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Re: Making Speaker Notes Accessible as a Tagged PDF

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From: Karen McCall
Date: Oct 6, 2021 10:02AM

I know. I realize that there might be "bug fixes" and things do get broken.

However, the fact that in many cases we still have to build a business case for accessibility and inclusion and creating technology that isn't accessible, usable and inclusive from the concept and design phase is "intentional". "We've" known about the need for accessible, usable and inclusive technology since the creation of e-mail...we just haven't thought it was "important enough" to implement and often prefer to say we'll do that later...once the technology is released.

...which is why I can't buy an appliance with a touch screen or computer screen that I can use with a screen reader. 😊

...and why document authors and technology developers still aren't creating accessible and usable content. 😊

...and why we aren't teaching students to create accessible, usable and inclusive "things" when they first put their hands on a keyboard or creating accessible curriculum isn't part of teacher training. 😊

Cheers, Karen

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of David Engebretson Jr.
Sent: Wednesday, October 6, 2021 10:45 AM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List' < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Making Speaker Notes Accessible as a Tagged PDF

Thanks for the tips!

I'm super interested in your thoughts that the Adobe snafu is intentional. I see where you are coming from because it hurts - it almost feels to me like a personal slap to my face as a screen reader user.

Do you think, though, that Adobe would intentionally put a product out in the world that breaks accessibility for assistive technology users? I'm wondering if it was simply a glitch in their testing/quality assurance process. Glitches happen, especially in engineering without user testing.

Anyhow, I appreciate your expertise and your passion for the subject. This is good food for thought. Hopefully you shared this with the accessibility and inclusion folks at Adobe so they can think about improving their product.

Thank you for all of your hard work!
David