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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" ><generator uri="https://jekyllrb.com/" version="4.3.3">Jekyll</generator><link href="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" /><link href="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" /><updated>2025-01-15T16:01:45+00:00</updated><id>https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/feed.xml</id><title type="html">CivicActions Accessibility</title><entry><title type="html">Five reasons to get excited about governmentwide Section 508 assessment criteria</title><link href="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/five-reasons-to-get-excited-about-governmentwide-section-508-assessment-criteria" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Five reasons to get excited about governmentwide Section 508 assessment criteria" /><published>2023-08-08T18:00:00+00:00</published><updated>2025-01-15T15:49:26+00:00</updated><id>https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/five-reasons-to-get-excited-about-governmentwide-section-508-assessment-criteria</id><content type="html" xml:base="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/five-reasons-to-get-excited-about-governmentwide-section-508-assessment-criteria"><![CDATA[<h2 id="five-reasons-to-get-excited-about-governmentwide-section-508-assessment-criteria">Five reasons to get excited about governmentwide Section 508 assessment criteria</h2>
<p>Mike had this <a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2023/08/five-reasons-to-get-excited-about-governmentwide-section-508-assessment-criteria/">article published with the Federal News Network</a> celebrating the approach taken by
the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/">Office of Management and Budget</a>, <a href="https://www.justice.gov">U.S. Department of Justice</a> and the <a href="https://www.gsa.gov/">GSA</a> to collect accessibility information from government agencies.</p>
<p>Seeing results every six months will also be so important to be able to track progress on meeting the Seciton 508 goals, but also achieving the government's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) goals.</p>]]></content><author><name>mike-gifford</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Five reasons to get excited about governmentwide Section 508 assessment criteria]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">Treat accessibility issues as bugs, not feature requests</title><link href="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/fix-accessibility-bugs" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Treat accessibility issues as bugs, not feature requests" /><published>2023-08-08T16:00:00+00:00</published><updated>2025-01-15T15:49:26+00:00</updated><id>https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/fix-accessibility-bugs</id><content type="html" xml:base="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/fix-accessibility-bugs"><![CDATA[<h2 id="treat-accessibility-issues-as-bugs-not-feature-requests">Treat accessibility issues as bugs, not feature requests</h2>
<p>Mike had this <a href="https://github.com/readme/guides/fix-accessibility-bugs">article published with GitHub's ReadME Project</a> looking back over what worked with Drupal, and how it could apply to more open source projects.</p>
<p>Drupal is probably the most accessible content management system in the world. This didn't happen over night, and it has taken the input of hundreds of people. Still there are other software communities that can learn from this to make their code more accessible.</p>]]></content><author><name>mike-gifford</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Treat accessibility issues as bugs, not feature requests]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">How OMB can improve .gov accessibility</title><link href="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/how-omb-can-improve-gov-accessibility" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="How OMB can improve .gov accessibility" /><published>2023-05-05T16:00:00+00:00</published><updated>2025-01-15T15:49:26+00:00</updated><id>https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/how-omb-can-improve-gov-accessibility</id><content type="html" xml:base="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/how-omb-can-improve-gov-accessibility"><![CDATA[<h2 id="how-omb-can-improve-gov-accessibility">How OMB can improve .gov accessibility</h2>
<p>Mike had this <a href="https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2023/05/how-omb-can-improve-gov-accessibility/">article published with the Federal News Network</a> on how the USA government can learn from best practices adopted in Europe with the Web Accessibility Directive.</p>
<p>There is such a great opportunity to learn from and build on the work done by the European Commission. Right now they are leading the world in digital accessibility.</p>]]></content><author><name>mike-gifford</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[How OMB can improve .gov accessibility]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">Daniel Mundra: Diving into Drupal</title><link href="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/daniel-mundra-diving-into-drupal" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Daniel Mundra: Diving into Drupal" /><published>2023-04-10T16:00:00+00:00</published><updated>2025-01-15T15:49:26+00:00</updated><id>https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/daniel-mundra-diving-into-drupal</id><content type="html" xml:base="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/daniel-mundra-diving-into-drupal"><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://cdn-
images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*9vNRg9HsEJ03hxflXvPxJw.jpeg" alt="Daniel Mundra stands in nature" /></p>
<p><em>We spoke to CivicActioner Daniel Mundra, Associate Director of Drupal, about
the benefits of Drupal, community contributions, and why working at
CivicActions has been so rewarding for him . He is among a team of 60+ Drupal
engineers with nearly 20 Acquia certifications and 20+ edX a11y
(Accessibility) certifications.</em></p>
<p><strong>CivicActions is known for our Drupal expertise. To you, why is Drupal such
an important tool in the work that we do for our government clients?</strong></p>
<p>Drupal is a complex tool but it is the best tool to help deliver complex
concepts for our government clients. Drupal also delivers for our clients
while still being free, open source, having a growing community, and also not
afraid to change/adapt. I don't believe other similar products could check all
those boxes.</p>
<p>I have been working with Drupal for 12+ years, first with Drupal version 6 and
now with 10. Since my early days, Drupal has been a veritable Swiss army knife
for web development. It helped me deliver a lot of value to users in a quick
amount of time. Earlier I would produce many sites with a lot of modules but
not consider the maintenance costs, reliability you get with writing tests,
giving back to the community, and so on. It left my clients with a functional
site but a maintenance burden. Nowadays I focus more on contributing back,
writing more tests, reducing maintenance burden and thinking of long term
solutions than quicker output of sites. Just like how the Drupal platform and
community has evolved, so have I. Drupal has given me the space to do that and
I am grateful for that.</p>
<p><strong>What are some community contributions to Drupal from your team that you are
especially proud of?</strong></p>
<p>CivicActions contributes quite a bit to Drupal. Last year CivicActions was
credited with contributing 90+ contributions and that is only growing. I am
particularly proud of the modules we are adding to the community, like <a href="https://medium.com/civicactions/improving-
centers-for-medicare-and-medicaid-services-cms-through-drupal-contributions-
adb4f91f6095">Media
Link Enhancements (from Cameron Prince), Google Programmable Search JSON API
(from Timo Zura and Sam Lerner)</a>, and recently Content Model Documentation (from Steve Wirt).</p>
<p><strong>You are very passionate about accessibility — why is accessibility so
important to you and how do you work to make projects more accessible at
CivicActions?</strong></p>
<p>Accessibility is important to me because to truly be human centered we have to
make technology accessible to all. The primary ways I work to make projects
more accessible is by first building from the beginning with accessibility in
mind. The second way is to add layers of accessibility testing to ensure the
site remains accessible. Layers like automated testing, manual testing with
keyboards/screen readers, and testing with disabled users (when possible).
Accessibility is a long term commitment and I can say that at CivicActions we
are all contributing to that and we are making a difference.</p>
<p><strong>What initially drew you to a career in civic tech, particularly at
CivicActions?</strong></p>
<p>After spending 10 years working in higher education, in particular as an in-
house developer for the University of Oregon, I wanted a change. As the
university was going away from in-house development, I wanted to continue
growing my skills while still supporting similar mission-driven organizations.
I found both at CivicActions.</p>
<p><strong>What is the most rewarding part of your job?</strong></p>
<p>Being able to give back to the community and also take part in the company
outside of the project. I am an associate director now but I wouldn't have
been able to reach that role without the support of everyone at CivicActions.
They made space for me to take part in company activities like OKRs, guidebook
updates, accessibility practice area, and so on. I am successful because of
the culture of the team to make space and make most parts of the company
accessible to discussion, debate and continuous improvement.</p>
<p><strong>Any advice for someone looking to follow a similar career trajectory?</strong></p>
<p>Ask questions and get involved where you can, either at the company you work
for or in your local community. Find that company and community that energizes
you and bring your whole self to them.</p>
<p><strong>On a lighter note, what is a fun fact that people may not know about you?</strong></p>
<p>I like statistics so much that for 3 years I was the official statistician for
the Oregon Cricket League. Lots of data entry and review but I was able to see
how local players and teams evolved.</p>
<p><img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=4a63bf99996b" alt="" /></p>
<hr />
<p><a href="https://medium.com/civicactions/daniel-
mundra-diving-into-drupal-4a63bf99996b">Daniel Mundra: Diving into Drupal</a> was originally published in
<a href="https://medium.com/civicactions">CivicActions</a> on Medium, where people are
continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.</p>]]></content><author><name>civicactions</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">Helping disabled Veterans Check-In: Designing an Accessibility Map</title><link href="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/helping-disabled-veterans-check-in-designing-an-accessibility-map" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Helping disabled Veterans Check-In: Designing an Accessibility Map" /><published>2023-04-06T16:00:00+00:00</published><updated>2025-01-15T15:49:26+00:00</updated><id>https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/helping-disabled-veterans-check-in-designing-an-accessibility-map</id><content type="html" xml:base="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/helping-disabled-veterans-check-in-designing-an-accessibility-map"><![CDATA[<p><em>A note on language: We're using both people-first language ("a person with a
disability") and identity-first language ("disabled person"). We recognize
both are valid and advocated for within the disability community.</em></p>
<p>"We lost our vision due to our service…my vision gets blurry," says a Veteran
over Zoom during a user research session.</p>
<p>We were testing new designs for a web-based app helping Veterans check into a
medical appointment.</p>
<p>This Veteran's experience is not uncommon: about 30% of Veterans live with a
disability (but that number is likely much higher due to military culture).
Almost 7,000 Veterans become newly blind or visually impaired every year. And
disabilities can vary in type and severity — the most common of which include
hearing loss, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), scars, back and neck
pain, and migraines.</p>
<p><img src="https://cdn-
images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*3DFURXlCIC3EfrBXczqkEQ.png" alt="Summary of check-in process on day of appointment: 1) A poster titled 'Have
an appointment? Check in with your smartphone' is placed in the facility. The
Veteran scans the QR code or texts '5309' to check into their appointment
using their phone 2) A page titled 'Check-in'. 3) A page titled ' You've
checked-in for your 1pmET appointment'. 4) An icon of the Medical Support
Assistant (MSA) who receives the check-in notification. 5) An icon of the
Veteran waiting to be seen." /> <em>Figure 1: A few
days before an appointment, a Veteran receives an SMS text with a link to
start pre-check-in. After selecting the link, the Veteran sees the login page
(first image). When they complete pre-check-in, they see the submission page
(second image).</em><img src="https://cdn-
images-1.medium.com/max/524/1*mhjC0hkWfTbpQso6YVuNZg.png" alt="Example pages of pre-check-in app: 1) A login page titled
Start pre-check-in for the Veteran to enter their last name and last 4 digits
of their social security number. 2) A page titled Your pre-check-in is
complete appears, which includes a summary of the upcoming appointment (date,
time and location)." /> <em>Figure 2: When the
Veteran arrives on the day of their appointment, a poster with instructions to
check-in is placed in the facility. The Veteran scans the QR code or texts
'5309' to check into their appointment using their phone. The Medical Support
Assistant (MSA) receives a notification that the Veteran has checked-in to
their appointment. The Veteran waits until called in.</em></p>
<h3 id="checking-into-a-medical-appointment-with-a-smartphone-has-barriers">Checking into a medical appointment with a smartphone has barriers</h3>
<p>For example, it requires a Veteran to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Own a phone (or have access to one)</li>
<li>See the check-in poster at the facility</li>
<li>Have reasonable tech-savviness to use SMS or a QR code</li>
<li>Understand the steps within a reasonably short time-frame (which can be difficult for some Veterans with cognitive disability or PTSD)</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>We wanted to design digital and non-digital solutions that helped make it
more usable for disabled Veterans to check into medical appointments.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But we had a lot of questions.</p>
<ul>
<li>Are we able to design for the range of types and severity of disabilities?</li>
<li>Would some solutions only benefit some Veterans, while introducing barriers to others?</li>
<li>How do we decide on those trade-offs?</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="we-created-an-accessibility-use-case-map">We created an Accessibility Use Case Map</h3>
<p>An accessibility use case map is a framework to evaluate proposed solutions
across multiple different types of disabilities affecting Veterans. We
considered both digital and non-digital solutions for each phase of the check-
in process.</p>
<h4 id="a-spreadsheet-makes-it-accessible">A spreadsheet makes it accessible</h4>
<p>As we note later in the article, we worked with an accessibility specialist
who uses a screen-reader. We chose to design the map in a spreadsheet. This
made it easy for our colleague to offer feedback.</p>
<p><img src="https://cdn-
images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*xmkO7Ni9XiAQx7kzofTTVw.png" alt="Example of accessibility use case map in a spreadsheet. Solutions are listed
along the x-axis: Receives email notification with link to check-in and Uses a
large-print poster with instructions to get the SMS link on how to check-in.
All nine disabilities are listed on the y-axis: blind, low vision, hard of
hearing, deaf, cognitive disabilities, post-traumatic stress disorder, motor
disabilities, military sexual trauma. Each solution is assessed for degree of
impact, which we discuss later." /> <em>Figure 3: Example
of accessibility use case map. Solutions are indicated on the x-axis. All nine
disabilities are listed on the y-axis. Each solution is assessed for degree of
impact: impactful, helpful, it depends, not relevant, and inaccessible. This
criteria is discussed later in this article.</em></p>
<blockquote>
<p>We wanted our map to help prioritize solutions that maximized benefits for
Veterans living with a variety of disabilities, while minimizing the chances
of introducing barriers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Here's how we created the accessibility use case map.</p>
<h3 id="step-1-developed-proto-personas-for-each-type-of-disability">Step 1: Developed proto-personas for each type of disability</h3>
<p>We chose nine of the most common types of disabilities reported by Veterans:</p>
<ul>
<li>Blindness</li>
<li>Low vision</li>
<li>Hard of hearing/deafness</li>
<li>Cognitive disability</li>
<li>PTSD</li>
<li>Motor disabilities</li>
<li>Military Sexual Trauma (MST)</li>
<li>Deafblindness</li>
</ul>
<p>Time and resources were limited. So we used secondary sources and "best
estimates" to develop light-weight personas of each disability type ( <a href="https://www.nngroup.com/articles/persona-
types/#:~:text=Proto%20personas%20are%20a%20lightweight,are%20and%20what%20they%20want.">proto-
personas</a>).
Each described the behavior, symptoms, needs, and tools used to manage the
condition. This allows for quicker, iterative research.</p>
<p><img src="https://cdn-
images-1.medium.com/max/799/1*GXQWKpmeWZWcyamh308OuA.png" alt="A proto-persona example: Olivia, who lives with low vision for several
years. She is in her early 40s. She lives in a rural area and spends time
planning. She relies on screen readers, magnifier, voice apps, and large
prints. She is concerned about keeping her costs low, so she prefers to attend
all of her appointments in one day. Examples of Olivia's behaviors and needs
and challenges are provided in post-it notes, but are purposely not
legible." /> <em>Figure 4: Example
of a proto-persona for a Veteran living with low-vision. We used secondary
research sources to validate our assumptions on behaviors, needs and
challenges. Details of the post-it notes are intentionally not-visible, and
are shown for example purposes only.</em></p>
<h3 id="step-2-created-user-journey-maps-to-identify-pain-points-and-possible-solutions">Step 2: Created user journey maps to identify pain points and possible solutions</h3>
<p>Based on the proto-personas, we created user journey maps across the medical
appointment experience:</p>
<ul>
<li>Before checking into an appointment</li>
<li>During the appointment, and;</li>
<li>After the appointment</li>
</ul>
<p>We proposed solutions to help address pain points across the journey for each
type of disability.</p>
<p><img src="https://cdn-
images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*q1pVA7nHUfRTp1gd5oTWlA.png" alt="Example of user journey map for a Veteran with a low-vision disability. The
X axis lists user behaviors: actions, thoughts, pain points, touchpoints,
feelings, opportunities. The Y axis lists phases of the check-in experience:
before visit, before arrival, check-in on day of appointment, during the
appointment, the following appointment, after visit. Purple, green and blue
post-it notes appear along the map. The text is intentionally not visible as
this is for example purposes only." /> <em>Figure 5: Example
of user journey map for a Veteran living with low vision and may need
caregiver support to prepare for the medical appointment. Details of the post-
it notes are intentionally not-visible, and are shown for example purposes
only.</em></p>
<h3 id="step-3-mapped-each-solution-across-multiple-disability-types-creating-our-accessibility-use-case-map">Step 3: Mapped each solution across multiple disability types, creating our accessibility use case map</h3>
<p>But what might benefit someone with one type of disability, might be a barrier
for others. For instance, text-to-speech software is helpful for a blind
Veteran trying to access their appointments. But it may be inaccessible to a
Veteran who is hard of hearing.</p>
<p>Due to this challenge, we decided to map each proposed solution across the 9
most common disabilities affecting Veterans.</p>
<p>We listed recommendations along the x-axis. We then listed the nine
disabilities along the y-axis.</p>
<p>For each type of disability, we assessed if the solution was:</p>
<ul>
<li>Impactful (positive and we believe will enhance the experience for this disability)</li>
<li>Helpful (positive and it's not specific to this disability)</li>
<li>It Depends (it may depend on the degree or type of disability, or the recommendation is too complex for us to weigh in at this point)</li>
<li>Not Relevant</li>
<li>Inaccessible (it's a barrier for a person with this disability)</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="step-4-iterated-with-various-accessibility-experts">Step 4: Iterated with various accessibility experts</h3>
<p>Time constraints didn't allow us to validate with users (which would've been
ideal). Instead, we iterated on our map with various accessibility
specialists:</p>
<ul>
<li>Josh Kim (Accessibility Designer)</li>
<li>Martha Wilkes ( Accessibility Strategist at the VA Office of the Chief Technology Office)</li>
<li>Melissa Manak (Senior User Experience Mobile Designer)</li>
<li>Angela Fowler (Senior A11Y Specialist and Designer)</li>
<li>Vanessa Luxen (an IAAP certified professional and former Audiologist at CivicActions)</li>
</ul>
<p>Some of the experts we consulted also lived with a disability. This helped
ensure we were including the lived experiences of the very people we were
designing for.</p>
<h3 id="step-5-developed-an-accessibility-impact-score-for-each-recommendation">Step 5: Developed an "Accessibility Impact Score" for each recommendation.</h3>
<p>Working with our accessibility experts, we assigned a value depending on how
helpful or unhelpful the solution was for each type of disability. We called
this our "Accessibility Impact Score."</p>
<ul>
<li>3 for Impactful (positive and we believe will enhance the experience for this disability)</li>
<li>2 for Helpful (positive and it is not specific to this disability)</li>
<li>1 for It Depends (it may depend on the degree of type of disability, or the recommendation is too complex for us to weigh in at this point)</li>
<li>0 for Not Relevant</li>
<li>-2 for Inaccessible (it is a barrier for a person with this disability)</li>
</ul>
<p>We then tallied the number of scores for each solution to calculate the final
"Accessibility Impact Score."</p>
<p>This helped us assign a numerical value to evaluate the impact each
recommendation would have across multiple disabilities. For instance,
improvements like "sending an SMS notification with a link to pre-check-in"
was one of our highest impact solutions. This meant it was impactful for the
greatest number of disabilities.</p>
<h3 id="step-6-prioritized-recommendations-based-on-the-accessibility-impact-score">Step 6: Prioritized recommendations based on the Accessibility Impact Score</h3>
<p>Using a prioritization matrix, we prioritized each recommendation based on its
total Accessibility Impact Score.</p>
<p>We refined it further with our product team based on scope and feasibility, so
we could eventually choose the recommendations we wanted on our roadmap.</p>
<h3 id="we-took-some-risks-and-made-many-assumptions">We took some risks and made many assumptions</h3>
<p>There are many caveats with our framework, for instance:</p>
<ul>
<li>It favors specific solutions that are impactful for a few disabilities and may end up with a lower score vs. general solutions that help a variety of disabilities.</li>
<li>We did not capture the complexity within each disability type. For example, cognitive disabilities can include a range of disabilities that vary in severity, symptoms and more. We recognize disabilities are not a monolith and the experiences are complex and varied.</li>
<li>It doesn't take user preferences or familiarity with the technology into account</li>
<li>It's not intersectional — it doesn't consider people who live with more than one disability</li>
<li>We didn't test it with users living with disabilities.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>This is our first attempt at designing for disabled Veterans when resources
are limited, time-frames are tight, and priorities conflict.</p>
</blockquote>
<h4 id="ideally-disabled-veterans-would-be-part-of-our-process">Ideally, disabled Veterans would be part of our process</h4>
<p>What would we have done differently without those constraints? We would have
included disabled Veterans throughout all six steps of the process. This way
we'd design <em>with</em> (not <em>for</em> ) the disabled Veteran community.</p>
<h3 id="whats-next">What's next?</h3>
<p>This framework is dynamic. We plan to continue to iterate as we address our
many assumptions. We hope to start conducting user research sessions with
Veterans living with disabilities to validate (and invalidate) our proposed
improvements.</p>
<p><em>Authors: Nira Datta, Senior Content Designer at CivicActions; Ya-ching Tsao,
Product Designer at CivicActions</em></p>
<p><img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=8a1dff130b37" alt="" /></p>
<hr />
<p><a href="https://medium.com/civicactions/helping-disabled-veterans-check-in-
designing-an-accessibility-map-8a1dff130b37">Helping disabled Veterans Check-In: Designing an Accessibility
Map</a> was originally published in
<a href="https://medium.com/civicactions">CivicActions</a> on Medium, where people are
continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.</p>]]></content><author><name>nira-datta</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[A note on language: We're using both people-first language ("a person with a disability") and identity-first language ("disabled person"). We recognize both are valid and advocated for within the disability community.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">Opensource.com: How I do automated accessibility testing for my website</title><link href="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/opensource-automated-accessibility-testing" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Opensource.com: How I do automated accessibility testing for my website" /><published>2023-03-02T16:00:00+00:00</published><updated>2025-01-15T15:49:26+00:00</updated><id>https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/opensource-automated-accessibility-testing</id><content type="html" xml:base="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/opensource-automated-accessibility-testing"><![CDATA[<p><em>Opensource.com</em> published a guest editorial we wrote automated accessibility testing and how it is done on GitLab using Pa11y CI and Cypress.</p>
<p>Full post: <a href="https://opensource.com/article/23/2/automated-accessibility-testing">How I do automated accessibility testing for my website</a></p>]]></content><author><name>daniel-mundra</name></author><category term="Testing" /><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Opensource published a guest editorial we wrote on automated accessibility testing.]]></summary><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/card-power.png" /><media:content medium="image" url="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/card-power.png" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" /></entry><entry><title type="html">Mike Gifford gave a presentation at FOSDEM on Accessibility &amp; Open Source</title><link href="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/FOSDEM-ccessibility-OpenSource" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Mike Gifford gave a presentation at FOSDEM on Accessibility &amp; Open Source" /><published>2023-02-05T16:00:00+00:00</published><updated>2025-01-15T15:49:26+00:00</updated><id>https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/FOSDEM-ccessibility-OpenSource</id><content type="html" xml:base="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/FOSDEM-ccessibility-OpenSource"><![CDATA[<p>I presented on February 5th in the Design track of the conference. The <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1lkUM9mkBSgH0-8pf-kDtPp-FxTCxKEaWd7ze8wA3NA0/">slides</a> and <a href="https://fosdem.org/2023/schedule/event/accessibility_and_open_source/">presentation</a> are available to those who missed it.</p>
<p>My presentation focused on my experience in Drupal. Drupal has been a leader in digital accessibility for over an decade. Working with an open community has allowed us to pioneer some new solutions to common design challenges. Working in the open has allowed us to tap expertise outside of our community and given space for people with disabilities to become involved in a variety of roles. Accessibility best practices make it clear that accessibility needs to be considered at all levels of a project.</p>
<p>This talk draws on the experience of the Drupal community but isn't limited to it. I touched on the <a href="https://accessibilitycluster.com/">We4Authors Cluster</a> initiative of <a href="https://www.funka.com/en/projekt/we4authors">Funka</a> with the European Commission.</p>]]></content><author><name>mike-gifford</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Mike gave a talk in Brussels at the annual FOSDEM conference. He focused on how open source is key to building a more inclusive world.]]></summary><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/card-power.png" /><media:content medium="image" url="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/card-power.png" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" /></entry><entry><title type="html">Mike Gifford Presented in at Inclusive Design &amp; Accessibility Meetup in the Netherlands</title><link href="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/governments-accessibility-opensource" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Mike Gifford Presented in at Inclusive Design &amp; Accessibility Meetup in the Netherlands" /><published>2023-02-01T16:00:00+00:00</published><updated>2025-01-15T15:49:26+00:00</updated><id>https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/governments-accessibility-opensource</id><content type="html" xml:base="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/governments-accessibility-opensource"><![CDATA[<p>I presented <a href="https://www.meetup.com/inclusive-design-accessibility/events/291069715/">Governments, accessibility and open source</a> in Utrecht. My <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Pm0bVAZwk_NBxeOMvjiTtTXTQBumZjwNgb6MDLDXwSE">slides are available</a>, and we hope to make the audio available soon.</p>
<p>My talk focused on some of the challenges that governments are facing as they work to modernize and adopt modern digital first practices. In my talk I address Open Government, open source software and Civic Tech. I highlight how digital accessibility is a huge challenge for governments. Often innovation clashes with inclusive design. There is new legislative pressure on governments, and governments are always struggling to do more with less.</p>]]></content><author><name>mike-gifford</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[I presented Governments, accessibility and open source in Utrecht. My slides are available, and we hope to make the audio available soon.]]></summary><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/card-power.png" /><media:content medium="image" url="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/card-power.png" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" /></entry><entry><title type="html">Daniel Mundra interviewed on the Talking Drupal podcast</title><link href="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/Talking-Drupal-Podcast-382" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Daniel Mundra interviewed on the Talking Drupal podcast" /><published>2023-01-16T16:00:00+00:00</published><updated>2025-01-15T15:49:26+00:00</updated><id>https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/Talking-Drupal-Podcast-382</id><content type="html" xml:base="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/Talking-Drupal-Podcast-382"><![CDATA[<p>I joined Ben Mullins on the <a href="https://talkingdrupal.com/382">Talking Drupal podcast #382</a> to discuss Automated A11y Testing with Nightwatch. We discussed the efforts of adding the accessibility tests to Drupal core, accessibility in general, Cypress vs Nightwatch, and so on.</p>]]></content><author><name>daniel-mundra</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[A discussion about Automated A11y Testing with Nightwatch.]]></summary><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/card-power.png" /><media:content medium="image" url="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/card-power.png" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" /></entry><entry><title type="html">Mike Gifford &amp; Daniel Mundra interviewed on the Talking Drupal podcast</title><link href="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/Talking-Drupal-Podcast" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Mike Gifford &amp; Daniel Mundra interviewed on the Talking Drupal podcast" /><published>2022-05-31T16:00:00+00:00</published><updated>2025-01-15T15:49:26+00:00</updated><id>https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/Talking-Drupal-Podcast</id><content type="html" xml:base="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/posts/Talking-Drupal-Podcast"><![CDATA[<p>Mike and I were interviewed on the <a href="https://talkingdrupal.com/350">Talking Drupal podcast #350</a> on Accessibility Scanning & Testing. We discussed various tools, strategies, OpenACR, and so on.</p>]]></content><author><name>daniel-mundra</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[A discussion about Accessibility Scanning & Testing in Drupal.]]></summary><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/card-power.png" /><media:content medium="image" url="https://accessibility-qa.civicactions.com/card-power.png" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" /></entry></feed>