Building websites for all: Web Accessibility and Inclusive Design
At least 19% of the overall population in the US has some sort of a disability. And yet, we in the Drupal community could do much better when it comes to serving the needs of those individuals.
It’s not easy for fully-abled designers and developers to feel empathy for the disabled. This talk will address that empathy gap by taking a close look at the obstacles disabled users encounter and the assistive technologies meant to overcome them. You'll experience how users with disabilities like low vision and blindness interact with websites. You’ll gain a real-world understanding of where most organizations and site builders go wrong, and how it can be fixed.
The past two years have brought a flood of lawsuits which have changed accessibility from a nice-to-have feature to a fundamental requirement for most websites and apps. We'll cover a couple of these landmark cases and learn how to keep your clients out of court and avoid common accessibility mistakes.
For those looking to bring accessibility into their own practice, this session will share tools and techniques along with resources and training opportunities for building and designing for web accessibility.
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Here's a link to the presentation deck ›
Speakers
Claudio Vera
Claudio Luis Vera
goes by many labels in his work: full-stack web designer, accessibility expert, and project lead, among others. Still, he likes to think of himself as a master craftsman, preferring to remain hands-on in the site building and design process.
Claudio has a long history of working for higher education clients including MIT, Harvard, and the University of Maryland. He consulted for the MIT Media Lab for 2 1/2 years as the lead information architect and designer to overhaul the lab's web presence.
His work has been recognized in the industry with many design, technology, and marketing awards. His work has also been featured in Communication Arts, HOW Magazine, Travel Weekly, and Graphic Design USA.
Here's a link to the presentation deck ›
Claudio's online portfolio ›