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Digital Accessibility, Testing & Training

Accessibility Learning Series

Our training programs are tailored to your work environment and workforce, delivered in person and on remote platforms. Our workshops range between one (1) hour to three (3) hours, depending on the need and requested customization of the client. We incorporate videos, interactive working sessions, quizzes, examples, and scenarios to ensure a great learning experience.

ADA & Website Accessibility

Due to COVID-19, many people rely on digital services for everyday activities, including shopping, remote work, education, healthcare, and banking. People with disabilities need these services more than ever before. With roughly 1 out of 4 people (over 61 million) in the U.S. living with a disability with a disposable income of $500 million, we are missing out on the largest minority population. They are excluded and left out.

As a result, lawsuits are increasing significantly as many courts agree that website accessibility is the law under the ADA. Website accessibility should be top of mind for all businesses as businesses across the United States face lawsuits that cost, on average – $20,000+ to settle.

As you may know, Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that every owner, lessor, or operator of a “place of public accommodation” provide equal access to users who meet ADA standards for disability; this is being interpreted to include websites as “places of public accommodation. “Yes, website ADA compliance is required by law, but like stopping at a stop sign or buckling your seatbelt, it’s also the right and responsible thing to do.

On September 29th, Senator Tammy Duckworth and Representative John Sarbanes introduced a bill for website and software applications accessibility legislation, “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability: Accessibility of Web Information and Services of State and Local Governments.”

We have a two-part webinar series on Digital Accessibility that we offer to educate companies on the need to ensure that their websites, PDFs, and mobile apps are accessible to people with disabilities.

Webinar 1: ADA & Website Accessibility: What You Need to Know

  1. A Changing Workforce – Who Has a Disability?
  2. A Brief Review of the Americans with Disabilities Act & Section 508
  3. A Review of Upcoming Legislation
  4. What is Website Accessibility?
  5. Why is it So Important Now
  6. Barriers to Accessibility
  7. Business Case for Accessibility
  8. The Accessibility Testing Process

Webinar 2: The Basics of Web Accessibility

  1. Introduction to Web Accessibility
  2. Who defines what is accessible?
  3. Is My Website Accessible?
  4. The Steps of an Accessibility Audit
  5. Everyday Accessibility Aids
  6. Common Issues for Web Accessibility
  7. Accessibility in Social Media
  8. PDF Accessibility

Assistive Technology: Introduction

Assistive technology device means any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child or adult with a disability. Intro to Assistive Technology (AT) will cover foundational information related to the history of assistive technology, levels of assistive technology devices and service services, and the overall purpose of assistive technology; it can be utilized to enhance the quality of life for disabled individuals. The course will introduce some essential assistive technology software and devices used for improving access to computers and print materials and examples of AT, which people with different types of disabilities may use when appropriate to their needs and work functions.

Learning Objectives

  • Define assistive technology
  • Gain a greater understanding of the role and benefits of assistive technology
  • Learn who benefits from the use of assistive technology
  • Be able to identify the types of Assistive Technology

Creating Accessible Content for Content Creators: The Basics

Learning Objectives

  • Define what is accessible?
  • Understand the WCAG fundamentals
  • Learn how to create with accessibility in mind
  • Color and Contrast
  • Page structure and headings
  • Media and alternative text
  • PDF
  • Learn how to prepare an accessible base in the authoring program

Creating Accessible Content for Web Designers

Whether you run an e-commerce site or a web development business, you want to attract as many visitors as possible to your web pages. However, this can be difficult if you don’t prioritize accessible web design. Website accessibility involves ensuring that your site is usable by everyone, including those with disabilities and impairments. Fortunately, there are a variety of resources, tools, and tips you can leverage to make creating an inclusive website a lot easier. As a website designer, it’s important to ensure that you’re not excluding those with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a civil rights law that prohibits businesses and organizations from discriminating based on disability. Making your customer’s website accessible is an excellent way to demonstrate your inclusive company values and minimize any legal issues or customer complaints. Plus, designing an accessible website improves the user experience for all the site’s visitors.

Learning Objectives

  • Define Accessibility & WCAG fundamentals
  • Define and learn about Assistive technologies
  • Learn how to design with accessibility in mind
  • Descriptions in media
  • Advanced alternative text
  • Color and Contrast
  • Typography
  • Keyboard controls & focus states
  • Navigation
  • Data Tables
  • Internal accessibility checks

Creating Accessible Content: Advanced (1 hour 30 minutes)

Every team creates content to communicate significantly beyond the marketing funnel with your audiences. Making sure all teams keep the user experiences of a diverse audience in mind is important. Not only for your brand image but also for the right thing to do. It can be helpful to have an accessibility style guide. So, what does accessible content mean, and why is it important to your customers and employees? The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are principles intended for content and web creators to ensure that all people, including those with disabilities, can view, interact, and share information. This course is an advanced course on creating accessible content.

Learning Objectives

  • Learn how to create accessibility policies for content creation
  • Review Accessibility Principles
  • Review Audiovisual media and accessibility
  • Learn when the description is necessary for a video?
  • Learn how to ensure Emails, tables, and context are accessible.
  • Learn how to integrate accessibility into the QA process
  • What to test on?
  • Learn how to create Accessibility statements and VPATs

Creating Accessible PDFs

PDF document accessibility plays a vital role in the overall accessibility of your website. Most Standard PDF, PPT, and Excel files are usually not accessible. This means that people with disabilities using assistive technologies like screen readers cannot correctly read them and comprehend the content. To provide an equal experience for all users, regardless of disability, you must develop all of your digital content with accessibility in mind.

Learning Objectives

  • Define PDF Accessibility and WCAG Fundamentals
  • Learn tools to check PDF accessibility (automated, manual, and assistive technology)
  • Learn how to create a workflow and how to approach the process of making PDFs accessible
  • Learn how to set the correct reading order, Tagging, and set the bookmark
  • Learn about Interactive materials
  • Learn how to create accessible images, graphs, and presentations
  • Learn about Metadata

Inclusive Practices for Conducting Accessible Virtual Meetings

In response to a global health epidemic, how agencies gather, collaborate, discuss, share, and learn has changed from in-person meetings and conference calls to virtual meetings where the audience participates remotely through voice and video from their homes. As employees return to their offices, meetings are expected to be a hybrid of in-person and remote participants; accessibility can and should be seamlessly integrated into your meeting. But with the rise in new ways to connect, communicate, and collaborate also comes new challenges for team members with various impairments. More than 25% of employees are expected to have an impairment. As we navigate “the new normal,” companies will need to rely on well-informed communicators to increase meeting accessibility for diverse employee needs. This workshop is intended to provide information on how to make your next meeting accessible to attendees with disabilities in compliance with Section 508 and other disability rights laws.

Learning Objectives

  • Understand Your Audience
  • Learn how to begin Planning & Considerations
  • Accommodate Audience Needs
  • Learn how to prepare moderators and meeting etiquette
  • Create Accessible Presentation Materials
  • Learn Meeting Management Techniques
  • Learn how to handle Sign Language and captioning

Introduction to Assistive Technologies

Assistive technology (AT) is any device, software, or equipment used to maintain or enhance the functional capabilities of people with disabilities and to help them perform a task. Assistive Technology allows people who have difficulty speaking, typing, writing, pointing, seeing, hearing, learning, and many other things. Common tools include voice magnification software, screen readers, hearing aids, wheelchairs, and keyboard alternatives. In the context of this workshop, assistive technologies are the tools used to access digital information. This workshop will review the accessibility needs of web users using assistive technologies.

Learning Objectives

  • Define assistive technology?
  • Learn about the primary screen readers and magnification software
  • Learn about Mobility software and alternative input methods
  • Learn about navigating websites and apps
  • Discuss common mistakes

Introduction to Disability Inclusion

Enhancing employees’ ability to engage in relaxed, spontaneous conversation with clients with disabilities can increase everyone’s comfort level, ensure positive interaction, and demonstrate mutual respect. Appropriate disability etiquette allows all employees to be more comfortable and productive. Improving customer service through expanded awareness of human disabilities can increase comfort in working with diverse people. Being flexible and fine-tuning approaches based on how the person views their disability or disabilities is crucial to high-quality services.

We need to remember that:

  • People with disabilities are people too.
  • Differences make everyone unique; there is strength in diversity.
  • Disability is an aspect of a person's experience, but not the only aspect.

These workshops will focus on how to strike the delicate balance of appropriately accommodating people with disabilities and recognizing everyone’s assets without either overlooking their access needs or pigeonholing them into a disabled identity. These workshops will teach staff how to provide equal opportunities to their clients with disabilities.

Part One: Introduction to Disability Inclusion

Learning Objectives

  • Be aware of appropriate responses to people with disabilities
  • Develop an understanding of how to meet the needs of people with disabilities.
  • Use person-centered approaches
  • Understand the Myths and Misperceptions
  • Develop an understanding of appropriate and effective ways of interaction

Part Two: Disability-Specific Etiquette

This workshop is designed to help you understand appropriate and effective ways of interacting with different types of disabilities.

Learning Objectives

  • Understand the different types of Visible and Hidden Disabilities
  • People Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision
  • People with Physical Disabilities
  • People Who Are Deaf or Have a Hearing Loss
  • People with Developmental Disabilities
  • People with Learning Disabilities
  • People with Traumatic (or Acquired) Brain Injury
  • People with Psychiatric or Mental Illness

Personas & Accessibility

Accessibility personas help identify the barriers, frustrations, and common issues that people with disabilities face when using inaccessible products and often benefit all users. Accessibility personas are designed specifically with a user’s accessibility needs in mind. Accessibility means that people with a wide range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive abilities can access your products and services. Personas help product owners, designers, and developers understand who users are and their processes. Personas help build empathy and gain a different perspective to recognize user needs and expectations. A persona is a fictional character profile representing a significant group of people or users who use a product. This workshop aims to provide attendees with an understanding of what different personas face when interacting with an inaccessible website or digital content to highlight common barriers faced by people with particular conditions and provide tips on how to design for them.

Learning Objectives

  • What is accessibility
  • Introduction to assistive technology
  • Why accessibility matters
  • Developing inclusive personas
  • Karen – a visually-impaired screen magnifier user
  • Alexandra – a blind screen reader user
  • Ron – an older user with multiple conditions
  • John – a user with rheumatoid arthritis
  • Kamal – a user with Asperger’s
  • Nancy – a dyslexic user
  • Omar – a profoundly deaf user
  • The Legal Implications
  • WCAG as the international standard
  • Avoiding overlay widgets
  • Benefits of Website Accessibility

Social Media & Accessibility

Social Media platforms are essentially websites containing user-generated content. Your social media accounts are likely one of many ways you share content and connect with your audience. The content you deliver via social media should be accessible. It’s your job to ensure that every piece of content you publish on social media is accessible to all. However, social media platforms don’t always make it easy to add alternative text or consider other disabilities like hearing impairment or loss, visual impairment or loss, distractions, etc. In this workshop, you will learn tips to make your social media content as compliant as possible so everyone can participate

Learning Objectives

  • Learn how to create accessibility by platform
  • Understand the language of Inclusive posting
  • Learn how to ensure accessible readability, color, contrast, and font size
  • Learn about Captions
  • Learn how to create accessible Descriptions and Alt Text
  • Learn how to create accessible Hashtags
  • Learn how to use Emojis for accessibility
  • Discuss how to create accessibility policies

About Our Web Accessibility Testers and Trainers

Our instructors are certified accessibility experts by the International Association of Accessibility Professionals. They provide automated and manual testing and remediation guidance on a wide range of platforms daily. They are deeply experienced and visually impaired or blind testers, considered the gold standard, as they are users of assistive technology. Our team is familiar with Section 508 and WCAG 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2. We’re a specialized boutique of web accessibility experts that have worked in every industry and practically every scenario and platform.