Think that ADA accessibility is only a concern for government and public school websites? Think again. In 2017, businesses faced a dramatic increase in website accessibility lawsuits, including a noteworthy and costly case involving the Winn-Dixie chain of grocery stores. Bottom line: It no longer matters whether your organization is a non-profit, a for-profit, or a government entity. It’s time for ALL organizations and web professionals to beef up their design and UX capabilities by learning everything they can about accessibility. It isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s quickly becoming a necessity because the legal costs associated with inaccessibility are far too costly to ignore. During this presentation, I’ll help beginner and intermediate-level attendees move further down the road to website accessibility by sharing some of the knowledge and lessons I’ve learned over 18 years of designing and developing websites for K-12 schools and universities, including: 1) A quick introduction to get beginners up to speed on the basics of accessibility — the types of problems faced by users with different disabilities, an overview of laws and standards, etc. 2) Some actionable tips for attendees for making their websites more accessible, including WordPress-specific techniques and plugins. 3) A challenge to expand the definition of “accessibility” beyond the ADA to make life better for every single one of your customers. To make the information easier to digest, I’ll likely break up the three broad “buckets” of accessibility information noted above into smaller, bite-sized pieces (most likely a top-ten list or similar format). After the talk, I’ll be happy to answer questions from attendees.
14-15 April 2018 // San Diego City College