monthly chat discussion series where Anaya and I are bringing up topics of interest where we can collaborate and learn from each other. Recognizing many of us are super busy this time of year fitting in the last summer activities and starting new school years, we thought an Aug/Sept topic would work well. I know I am definately looking forward to our summer break up in Maine. Nothing but ocean, seagulls and lobsters for a week staight. Yahoo!

Recognizing accessibility is a complex body of knowledge, there are many areas where we all are learning more about everyday. What specific accessibility topics are you currently struggling with...either personally or within your institution?

Personally, I am currently trying to determine the best course of action for more professional development. Should I beef up my coding skills by formally doing a bootcamp to learn html, css, java, python and hopefully ARIA? I don't particularly enjoy coding (at least I didn't when I first learned html in library school) but I think it may help me better understand the WCAG guidelines and how to actually apply them to design decisions. I've been eyeing a Coursera offering in Web Design from the University of Michigan because it specifically covers the languages I want to learn AND includes ARIA. Some of the other coding offerings seem to ignore web accessiblity which isn't super helpful. Has anyone done any PD in this recently and have some advice? Or are you already a whiz and have some thoughts for me on if learning these languages would help with the WCAG standards?

Within my institution, I am leading a working group on A11y training which is an offshoot of our university wide Accessibility Council. This volunteer group is attempting to go through all the accessiblity trainings we have access to via LinkedIn Learning, SiteImprov Academy and others within our employee LMS (I think from Skillsoft)  and make recommendations for employees based on their roles. We hope to have a track for individual contributors, content creators and web developers so that depending on your role in the org, you can see what A11y approved trainings are available. It's been a little tough in the respect that a volunteer group is trying to push work through that should be actual job responsibilities for multiple positions. I also wish I could dedicate time to developing some our own own content which would help make accessibility more relevant to my University. It's a struggle between just getting something out there to meet at least some of the need and wanting to really do it well. Has anyone else done any similar work?

My best,

Trisha