Digital Accessibility

Jen Smith, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Accessibility at Visa, delves into her experiences in the accessibility field, having worked at J.P. Morgan Chase and Microsoft. She discusses the importance of incorporating diverse perspectives and collaborative approaches in creating accessible digital payment solutions. Jen highlights innovative strategies for improving data representation, focusing on making charts and graphs easier to understand for individuals with learning disabilities. Her passion for inclusive design underscores the commitment needed to enhance user experiences for all.

Joe Devon, co-founder of Global Accessibility Awareness Day and the GAAD Foundation, shares his inspiring journey in web development and accessibility. He discusses how his early programming experiences sparked his passion for inclusive tech. Joe highlights the transformative potential of AI in enhancing assistive devices, while emphasizing the importance of community in advancing digital accessibility. He reflects on the global movement of awareness days and the necessity of thoughtful implementation of technology to ensure it's beneficial for individuals with disabilities.

Stéphanie Walter, Maltem, UX Research & Design ConsultantStéphanie shares her experience with a motion disability that affects her in her daily life and when interacting with digital games. She talks about upcoming changes to laws in Europe that will require accessibility in public and private web sites.Mentioned in this episode:Info about Accessibility at Blink

Lars Holm Sørensen, Monsido, Accessibility ExpertLars Holm Sørensen resides in Copenhagen where is works on imrproving a compliance platform for organizations and municipalities. He also helps to build accessibility awareness. Lars talks about his lived life as a person who is blind using a screen reader. It created challenges in his education and early work as a software developer. Now he looks forward to greater attention to accessibility in the digital world. Mentioned in this episode:Info about Accessibility at Blink

Tolu Adegbite is Product/UX designer. Her current work includes providing guidance about accessibility to designers and developers, educating others, and creating new experiences. Starting her career as a front-end developer she was introduce to accessibility early on. Tolu talks about how she learned accessibility principles and embraces the importance of communication between designers and developers. She also describes her interest in VR/AR opportunities and the need to consider the intersectionality of our identities. practical work with browser plug-ins, screen readers and keyboard acccess. Accessibility continues to be a central part of her work in helped her make sense of accessibility early on. Mentioned in this episode:Info about Accessibility at Blink

Ryan Shugart, Microsoft, Senior Program ManagerRich works as a an accessibility subject matter expert with the cloud and AI teams at Microsoft. He shares his experience being born visually impaired and how that affected his early use of a home computer and technology. Graduating from college in IT, he began his work as a system administrator. As a blind person, he experienced many challenges. Rich talks about some of what is involved in the process of reviewing products for accessibility - from design through to release. He also talks about artificial intelligence, the interaction of applications and assistive technologies, and the limitations of standards. Mentioned in this episode:Info about Accessibility at Blink

Erica Ellis, Uber, Head of Product Equity DesignErica Ellis is Head of Product Equity Design at Uber. She explains how accessibility is integrated into the organization through a mindset about service design. Erica shares her early experience with a deaf family member and being an advocate for gender equity for women in technology. As a designer she became familiar with accessibility and helped to build a team to support the development. She talks about the important of top down support couple with grassroots efforts. Mentioned in this episode:Info about Accessibility at Blink

Gareth Ford Williams, an accessibility consultant, talks about inclusive design and accessibility in product development. He discusses his experience managing the assistive technology team at the BBC and the importance of considering user experience from an inclusive perspective. Gareth reflects on his personal experience growing up in a school for disabled children and shares the challenges of scaling accessibility efforts in a massive organization like the BBC. The chapter also emphasizes the significance of font usage in designing for digital accessibility.

Sharyn Morrow, iCIMS, Principal Accessibility EngineerSharyn Morrow began her career with an early interest in communication and working with early PCs and software. That led to to learning about HTML, graphic design, and working for SiteImprove. She shares her personal challenges with her neurodiversity and how she now advocates for herself, her family, and others. Sharyn now provides accessibility documentation, training, best practices and tools to help internal staff create more accessible products.

Mark Steadman, Fidelity Investments, Director, Software Engineering - Mobile AccessibilityMark Steadman is Director of Mobile Accessibility at Fidelity Investments. Mark has made a career of being a developer who helps other developers be successful in supporting accessibility. He talks about what makes an efficient and consistent process for the developer side of things. His work began at State Farm supporting the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). That led to learning about assistive technologies, working at Deque, and now his current activities with mobile. Mentioned in this episode:Info about Accessibility at Blink