Building an Inclusive Online Presence - Summary of Upanup's Talk on Website Accessibility
Upanup had the privilege of attending and speaking at the 2023 IDEA conference in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. Here are some highlights!
Presenters
- Elliot Lange, Senior UX Designer, Upanup Studios, Inc.
- Charlotte O’Reilly, Marketing Director, Upanup Studios Inc.
Description
Explore the essential strategies and best practices for making your digital presence welcoming and accessible to all. Learn how to navigate the complex landscape of web accessibility compliance and create an online space that embraces diversity, inclusivity, and seamless user experiences for everyone.
Summary
- Elliot and Charlotte led an inclusive and collaborative session, starting with visual descriptions of themselves for anyone in the audience with visual disabilities.
- They shared personal stories about people in their lives who inspire a dedication to online inclusivity--Charlotte telling about growing up with a blind grandfather who would have loved to see this future with web accessibility at the forefront, and Elliot telling about his first week on a job needing to fill out a form that asked for their gender when it wasn't even relevant.
- The team then explained web accessibility through analogies (Elliot's famous frog village analogy, for example!), through common questions from our municipal clients about web accessibility, and through the takeaway mantra: Web Accessibility is a Mindshift (Not a Checklist). Check out that link for a list of additional resources such as podcasts, courses, articles, and tools.