A11y Rules Podcast: Recent Episodes
Nicolas Steenhout
Global Awareness Accessibility Day 2020! This is the third year I’m having a special episode for this event. I started with panel discussions for the day – and was planning on keeping that up. However, technical issues limited our ability to come together and have an actual discussion. So I got my guests to record… Continue Reading Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2020 Special
Joe Devon says the one thing people should remember about accessibility is that building great products is about listening to your user. And if you are not making your products accessible, you are not paying attention to your users. Thanks to Gatsby for being a sponsor of the show. Gatsby is a modern website framework… Continue Reading E097 – Interview with Joe Devon – Part 2
Joe Devon tells us that lot of accessibility is knowing the culture and different communities that view it differently. Thanks to Gatsby for being a sponsor of the show. Gatsby is a modern website framework that builds performance into every website by leveraging the latest web technologies. Create blazing fast, compelling apps and websites without… Continue Reading E096 – Interview with Joe Devon – Part 1
Devon Persing and I talk a little bit about burnout in the web accessibility industry. Thanks to Gatsby for being a sponsor of the show. Gatsby is a modern website framework that builds performance into every website by leveraging the latest web technologies. Create blazing fast, compelling apps and websites without needing to become a… Continue Reading E095 – Interview with Devon Persing – Part 2
Devon Persing tells us that the compliance model doesn’t capture the whole picture of accessibility. And it feels like a separate thing from design/dev work. Thanks to Gatsby for being a sponsor of the show. Gatsby is a modern website framework that builds performance into every website by leveraging the latest web technologies. Create blazing… Continue Reading E094 – Interview with Devon Persing – Part 1
Congressman Tony Coelho tells us that people with disabilities must have the right to fail. Without failure you can’t learn from the mistake. Without failure there’s no growth. Without a right to fail, your growth is stunted. Thanks to Gatsby for being a sponsor of the show. Gatsby is a modern website framework that builds… Continue Reading E093 – Interview with Tony Coelho – Part 2
Congressman Tony Coelho talks about his life with a disability, his journey of working for the People, and how he introduced the ADA. Thanks to Gatsby for being a sponsor of the show. Gatsby is a modern website framework that builds performance into every website by leveraging the latest web technologies. Create blazing fast, compelling… Continue Reading E092 – Interview with Tony Coelho – Part 1
Emily Lewis said: Accessibility is not about screen readers or keyboard navigation or code. It’s about people. And them being able to access information and resources, community… all of it Thanks to Gatsby for being a sponsor of the show. Gatsby is a modern website framework that builds performance into every website by leveraging the… Continue Reading E091- Interview with Emily Lewis – Part 2
About one thing everyone knows about accessibility… Amberley says: “I think everyone knows when something is not acceptable to them” Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event tickets: https://go.twilio.com/margaret/ Thanks to Gatsby for being a… Continue Reading E089 – Interview with Amberley Romo – Part 2
Amberley defines web accessibility as “building for the web in ways that ensure it’s usable by everyone. There aren’t barriers to use for anyone. So, I would say it’s about digital equal access, kind of along the same lines as physical equal access. So, just putting people at the center of building for the web.”… Continue Reading E088 – Interview with Amberley Romo – Part 1
Christopher says that for someone who likes Design so much, he didn’t realize how important good color contrast was, and how bad color contrast issues are. Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event tickets: https://go.twilio.com/margaret/… Continue Reading E086 – Interview with Christopher Schmitt – Part 1
Jessica suggests that accessibility is a competitive advantage. The more people can use your product, the more likely they are to spend money on it. Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event tickets: https://go.twilio.com/margaret/ Transcript… Continue Reading E085 – Interview with Jessica Ivins – Part 2
Jessica and I ponder whether low-literacy could be considered a disability, and regardless of the answer, that factor needs to be taken into account when designing sites and content. Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity… Continue Reading E084 – Interview with Jessica Ivins – Part 1
Stephanie Walter says there’s a lot of things she thought everybody knew about accessibility that actually not a lot of people knew. So, she thinks in general people know that somewhere on the internet some people are blind. Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at:… Continue Reading E083 – Interview with Stephanie Walter – Part 2
Stephanie Walter tells us that designers should provide a roadmap to their design for the developer, but in many projects, there just isn’t time to do that. Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event tickets:… Continue Reading E082 – Interview with Stephanie Walter – Part 1
To highlight Global Awareness Accessibility Day, I had a wonderful panel discussion with four people involved in accessibility: Courey Elliott, Dennis Lembrée, Shannon Finnegan, and Dan O’Mahony Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event tickets:… Continue Reading Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2019 Special Episode
Damien tells us “Later does not exist in our industry. Don’t push something without accessibility now. Because you will NOT go back and fix it later” Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event tickets: https://go.twilio.com/margaret/… Continue Reading E081 – Interview with Damien Senger – Part 2
In which Damien Senger tells us “Universal design is the answer, more than accessibility. Because people are on a spectrum.” Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event tickets: https://go.twilio.com/margaret/ Transcript Nic: Welcome to the Accessibility… Continue Reading E080 – Interview with Damien Senger – Part 1
Liz Jackson says it’s not enough to fix accessibility, people with disabilities must be included. She says: “I think somebody thinks that if they just smooth something out and they make it usable that we won’t have feelings about it. But, we are a people that probably hungers for choice, right? Like, we want to… Continue Reading E078 – Interview with Liz Jackson – Part 1
Amy Carney tells us accessibility is not just a checklist of standards but that we really are building experience for people and allowing them to open up opportunities. Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event… Continue Reading E77 – Interview with Amy Carney – Part 2
Amy Carney tells us that accessibility “comes down to a design perspective. We’re designing to include people, specifically people with disabilities. And that is based on enabling people with disabilities to access content and web applications online.” Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their… Continue Reading E76 – Interview with Amy Carney – Part 1
Alli says that getting the right people in the same room at the start of a project is very difficult and can impede accessibility. Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event tickets: https://go.twilio.com/margaret/ Transcript Nic: … Continue Reading E75 – Interview with Alli Berry – Part 2
Alli tells us how experiencing lack of accessibility for a classmate of hers in the built environment helped her understand the importance of accessibility on the web. Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event tickets:… Continue Reading E74 – Interview with Alli Berry – Part 1
Jen tells us to start accessibility today, to start with one thing. Then to do one more thing, and then one more. Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event tickets: https://go.twilio.com/margaret/ Transcript Nic: Welcome to… Continue Reading E73 – Interview with Jen Luker – Part 2
Jen Luker tells us, among other things, that with thoroughness comes confusion – if you’re trying to learn all of WCAG and ARIA at once, you’ll get overwhelmed Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event… Continue Reading E72 – Interview with Jen Luker – Part 1
Chris tells us “the biggest challenge that [the accessibility community is] going to have, and it currently stands now, is the never-ending library framework” Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event tickets: https://go.twilio.com/margaret/ Transcript Nic: … Continue Reading E71 – Interview with Chris DeMars – Part 2
Chris is a front-end developer based in Detroit, MI. He tells us, among other things, that learning about accessibility is an ongoing process. Transcript Nic: Welcome to the Accessibility Rules Podcast. This is episode 70. I’m Nic Steenhout and I talk with people involved in one way or another with web accessibility. If you’re interested… Continue Reading E70 – Interview with Chris DeMars – Part 1
In which Ire tells us that she thinks convincing framework developers to implement accessibility will have more impact than trying to change individual developers’ minds. Transcript Nic: Welcome to the a11y Rules podcast. This is episode 69. I am Nic Steenhout, and I talk with people involved in one way or another with web accessibility.… Continue Reading E69 – Interview with Ire Aderinokun – Part 2
In the first part of my interview, Ire Aderinokun tells us that accessibility will not take you a massive effort if you’re using HTML correctly. Ire is a front-end developer and user interface designer. She currently is working on a startup called Buy Coins. Transcript Nic: Welcome to the A11y Rules podcast. This is episode… Continue Reading E68 – Interview with Ire Aderinokun – Part 1
Continuing my chat with Beth. We discuss, among other things, accessibility as a coding challenge vs having to meet tight deadlines – and how sometimes developers chose to do things the way they know to meet these deadlines. Transcript Nic: Welcome to the A11y Rules podcast. This is episode 67. I’m Nic Steenhout and I… Continue Reading E67 – Interview with Beth Raduenzel – Part 2
Beth is an accessibility specialist and a UX interaction designer. She was part of an award winning team at United. She compares acceptance of the need for accessibility as the 5 stages of grief. Transcript Nic: Welcome to the A11y Rules Podcast. This is episode 66. I’m Nic Steenhout, and I talk with people involved… Continue Reading E66 – Interview with Beth Raduenzel – Part 1
Marcy tells us that her greatest frustration is that for all of the energy that we put into this all the time it feels like we’re stagnant in terms of accessibility actually getting done. And that it’s hard not to get derailed by that. Transcript Nic: Welcome to the Accessibility Rules Podcast. This is episode… Continue Reading E65 – Interview with Marcy Sutton – Part 2
Marcy tells us that it’s important for folks in the accessibility community to listen to developers’ needs. She also states that we ought to be more positive, and to stop making people feel bad about accessibility! Transcript Nic: Welcome to the Accessibility Rules Podcast. This is episode 64. I’m Nic Steenhout and I talk with… Continue Reading E64 – Interview with Marcy Sutton – Part 1
Eric tells us accessibility shouldn’t be just technical curiosity. It’s about people. Transcript Nic: Welcome to the Accessibility Rules podcast. This is Episode 63. I’m Nic Steenhout and I talk with people involved in one way or another with web accessibility. If you’re interested in accessibility, hey! This show is for you. To get today’s… Continue Reading E63 – Interview with Eric Bailey – Part 2
Eric tells us, among other things, that relationship building is a good way to get passed the hostility some people have towards accessibility. Transcript Nic: Welcome to the A11y Rules Podcast. You’re listening to episode 62. I’m Nic Steenhout, and I talk with people involved in one way or another with web accessibility. If you’re… Continue Reading E62 – Interview with Eric Bailey – Part 1
Alex is a developer who has experienced the difference between baking in accessibility from the start compared to trying to retrofit accessibility into an existing project – which leads to a lot of trial and error and wasted time. Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look… Continue Reading E61 – Interview with Alex Brenon
Adrienne McDonnell is a front end developer at Elsevier. She says that knowing how to navigate a site with the keyboard is a fundational skill that all developers should know. She also reflects on the fact that all the accessibility specifications are very dense and can be overwhelming for people new to accessibility. Thanks to… Continue Reading E60 – Interview with Adrienne McDonnell
Transcript Nic: Welcome to the A11y Rules podcast. I’m Nic Steenhout and this is a special episode for the 2018 International podcast day. I normally talk with people involved in one way or another with web accessibility. But today, I find it important to talk about podcast accessibility. There are a lot of podcasts out… Continue Reading 2018 International Podcast Day Special
John Tubbs is an educator working for about thirty years in the area of high tech, digital education, online learning. He discusses accessibility and accomodations for students with disabilities – a topic we don’t hear enough about. He points out that his team is working towards universal accessible documents that can later be customized, rather… Continue Reading E59 – Interview with John Tubbs
Jen says that many of the needs for accessibility aren’t that hard to accommodate by developers and designers! I couldn’t agree more. Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event tickets: https://go.twilio.com/margaret/ Transcript Nic: Welcome to… Continue Reading E58 – Interview with Jen Simmons – Part 2
I love what Jen had to say about accessibility! She said, among other things: “accessibility is about the recognition that every human isn’t identical to every other human.” Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event… Continue Reading E57 – Interview with Jen Simmons – Part 1
Becky talks about accessibility needing to be in the curriculum for all computer science courses – and I couldn’t agree more! Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/twilio Diversity event tickets: https://go.twilio.com/margaret/ Transcript Nic: Welcome to the… Continue Reading E56 – Interview with Becky Gibson – Part 2
In this episode, Becky talks to us about how changes in technology has changed her perception of accessibility. She also tells us how she came to be so passionate about accessibility! Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on Youtube:… Continue Reading E55 – Interview with Becky Gibson – Part 1
“It’s a frustration of mine that too often when somebody asks me a question about accessibility, the only answer I can really give if I want to be succinct is, “It depends”.” Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog Their channel on… Continue Reading E54 – Interview with Nic Steenhout – Part 2
In a role reversal, for the first episode of the second year of the show – I’m the one being interviewed 🙂 Léonie Watson was kind enough to chat with me. It was fun to be on the other side of things 🙂 Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure… Continue Reading E53 – Interview with Nic Steenhout – Part 1
Eric says that accessibility “is a foundational principle of the web. Like literally the web is built on accessibility. The original specs don’t necessarily call it that, but that’s an organizing principle of the web. And to try to ignore it or overcome it is a lot like trying to paddle upstream”. Thanks to Twilio… Continue Reading E52 – Interview with Eric Meyer – Part 2
Eric talks about accessibility, of course, and semantics, and frameworks, and more! The web prioritises ubiquity over consistency and a lot of these– there have been a lot of attempts to prioritise consistency over ubiquity. Thanks to Twilio for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Make sure you have a look at: Their blog: https://www.twilio.com/blog… Continue Reading E51 – Interview with Eric Meyer – Part 1