Coding For Accessibility: Best Practices from the Front Lines

Web accessibility is no longer something we can afford to ignore or put off for a future date. It’s no longer just a nice, human idea – now it’s a legal requirement. Through a combination of assistive technology demonstrations and markup examples in a number of web languages, you will see firsthand what works and what doesn’t. We’ll tackle the biggest accessibility pitfalls, talk about how to make the tough decisions, and go beyond the code to understand the real people who benefit from accessible sites, apps, and software.

Over the years I have met developers who get accessibility basics, but don't really understand the why behind them. This was how I got started with this presentation. I want to show the "why", break things down into simpler terms, and encourage developers who maybe feel overwhelmed or boxed in by WCAG guidelines.

I have given this talk at ProgressNEXT, Devfest Columbia, Halfstack NYC & Halfstack Phoenix

DIY Usability Testing When You Have No Time and No Budget

Testing your digital products with real people is the only real way to see if what you’ve built actually works. The problem is, many of us just don’t have the time or budget to run a full-scale usability test. Still, it’s always better to do some testing rather than none. We'll cover all the basics for running your own short, successful usability tests on a shoestring budget, using just a few basic resources.