A11y-Friendly Documentation

Abstract

Accessibility (a11y) has been finding its stride in the web development community — and it’s not hard to figure out why. According to the World Health Organization, there are over one billion people globally who need an assistive device. With these statistics, organizations and open-source projects alike realize that they could be unintentionally locking these people out of their products. As a result, they adjust their developer workflows. And it often ends there, at the product. Documentation is left out of the conversation.

If documentation is meant to serve as a tool for learning and comprehension, then it must be included in those conversations. After all, we want to write docs that are truly for everyone — regardless of the technology they use to read it.

In this talk, we’ll look at how assistive technology consumes documentation and cover some points to consider when building out your docs. Along the way, we’ll touch on quick regulation wins and inclusive writing practices.

⏱️ Talk duration: 25-45 minutes

🌈 Slides and a list of resources mentioned during the presentation

Previously presented at:

🌐 Open Source 101 on May 12, 2020 (YouTube)
🌐 GDG DevFest OnAir on December 12, 2018 (Video)
🌐 Mozilla Tech Briefing on November 28, 2018
🇩🇪 DACHFest Munich on November 10, 2018 (YouTube)
🇨🇿 Write the Docs Prague on September 10, 2018 (YouTube) (Transcript)