Chax Chat Accessibility Podcast

This week Chad Chelius and Dax Castro talk about some of the key topics in their upcoming class "Designing with Accessibility in Mind" Listen in as they focus on things like the difference between Actual Text and Alt-text and you might be surprised at their discussion on PowerPoint and adding a description of decorative to the alt-text in the PPT draft. They also talk about AAA accessibility considerations and why it can be an unreachable goal to be 100% AAA compliant. Do not forget to use Promo code EARLYB22 to get $75 off the upcoming course happening September 15th!

5 Ways to get your team on board with accessibility.

1. Start with awareness by asking:

a. Did you know how this works for screenreader users?

b. Have you seen this cool app for color blind simulation

c. Did you read this article on Harvard's efforts to caption their videos?

2. Chad discusses how to demonstrate easy wins

3. Learn how tracking time can help get people on board to cut down workflow

4. Find out the secrets of snacks and how they can open the door to accessibility acceptance

5. Engaging don't Complain: Provide solutions when pointing out issues

a. Keep track of recurring roadblocks and plan extra enrichment

b. Provide Checklists and support docs/videos

We also answer the questions:

1. Is it worth taking the IAAP Accessible Document Specialist Test ADS?

2. How long should it take me to remediate a document?

Listen to learn how you can get the Level of Effort Matrix PDF free!

Accessibility Podcast #32: Understanding the Accessibility Checker in Microsoft Word. There is so much packed into this podcast that I can hardly believe it myself. Chad and I walk through some of the handouts for our upcoming MS Word Accessibility class on Sept. 29th and we also talk about several key features and steps for making your Word docs accessible.

We also discuss the most common Checker errors you will encounter:

1. Missing Alt-text

2. Image or Object Inline

3. Merged or Split Cells in a table

4. Check the Read Order

5. Hard to Read Text Contrast

6. No Header Row (in your table)

CAUTION: Highly controversial accessibility topics in this podcasts:

1. Do we need to set the reading order in my PDFs?
2. 2. Title Tag or H1?

We discuss a real-world situation where someone's barrier to information in a PDF is not vision. However, because of a traumatic event this person has dyslexia and requires audio input to fully understand the content on the page they are reading. We discuss how reading order is affected by the source document. We look at MS Word and InDesign and discuss the challenges with each when considering reading order. We also discuss designing with accessibility in mind to account for setting the reading order as the content is developed rather than addressing it in the end.

Once again we approach perspectives on using the Title tag as the title on the cover of a document even though screen readers today only announce it as a

tag which doesn't declare any structure or importance. We also discuss the potential risks and benefits of manually "fixing" the title tag or the H1.

Buckle up for this one! You will either love us or start yelling at your phone or computer! No worries. We can take it.

Tune in this week to hear our guest Jeremy Seda from North Idaho College as we discuss some of the struggles of accessibility awareness at the college level and the ongoing state of document accessibility amidst the COVID Pandemic.

This episode we discuss:

Pave the Way for Global Accessibility Awareness Day (PWGAAD) - April 20, 2022

• Funkify Disability Simulation Plugin • How Jujitsu applies to Document Accessibility • Covid Cases or Inaccessible Information: Which grew faster? • How the CDC improved their level of Document Accessibility • Say My Meme Accessibility Podcast • Be My Eyes • Look to Speak Eye Gaze Conversation Tool • PWGAAD Directional Audio • Being the only "Expert in your Organization" • Accessibility Struggles in Higher Education • Accessibility Camp Coeur d'Alene • Tactile maps and other technologies

Upcoming CSUN Session Topics: • Document Tag Structure • WCAG in Plain English • Bridging the Accessibility Gaps between Word and PDF • Accessible Tables with Color • Document Accessibility in Higher Education