Introduction
In honor of Disability Pride Month, I’m sharing some accessibility resources I’ve gathered lately. As a person with disabilities, I view this month as a time for celebrating and honoring our diversity, tenacity, and accomplishments despite adversity.
It’s also a good time for everyone to reevaluate our organizations, systems, and processes to ensure that all people have equitable access and opportunities. I hope these resources will help you do just that.
Accessible Social
Accessible Social is a free resource and education hub that shares best practices for creating accessible and inclusive social media content. This site is a wealth of information where you can learn about creating accessible audio and video content, writing and formatting accessible copy, and developing accessible images.
The site includes a useful Accessibility 101 section for folks who are just getting started learning about accessibility, a Glossary related to disability and digital accessibility, and an Experts Directory for finding a consultant or speaker who specializes in accessibility. If you’re an expert, you can also add yourself to the directory.
Accessibility and Inclusivity: Study Guide
This resource, from the Nielsen Norman Group, provides a collection of articles and videos related to visual treatments, screen readers, inclusive design, designing for seniors, and more. Access the study guide here.
How to Write Alt Text
Want to learn more about writing alt text and image descriptions? The “How to write text descriptions (alt text) in BBC News articles” site, intended for BBC News content creators, provides useful information for anyone. It has guidance for informative images, decorative images, functional images, complex images, images of text, and images of people. The final checklist seems particularly useful.
Accessibility for Visual Design
The fabulous Connie Malamed, aka the eLearning Coach, offers a self-paced course called Accessibility for Visual Design. The course, which costs only $37, consists of four lessons:
- Course Introduction and Color
- Contrast
- Alt-text
- Clear text
I am not affiliated with this course (or any of the above resources) and don’t receive anything for sharing the information.
The Accessible & Inclusive Design Conference
The Training, Learning, and Development Community is once again hosting The Accessible & Inclusive Design Conference, coming up July 29 through August 2. Some of the topics you can learn about are:
- Accessibility through visual design (with Connie Malamed)
- Creating accessible drag-and-drop interactions (with Jared Speight)
- The business case for accessibility (with Rebecca Prejean)
- Auditing online courses for accessibility (with Nicole E’Toile)
This virtual event is free (although donations are appreciated) and registration is now open. The planning team is still finalizing the schedule with more topics. Also, yours truly will be speaking!
Related Posts
If you enjoyed these resources, here are some related posts about accessibility and inclusion:
