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Thread: is digital accessibility the right path for me?
Number of posts in this thread: 7 (In chronological order)
From: Victoria Chan
Date: Mon, Dec 04 2023 7:20AM
Subject: is digital accessibility the right path for me?
No previous message | Next message →
Hi there.
Could someone be honest with me and tell me if I'm trying to fit a square
peg into a round hole? I think I need a reality check and some help
contemplating life. LOL
For those of you who work in the digital accessibility field, is it
important to have a background in web design and development?
I've been trying to freelance as a digital accessibility consultant for the
last year, but I'm not sure if this is working for me. I thought my personal
experience and the courses that I took through Deque University were enough,
but after talking to some people who have worked in digital accessibility
for some time, I recognize that I don't have the knowledge and skills that
is needed in order to perform proper accessibility audits and
implementation. I have never been tech savvy to begin with. I mean I can
easily tell if a platform is accessible based on my own personal needs and
experiences with screen readers, but I could not for the life of me explain
the problem, nor could I offer a solution. If you asked me a question about
html and css, I would be totally lost. I honestly don't remember much from
the Deque University courses, other than how different screen readers work.
I also tried to take the section 508 trusted tester certification course
through DHS, but I was completely out of my element and found it way too
overwhelming, thus I was unable to complete the program. My friend's brother
who is a business coach suggested that perhaps I could go on Upwork and try
to find somebody who knows how to implement accessibility, and I have
actually looked into it, but still... If I'm being completely honest with
myself, a tech career is not for me. I just needed something to tie me over
so that I could generate some passive income while studying to pursue my
dream career as a certified sexual health and wellness coach. What are
y'all's thoughts? I will admit that my decision to freelance as a digital
accessibility consultant was rather impulsive. I went into this with the
mindset that I'd be able to make money quickly as I've had a hard time
finding steady employment.
Thanks
Victoria
From: Jonathan Cohn
Date: Mon, Dec 04 2023 7:49AM
Subject: Re: is digital accessibility the right path for me?
← Previous message | Next message →
Well, while being an accessibility expert does require understanding how the application or web site is interacting with the screen reader, there is also a demand for screen reader users to make sure that the average screen reader can use the site. While screen reader users understand more fundamentals of web design then non-technical visual users since they know what a heading and a list are, most would have no idea what javascript is or even why a radio button works on one web site and not another.
Best wishes,
Jonathan Cohn
> On Dec 4, 2023, at 9:20 AM, Victoria Chan < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> Hi there.
>
>
>
> Could someone be honest with me and tell me if I'm trying to fit a square
> peg into a round hole? I think I need a reality check and some help
> contemplating life. LOL
>
> For those of you who work in the digital accessibility field, is it
> important to have a background in web design and development?
>
> I've been trying to freelance as a digital accessibility consultant for the
> last year, but I'm not sure if this is working for me. I thought my personal
> experience and the courses that I took through Deque University were enough,
> but after talking to some people who have worked in digital accessibility
> for some time, I recognize that I don't have the knowledge and skills that
> is needed in order to perform proper accessibility audits and
> implementation. I have never been tech savvy to begin with. I mean I can
> easily tell if a platform is accessible based on my own personal needs and
> experiences with screen readers, but I could not for the life of me explain
> the problem, nor could I offer a solution. If you asked me a question about
> html and css, I would be totally lost. I honestly don't remember much from
> the Deque University courses, other than how different screen readers work.
> I also tried to take the section 508 trusted tester certification course
> through DHS, but I was completely out of my element and found it way too
> overwhelming, thus I was unable to complete the program. My friend's brother
> who is a business coach suggested that perhaps I could go on Upwork and try
> to find somebody who knows how to implement accessibility, and I have
> actually looked into it, but still... If I'm being completely honest with
> myself, a tech career is not for me. I just needed something to tie me over
> so that I could generate some passive income while studying to pursue my
> dream career as a certified sexual health and wellness coach. What are
> y'all's thoughts? I will admit that my decision to freelance as a digital
> accessibility consultant was rather impulsive. I went into this with the
> mindset that I'd be able to make money quickly as I've had a hard time
> finding steady employment.
>
>
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
> Victoria
>
> > > >
From: Mark Magennis
Date: Mon, Dec 04 2023 8:12AM
Subject: Re: is digital accessibility the right path for me?
← Previous message | Next message →
Well done for being so honest Victoria. I kidded myself for years that I could manage people and projects but it turned out I was rubbish and it only brought me stress so it's good that you're wondering at this early stage whether you've chosen the right activity.
If you really found the trusted tester course overwhelming then I can see why you might be wondering whether there's a place in accessibility for you, but thinking you'd like to be in this line or work in the first place says a lot right off. The motivation to help people and to make society more inclusive is a basic driver that all accessibility practitioners need. And even if you find some of the coding side a bit daunting, there are a lot of different skills and abilities that make up accessibility and rarely are they all found in a single person, so people with different parts of the overall skillset can still be very valuable members of a team. I think the abilities fall into three broad buckets and you may have some of them if not all:
1.
Understanding users with disabilities and users of assistive technologies (AT) and being able to see things from their perspective. It's possible to do a lot of WCAG and Trusted Tester analysis without this ability by just looking for technical failures, but I think that often leaves us a long way short of accessibility and potentially turns it into a box-ticking exercise that leaves many real world problems unsolved. If you can be the person who really wants to understand people with disabilities and how to truly make products that work for them, then you can be very valuable, even without a large amount of knowledge of how to code a solution. Maybe others can provide that part. A lot of the biggest accessibility barriers are actually not coding issues at all but general usability or UX barriers that disproportionally affect users with disabilities or users of AT. So understanding the problems people have with software and technology in general and how those can be increased by disability and the need to use AT is a massive help. You can develop this insight either from having a disability yourself (although that doesn't necessarily mean you understand other disabilities) or by spending time with people with disabilities and users of AT, especially running and observing training or user testing where people with disabilities are trying to use websites and software. One great way to develop this is to volunteer with disability service organisations as an assistant in their learning centre.
2. Understanding web/software development. This sounds like what you lack at the moment but there are plenty of accessibility practitioners whose abilities in this regard are quite limited. You can identify accessibility issues without knowing anything about programming, but as you've recognised, you won't be able to say a lot about what it is in the coding that causes the problem, nor how to fix it. Some of that understanding is quite easy to acquire though, for example being able to use the inspector in a browser to find out whether a button has a name and how it has been given that name. But whilst it's not rocket science, it is a wide area so sniffing out the coding cause of a wide range of accessibility issues and saying what would need to be changed to fix them requires quite a lot of experience. An understanding of coding, and I'd even say an interest in coding, is quite important to develop if you want to be good at this part.
3. Being able to test systematically, comprehensively, and meticulously. All accessibility testers miss some bugs. A lot of accessibility testers miss a lot of bugs because they're just not thorough enough. Often this is simply due to a lack of time but having a very focussed and controlled mental approach can help enormously and a good QA tester can speed up and improve the accessibility process considerably so that's a valuable skill to have, even if you can only report that a problem exists for this kind of user with this type of AT doing this task. Someone else may be able to take it on from there and investigate why it happens and how to fix it.
So although you'd have to combine all of these skills to be a good solo accessibility practitioner, accessibility teams often have a mix of people with these different skills, so you may still have a place.
Mark
From: WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > on behalf of Victoria Chan < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Sent: Monday 4 December 2023 14:20
To: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Subject: [EXTERNAL] [WebAIM] is digital accessibility the right path for me?
[You don't often get email from = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = . Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ]
Hi there.
Could someone be honest with me and tell me if I'm trying to fit a square
peg into a round hole? I think I need a reality check and some help
contemplating life. LOL
For those of you who work in the digital accessibility field, is it
important to have a background in web design and development?
I've been trying to freelance as a digital accessibility consultant for the
last year, but I'm not sure if this is working for me. I thought my personal
experience and the courses that I took through Deque University were enough,
but after talking to some people who have worked in digital accessibility
for some time, I recognize that I don't have the knowledge and skills that
is needed in order to perform proper accessibility audits and
implementation. I have never been tech savvy to begin with. I mean I can
easily tell if a platform is accessible based on my own personal needs and
experiences with screen readers, but I could not for the life of me explain
the problem, nor could I offer a solution. If you asked me a question about
html and css, I would be totally lost. I honestly don't remember much from
the Deque University courses, other than how different screen readers work.
I also tried to take the section 508 trusted tester certification course
through DHS, but I was completely out of my element and found it way too
overwhelming, thus I was unable to complete the program. My friend's brother
who is a business coach suggested that perhaps I could go on Upwork and try
to find somebody who knows how to implement accessibility, and I have
actually looked into it, but still... If I'm being completely honest with
myself, a tech career is not for me. I just needed something to tie me over
so that I could generate some passive income while studying to pursue my
dream career as a certified sexual health and wellness coach. What are
y'all's thoughts? I will admit that my decision to freelance as a digital
accessibility consultant was rather impulsive. I went into this with the
mindset that I'd be able to make money quickly as I've had a hard time
finding steady employment.
Thanks
Victoria
From: L Snider
Date: Mon, Dec 04 2023 1:26PM
Subject: Re: is digital accessibility the right path for me?
← Previous message | Next message →
Hi Victoria,
I applaud you for being so open and honest in your email. This is just my 2
cents after reading your email. Digital accessibility is a tough gig, it
takes years to learn the nuance of it. I would never dissuade anyone not to
do it, but in my view and experience it takes passion and persistence to
make it happen, and that isn't quick...If you aren't passionate about it,
being a consultant will be really hard. I read your email, and your passion
is in being a certified sexual health and wellness coach. Why not find
something that relates to disability, barriers, and that specific field?
That way you are working toward your dream career, and you work with
accessibility, but in a different way? Plus, it would give you 'difference'
in that field, that maybe others won't come to it with?
Just my 2 cents!
Cheers
Lisa
On Mon, Dec 4, 2023 at 10:20â¯AM Victoria Chan < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Hi there.
>
>
>
> Could someone be honest with me and tell me if I'm trying to fit a square
> peg into a round hole? I think I need a reality check and some help
> contemplating life. LOL
>
> For those of you who work in the digital accessibility field, is it
> important to have a background in web design and development?
>
> I've been trying to freelance as a digital accessibility consultant for the
> last year, but I'm not sure if this is working for me. I thought my
> personal
> experience and the courses that I took through Deque University were
> enough,
> but after talking to some people who have worked in digital accessibility
> for some time, I recognize that I don't have the knowledge and skills that
> is needed in order to perform proper accessibility audits and
> implementation. I have never been tech savvy to begin with. I mean I can
> easily tell if a platform is accessible based on my own personal needs and
> experiences with screen readers, but I could not for the life of me explain
> the problem, nor could I offer a solution. If you asked me a question about
> html and css, I would be totally lost. I honestly don't remember much from
> the Deque University courses, other than how different screen readers work.
> I also tried to take the section 508 trusted tester certification course
> through DHS, but I was completely out of my element and found it way too
> overwhelming, thus I was unable to complete the program. My friend's
> brother
> who is a business coach suggested that perhaps I could go on Upwork and try
> to find somebody who knows how to implement accessibility, and I have
> actually looked into it, but still... If I'm being completely honest with
> myself, a tech career is not for me. I just needed something to tie me over
> so that I could generate some passive income while studying to pursue my
> dream career as a certified sexual health and wellness coach. What are
> y'all's thoughts? I will admit that my decision to freelance as a digital
> accessibility consultant was rather impulsive. I went into this with the
> mindset that I'd be able to make money quickly as I've had a hard time
> finding steady employment.
>
>
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
> Victoria
>
> > > > >
From: Christine Hogenkamp
Date: Tue, Dec 05 2023 11:07AM
Subject: Re: is digital accessibility the right path for me?
← Previous message | Next message →
Hi Victoria,
You have my sympathies trying to get into accessibility testing because it
can become complicated quite quickly, and some of the tech aspects are
difficult to avoid because it's precisely the tech that can be causing a
lot of problems, i.e. a conflict between browser and operating system, or a
particular assistive tech app has bugs unique to that app that we've just
learned to work around, etc. It does help to have a particular aptitude for
problem-solving in relation to computers, which not everyone has.
What caught my eye about your question is that you mentioned that you
thought you could do testing as a "passive" income, I assume you had a
thought that it would be a "no-brainer" type of job where you just had to
test a bunch of websites by going through them with a screen reader, which
on the surface sounds simple enough. But I can speak from my own
experiences trying to learn how to use different screen readers, even just
using a screen reader when you don't use one regularly can be a tall
order. And I've read enough forum posts for regular screen reader users to
see they too can run into problems with getting a screen reader to interact
with certain elements or the announcement wasn't what they expected. It's
something that people just learn to deal with and persist with, especially
if you are using that screen reader software to help you use your computer
or go on the Internet. In some ways, we all struggle the same way to get
computers to do what we want them to do, everyone has that struggle! LOL
I think what might be missing from your skill set isn't the technical
abilities but that drive to try to learn how to find and fix these
problems, for a lot of us on this mailing list, we are here because we are
driven to try to come up with solutions or improvements, for me it's
definitely not in my nature to notice a problem and NOT want to solve it.
To me, it sounds like your passions lie elsewhere in a different area of
problem-solving, in terms of being a sexual health and wellness coach.
Without that drive to keep you going on a path towards improving your
accessibility user testing skills, I do think the challenges can feel far
more daunting and harder to overcome without motivation.
If you ARE passionate but more about the social issues of accessibility,
rather than technical problem solving, there may still be a place for you
to act as an advocate for implementing change in workplaces and other group
settings. But that would be a commitment in its own way as large as doin
the technical work, as trying to change people's minds and bring them
around to incorporating accessibility into their daily practices is just as
laborious, in its own way.
But accessibility work is definitely not the kind of work where you can
just log on and turn your brain off to churn out results for a paycheck,
it's usually at minimum highly contextual work that requires your full
attention.
Goodluck!
*x*
*Christine Hogenkamp (She, Her)*
Front-end Developer
Context Creative â a Mod Op company
416.972.1439 | contextcreative.com
On Mon, Dec 4, 2023 at 2:00â¯PM < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Victoria Chan < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> To: < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2023 09:20:24 -0500
> Subject: [WebAIM] is digital accessibility the right path for me?
> Hi there.
>
> Could someone be honest with me and tell me if I'm trying to fit a square
> peg into a round hole? I think I need a reality check and some help
> contemplating life. LOL
>
> For those of you who work in the digital accessibility field, is it
> important to have a background in web design and development?
>
> I've been trying to freelance as a digital accessibility consultant for the
> last year, but I'm not sure if this is working for me. I thought my
> personal
> experience and the courses that I took through Deque University were
> enough,
> but after talking to some people who have worked in digital accessibility
> for some time, I recognize that I don't have the knowledge and skills that
> is needed in order to perform proper accessibility audits and
> implementation. I have never been tech savvy to begin with. I mean I can
> easily tell if a platform is accessible based on my own personal needs and
> experiences with screen readers, but I could not for the life of me explain
> the problem, nor could I offer a solution. If you asked me a question about
> html and css, I would be totally lost. I honestly don't remember much from
> the Deque University courses, other than how different screen readers work.
> I also tried to take the section 508 trusted tester certification course
> through DHS, but I was completely out of my element and found it way too
> overwhelming, thus I was unable to complete the program. My friend's
> brother
> who is a business coach suggested that perhaps I could go on Upwork and try
> to find somebody who knows how to implement accessibility, and I have
> actually looked into it, but still... If I'm being completely honest with
> myself, a tech career is not for me. I just needed something to tie me over
> so that I could generate some passive income while studying to pursue my
> dream career as a certified sexual health and wellness coach. What are
> y'all's thoughts? I will admit that my decision to freelance as a digital
> accessibility consultant was rather impulsive. I went into this with the
> mindset that I'd be able to make money quickly as I've had a hard time
> finding steady employment.
>
> Thanks
> Victoria
>
>
From: Kevin Prince
Date: Tue, Dec 05 2023 1:31PM
Subject: Re: is digital accessibility the right path for me?
← Previous message | Next message →
My two cents is that you might be absolutely brilliant as a team - ie with a sighted/partially sighted tester who can add in the web knowledge and the context around the issues you find/the contrast,and other visual aspects.
Web dev (or at least an understanding of what might be wrong) is no a pre-requisite for every individual: but you do need that skill available in the mix
Kevin
Kevin Prince
Product Accessibility & Usability Consultant
From: Srinivasu Chakravarthula
Date: Sat, Dec 16 2023 6:00PM
Subject: Re: is digital accessibility the right path for me?
← Previous message | No next message
To add to what everyone else have said, build ability to think beyond
disabilities while you work in the area of accessibility. Try learn to
understand code and this can happen as you go. If understanding code is
difficult, you can still add value as a user testing and not all testing
requires you to know coding. Looks like you have a passion for
accessibility and that is important.
Best wishes,
Regards,
Srinivasu Chakravarthula, CPWA (2018), DHS Trusted Tester
Website <http://www.srinivasu.org>; | LinkedIn Profile
<http://linkedin.com/in/srinivasuc>; | Follow me on Twitter
<http://twitter.com/csrinivasu>;
Director of Product Accessibility, Freshworks, Inc
<https://www.freshworks.com>
On Wed, Dec 6, 2023 at 2:02â¯AM Kevin Prince < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:
> My two cents is that you might be absolutely brilliant as a team - ie with
> a sighted/partially sighted tester who can add in the web knowledge and the
> context around the issues you find/the contrast,and other visual aspects.
>
> Web dev (or at least an understanding of what might be wrong) is no a
> pre-requisite for every individual: but you do need that skill available in
> the mix
>
> Kevin
>
> *Kevin Prince *
> Product Accessibility & Usability Consultant
>
> *Foster Moore*
> A Teranet Company
>
> *E* = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> Christchurch
> *fostermoore.com <http://www.fostermoore.com/>;*
> -----Original Message-----
> From: WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > On Behalf Of L
> Snider
> Sent: Tuesday, December 5, 2023 9:27 AM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] is digital accessibility the right path for me?
>
> CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization.
>
>
> Hi Victoria,
>
> I applaud you for being so open and honest in your email. This is just my
> 2 cents after reading your email. Digital accessibility is a tough gig, it
> takes years to learn the nuance of it. I would never dissuade anyone not to
> do it, but in my view and experience it takes passion and persistence to
> make it happen, and that isn't quick...If you aren't passionate about it,
> being a consultant will be really hard. I read your email, and your passion
> is in being a certified sexual health and wellness coach. Why not find
> something that relates to disability, barriers, and that specific field?
> That way you are working toward your dream career, and you work with
> accessibility, but in a different way? Plus, it would give you 'difference'
> in that field, that maybe others won't come to it with?
>
> Just my 2 cents!
>
> Cheers
>
> Lisa
>
>
> On Mon, Dec 4, 2023 at 10:20â¯AM Victoria Chan < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> wrote:
>
> > Hi there.
> >
> >
> >
> > Could someone be honest with me and tell me if I'm trying to fit a
> > square peg into a round hole? I think I need a reality check and some
> > help contemplating life. LOL
> >
> > For those of you who work in the digital accessibility field, is it
> > important to have a background in web design and development?
> >
> > I've been trying to freelance as a digital accessibility consultant
> > for the last year, but I'm not sure if this is working for me. I
> > thought my personal experience and the courses that I took through
> > Deque University were enough, but after talking to some people who
> > have worked in digital accessibility for some time, I recognize that I
> > don't have the knowledge and skills that is needed in order to perform
> > proper accessibility audits and implementation. I have never been tech
> > savvy to begin with. I mean I can easily tell if a platform is
> > accessible based on my own personal needs and experiences with screen
> > readers, but I could not for the life of me explain the problem, nor
> > could I offer a solution. If you asked me a question about html and
> > css, I would be totally lost. I honestly don't remember much from the
> > Deque University courses, other than how different screen readers work.
> > I also tried to take the section 508 trusted tester certification
> > course through DHS, but I was completely out of my element and found
> > it way too overwhelming, thus I was unable to complete the program. My
> > friend's brother who is a business coach suggested that perhaps I
> > could go on Upwork and try to find somebody who knows how to implement
> > accessibility, and I have actually looked into it, but still... If I'm
> > being completely honest with myself, a tech career is not for me. I
> > just needed something to tie me over so that I could generate some
> > passive income while studying to pursue my dream career as a certified
> > sexual health and wellness coach. What are y'all's thoughts? I will
> > admit that my decision to freelance as a digital accessibility
> > consultant was rather impulsive. I went into this with the mindset
> > that I'd be able to make money quickly as I've had a hard time finding
> > steady employment.
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> >
> >
> > Victoria
> >
> > > > > > http://list/.
> > webaim.org%2F&data%7C01%7Ckevin.prince%40fostermoore.com%7Cc057d058
> > c5e54f608b8808dbf5075f5f%7Cb227fb96cd1e479f8a43b1a2a422e0c2%7C0%7C0%7C
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> > FcIxaQ6S14sx7%2Bv4Xj4KPobXemEllnXMKyM%3D&reserved=0
> > List archives at
> > http://webai/
> > m.org%2Fdiscussion%2Farchives&data%7C01%7Ckevin.prince%40fostermoor
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> > wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7
> > C&sdata=WhFKTgWXow6ql4M%2FCJukKj4uGVt5LKnh8GpaUVJu990%3D&reserved=0
> > > >
> > > > > > > > >