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Number of posts in this thread: 19 (In chronological order)

From: Gillen, Lori
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 8:04AM
Subject: Accessibility training?
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Hi-

I have always wanted to raise accessibility awareness, but the problem is that while I have a great deal of passion, I've never received any training. Where did all of you receive your training, and how did you actually get your first job?

I woke up this morning with a "bee in my bonnet" ready to take charge and find an accessibility job.

Thanks for any input you have,

Lori Gillen
McKesson Corporation
Newton, MA

From: Brian Lovely
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 8:24AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
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I know that bee! Apress has a great book: Pro HTML5 Accessibility: http://www.apress.com/9781430241942 <http://www.apress.com/9781430241942>;. WebAIM does regular 2 day training courses: http://webaim.org/training/ <http://webaim.org/training/>;. IAAP offers webinars and lots of other accessibility related stuff: http://www.accessibilityassociation.org/ <http://www.accessibilityassociation.org/>;. WAI offers a (possibly overwhelming) amount of guidelines, tutorials, and internationally-accepted standards: https://www.w3.org/WAI/ <https://www.w3.org/WAI/>


Brian Lovely
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =



> On May 2, 2016, at 10:04 AM, Gillen, Lori < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> Hi-
>
> I have always wanted to raise accessibility awareness, but the problem is that while I have a great deal of passion, I've never received any training. Where did all of you receive your training, and how did you actually get your first job?
>
> I woke up this morning with a "bee in my bonnet" ready to take charge and find an accessibility job.
>
> Thanks for any input you have,
>
> Lori Gillen
> McKesson Corporation
> Newton, MA
> > > >

From: Moore,Michael (Accessibility) (HHSC)
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 8:43AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
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There are three great accessibility related conferences.

John Slatin AccessU hosted by Knowbility and held each May in Austin Texas. http://www.knowbility.org/v/john-slatin-accessu/

Accessing Higher Ground will be held in November http://accessinghigherground.org/

CSUN is held each spring http://www.csun.edu/cod/conference

Also I believe that Deque, Paciello Group and others offer accessibility training. And there are a lot of really good on-line resources and blogs.

And of course this forum has always been a great resource for getting answers to questions and learning about accessibility.

As far as how to get into the field, it kind of depends upon what you do now. If you are a developer you can make sure to add accessibility into the work that you are currently doing - become the go-to person for accessibility in your office. If you are more of a tester or designer start applying accessibility to that work. Once you have had a chance to put your skills into practice look for opportunities that are more accessibility focused. Most institutes of higher learning and government agencies now have dedicated accessibility specialists and/or accessibility coordinators.

I started out as a volunteer with Knowbility and was lucky enough to have some great mentors in the field. People like John Slatin, Jim Alan, Jim Thatcher, Sharon Rush and Glenda Sims. If you have people in your professional circle who have accessibility knowledge work with them. Everyone I have met in this field seems to be very willing to share what they know.

Mike Moore
Accessibility Coordinator
Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Civil Rights Office
(512) 438-3431 (Office)

From: Gillen, Lori
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 8:45AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
← Previous message | Next message →

Mike-

Thank you so much! This is all very helpful!

Lori

From: Gillen, Lori
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 8:46AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
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Thanks, Brian! I will check it out.

From: Wershing, Alice D.
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 8:46AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
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There also is a one day summit through Knowbility if you can't get to the conference.
For some reason I can't embed the link, so here it is http://environmentsforhumans.com/2016/accessu-summit/
Alice Wershing, M.Ed., A.T.P.
Technology Specialist
Disability Services
Pellissippi State Community College
10915 Hardin Valley Road
Knoxville TN 37933-0990
(865) 694-6751

East TN Region Accessibility Specialist
Tennessee Board of Regents-ROCC/RODP

Access for All Blog
http://blogs.pstcc.edu/access4all/

Accessible Format Facebook Page
https://m.facebook.com/psccdisabilityservices?refidF&sld=eyJzZWFyY2hfc2lkIjoiNzhjYzY3MmVkNDg2ODkyMjVhY2ViMjUyOGQwNWJiYzUiLCJxdWVyeSI6InBzY2MiLCJzZWFyY2hfdHlwZSI6IlNlYXJjaCIsInNlcXVlbmNlX2lkIjoxOTU4NzAyNDk1LCJwYWdlX251bWJlciI6MSwiZmlsdGVyX3R5cGUiOiJTZWFyY2giLCJlbnRfaWQiOjczNDM1NjkxOTkzOTUxNywicG9zaXRpb24iOjAsInJlc3VsdF90eXBlIjo2NX0%3D

From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 8:50AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
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I would say "Access U" is a good conference to start (CSUN is a bit
overwhelming and not necessarily geared towards beginners, I have
never been to AHG unfortunately).
Deque University has a selection of very good accessibility courses
(yes, I work for them, but my objective assessment is that they are
great).
http://dequeuniversity.com
This list has always been a great resource, and I am sure the WebAIM
training mentioned previously is great.
There is also the Accessible University page hosted by U of W.
For W3C resources:
You can start by Googling things such as WCAG EASY checks or WCAG tutorials.

I started out not knowing much, but with help from experience, Access
U and people from this list I got good enough to join Deque, and have
received a lot of training and experience since.
Good luck!
-B


On 5/2/16, Moore,Michael (Accessibility) (HHSC)
< = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> There are three great accessibility related conferences.
>
> John Slatin AccessU hosted by Knowbility and held each May in Austin Texas.
> http://www.knowbility.org/v/john-slatin-accessu/
>
> Accessing Higher Ground will be held in November
> http://accessinghigherground.org/
>
> CSUN is held each spring http://www.csun.edu/cod/conference
>
> Also I believe that Deque, Paciello Group and others offer accessibility
> training. And there are a lot of really good on-line resources and blogs.
>
> And of course this forum has always been a great resource for getting
> answers to questions and learning about accessibility.
>
> As far as how to get into the field, it kind of depends upon what you do
> now. If you are a developer you can make sure to add accessibility into the
> work that you are currently doing - become the go-to person for
> accessibility in your office. If you are more of a tester or designer start
> applying accessibility to that work. Once you have had a chance to put your
> skills into practice look for opportunities that are more accessibility
> focused. Most institutes of higher learning and government agencies now have
> dedicated accessibility specialists and/or accessibility coordinators.
>
> I started out as a volunteer with Knowbility and was lucky enough to have
> some great mentors in the field. People like John Slatin, Jim Alan, Jim
> Thatcher, Sharon Rush and Glenda Sims. If you have people in your
> professional circle who have accessibility knowledge work with them.
> Everyone I have met in this field seems to be very willing to share what
> they know.
>
> Mike Moore
> Accessibility Coordinator
> Texas Health and Human Services Commission
> Civil Rights Office
> (512) 438-3431 (Office)
>
>

From: Wershing, Alice D.
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 8:51AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
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I've been in the field of assistive technology since the late 80's and came to accessibility through that work. When I worked at an AT center, I did not do as much with accessibility then, except getting books in alternate format. And what I knew then about alternate format has grown exponentially over the last 3 years at a community college, as well as my knowledge of accessibility. I've learned from blogs, online webinars, and I also audited an html course, so just a google search for blogs and webinars will get you started. I also monitor Facebook and Twitter, and learn a lot as well as find webinars. Once you are on several lists, you'll be notified as well as they come about.

Alice Wershing, M.Ed., A.T.P.
Technology Specialist
Disability Services
Pellissippi State Community College
10915 Hardin Valley Road
Knoxville TN 37933-0990
(865) 694-6751

East TN Region Accessibility Specialist
Tennessee Board of Regents-ROCC/RODP

Access for All Blog
http://blogs.pstcc.edu/access4all/

Accessible Format Facebook Page
https://m.facebook.com/psccdisabilityservices?refidF&sld=eyJzZWFyY2hfc2lkIjoiNzhjYzY3MmVkNDg2ODkyMjVhY2ViMjUyOGQwNWJiYzUiLCJxdWVyeSI6InBzY2MiLCJzZWFyY2hfdHlwZSI6IlNlYXJjaCIsInNlcXVlbmNlX2lkIjoxOTU4NzAyNDk1LCJwYWdlX251bWJlciI6MSwiZmlsdGVyX3R5cGUiOiJTZWFyY2giLCJlbnRfaWQiOjczNDM1NjkxOTkzOTUxNywicG9zaXRpb24iOjAsInJlc3VsdF90eXBlIjo2NX0%3D

From: Gillen, Lori
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 8:56AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
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Thank you, all, for your wonderful suggestions.

I have another bold question, do any of you have any volunteer work that I can do to get training while doing? I do know some about accessibility in that I make suggestions in my Documentation department at work. I wrote some papers and presented at some annual conferences for the Society for Technical Communication on raising awareness to accessibility for people with hearing loss.

I can send you my papers if you would like.

Thanks again,

Lori

From: Wershing, Alice D.
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 8:58AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
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You might check with some of your local resources near you http://www.massmatch.org/find_at/demo_at.php

Alice Wershing, M.Ed., A.T.P.
Technology Specialist
Disability Services
Pellissippi State Community College
10915 Hardin Valley Road
Knoxville TN 37933-0990
(865) 694-6751

East TN Region Accessibility Specialist
Tennessee Board of Regents-ROCC/RODP

Access for All Blog
http://blogs.pstcc.edu/access4all/

Accessible Format Facebook Page
https://m.facebook.com/psccdisabilityservices?refidF&sld=eyJzZWFyY2hfc2lkIjoiNzhjYzY3MmVkNDg2ODkyMjVhY2ViMjUyOGQwNWJiYzUiLCJxdWVyeSI6InBzY2MiLCJzZWFyY2hfdHlwZSI6IlNlYXJjaCIsInNlcXVlbmNlX2lkIjoxOTU4NzAyNDk1LCJwYWdlX251bWJlciI6MSwiZmlsdGVyX3R5cGUiOiJTZWFyY2giLCJlbnRfaWQiOjczNDM1NjkxOTkzOTUxNywicG9zaXRpb24iOjAsInJlc3VsdF90eXBlIjo2NX0%3D

From: John Foliot
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 9:10AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
← Previous message | Next message →

Lori wrote:

> I have another bold question, do any of you have any volunteer work that
I can do to get training while doing?

http://air-rallies.org/

Another great initiative from Knowbility, this global event matches
developers who are still honing their accessibility craft with non-profits
that need new accessible web sites. There is training and mentorship
available to the teams that do the actual development work, and then a
"judging" and "awards" at the end (for fun and bragging rights mostly) -
everyone who is involved is a winner in some fashion or other! :-)

Lori, I think you might be able to sign up for that if you are interested.

JF

--

John Foliot

Principal Accessibility Strategist

Austin, TX



Deque Systems Inc.
2121 Cooperative Way, Suite 210,
Herndon, VA 20171-5344

Office: 703-225-0380

= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =



*Advancing the mission of digital accessibility and inclusion*

On Mon, May 2, 2016 at 9:56 AM, Gillen, Lori < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:

> Thank you, all, for your wonderful suggestions.
>
> I have another bold question, do any of you have any volunteer work that I
> can do to get training while doing? I do know some about accessibility in
> that I make suggestions in my Documentation department at work. I wrote
> some papers and presented at some annual conferences for the Society for
> Technical Communication on raising awareness to accessibility for people
> with hearing loss.
>
> I can send you my papers if you would like.
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Lori
>
>

From: Brian Lovely
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 9:14AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
← Previous message | Next message →

Wow, John, thanks for the heads up on this!

Brian Lovely
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =



> On May 2, 2016, at 11:10 AM, John Foliot < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> Lori wrote:
>
>> I have another bold question, do any of you have any volunteer work that
> I can do to get training while doing?
>
> http://air-rallies.org/
>
> Another great initiative from Knowbility, this global event matches
> developers who are still honing their accessibility craft with non-profits
> that need new accessible web sites. There is training and mentorship
> available to the teams that do the actual development work, and then a
> "judging" and "awards" at the end (for fun and bragging rights mostly) -
> everyone who is involved is a winner in some fashion or other! :-)
>
> Lori, I think you might be able to sign up for that if you are interested.
>
> JF
>
> --
>
> John Foliot
>
> Principal Accessibility Strategist
>
> Austin, TX
>
>
>
> Deque Systems Inc.
> 2121 Cooperative Way, Suite 210,
> Herndon, VA 20171-5344
>
> Office: 703-225-0380
>
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>
>
>
> *Advancing the mission of digital accessibility and inclusion*
>
> On Mon, May 2, 2016 at 9:56 AM, Gillen, Lori < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> wrote:
>
>> Thank you, all, for your wonderful suggestions.
>>
>> I have another bold question, do any of you have any volunteer work that I
>> can do to get training while doing? I do know some about accessibility in
>> that I make suggestions in my Documentation department at work. I wrote
>> some papers and presented at some annual conferences for the Society for
>> Technical Communication on raising awareness to accessibility for people
>> with hearing loss.
>>
>> I can send you my papers if you would like.
>>
>> Thanks again,
>>
>> Lori
>>
>>

From: Wershing, Alice D.
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 9:19AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
← Previous message | Next message →

Georgia Tech has a self paced Ed X course.
https://www.edx.org/school/gtx

Alice Wershing, M.Ed., A.T.P.
Technology Specialist
Disability Services
Pellissippi State Community College
10915 Hardin Valley Road
Knoxville TN 37933-0990
(865) 694-6751

East TN Region Accessibility Specialist
Tennessee Board of Regents-ROCC/RODP

Access for All Blog
http://blogs.pstcc.edu/access4all/

Accessible Format Facebook Page
https://m.facebook.com/psccdisabilityservices?refidF&sld=eyJzZWFyY2hfc2lkIjoiNzhjYzY3MmVkNDg2ODkyMjVhY2ViMjUyOGQwNWJiYzUiLCJxdWVyeSI6InBzY2MiLCJzZWFyY2hfdHlwZSI6IlNlYXJjaCIsInNlcXVlbmNlX2lkIjoxOTU4NzAyNDk1LCJwYWdlX251bWJlciI6MSwiZmlsdGVyX3R5cGUiOiJTZWFyY2giLCJlbnRfaWQiOjczNDM1NjkxOTkzOTUxNywicG9zaXRpb24iOjAsInJlc3VsdF90eXBlIjo2NX0%3D

From: Mike Barlow
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 11:35AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
← Previous message | Next message →

For what it's worth, I did some work at Capital One 360 a couple of years
ago on trying to get their staff "up to speed" on accessibility development
and in the process I worked with some people from Blind Ambitions Groups
(though their facebook page hasn't seen an update since 2014 so don't even
know if they're still in existence or not) as well as Easter Seals. And the
one thing that I learned from that gig was while working with individuals
who have various disabilities AND work in computers.

Though a lot of books, websites and training classes have good information
it's the individuals who actually NEED the accessibility features who know
the good parts and the bad parts of accessibility (and listening to how
they use sceenreaders was an "eye opening" experience to say the least (if
I might use a bad pun there)).

So check out any local Easter Seals <http://www.easterseals.com/ma/>; groups
in your area or any other local accessibility groups (such as possibly
the "Boston
Accessibility Group <http://a11y-bos.org/monthly-meetings/>;" in your area)

*Mike Barlow*
Web Application Developer
Web Accessibility/Section 508 SME

Lancaster, Pa 17601
Office: 732.835-7557
Cell: 732.682.8226
e-mail: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =

On Mon, May 2, 2016 at 11:19 AM, Wershing, Alice D. < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:

> Georgia Tech has a self paced Ed X course.
> https://www.edx.org/school/gtx
>
> Alice Wershing, M.Ed., A.T.P.
> Technology Specialist
> Disability Services
> Pellissippi State Community College
> 10915 Hardin Valley Road
> Knoxville TN 37933-0990
> (865) 694-6751
>
> East TN Region Accessibility Specialist
> Tennessee Board of Regents-ROCC/RODP
>
> Access for All Blog
> http://blogs.pstcc.edu/access4all/
>
> Accessible Format Facebook Page
>
> https://m.facebook.com/psccdisabilityservices?refidF&sld=eyJzZWFyY2hfc2lkIjoiNzhjYzY3MmVkNDg2ODkyMjVhY2ViMjUyOGQwNWJiYzUiLCJxdWVyeSI6InBzY2MiLCJzZWFyY2hfdHlwZSI6IlNlYXJjaCIsInNlcXVlbmNlX2lkIjoxOTU4NzAyNDk1LCJwYWdlX251bWJlciI6MSwiZmlsdGVyX3R5cGUiOiJTZWFyY2giLCJlbnRfaWQiOjczNDM1NjkxOTkzOTUxNywicG9zaXRpb24iOjAsInJlc3VsdF90eXBlIjo2NX0%3D
>
>
>

From: Jennifer Sutton
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 12:45PM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
← Previous message | Next message →

A book I'd recommend, in terms of training, is _A Web for Everyone_:

http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/a-web-for-everyone/

There's a good deal of useful bonus material. It's not code-centric,
rather, I'd say that it's people and concept-centric.

Here's a blog post related to Accessibility Conferences by John Foliot.
While the question was about training, I thought some might not have
seen this list and would find it helpful:
http://john.foliot.ca/accessibility-conferences-2016/


And finally, I daresay that many of us, over the years, have learned a
good deal/conducted our own "self-training" by reading what's posted in
the field, on a regular basis. The weekly newsletter I never miss is this:
http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/training/online/webdesign/webdev_listserv.html

And here's my public thanks to Laura who, in my view, doesn't get the
recognition she deserves.

Best,
Jennifer

From: Thompson, Rachel
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 12:57PM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
← Previous message | Next message →

Depending on what field you are in, Accessing Higher Ground is really
awesome. I am in higher ed and describe my first visit to that conference
as a cross between a church revival and boot camp. I learn so much and met
people that were doing what I wanted to do. I went to CSUN this year and
it was great, too, but I can imagine it being overwhelming too.

At our university, we have a lot of training courses offered online
through HR. Many of those relate to accessibility or, in my case, relate
to learning about web development so I can help campus web teams with
accessibility issues.

Hope this helps,
Rachel

Dr. Rachel S. Thompson
Director, Emerging Technology and Accessibility
Center for Instructional Technology
The University of Alabama
123 Russell Hall
Box 870248
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
Phone 205-348-0216
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = | http://accessibility.ua.edu

From: Thomas Lee McKeithan II
Date: Mon, May 02 2016 4:31PM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
← Previous message | Next message →

I concur that the AHG conference is a small, but detailed/power packed conference.

I'm planning to attend this year.


Respectfully,
Thomas Lee McKeithan II | Optum Technology Solutions
Electronic Accessibility Engineer, UX Design Studio (UXDS)
MD018, 6220 Old Dobbin Lane, Columbia, MD, 21045, USA

T +1 443-896-0432
M +1 202-276-6437
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
www.optum.com
 

From: Chaals McCathie Nevile
Date: Tue, May 03 2016 5:05AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
← Previous message | Next message →

On Mon, 02 May 2016 15:04:18 +0100, Gillen, Lori
< = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> I have always wanted to raise accessibility awareness, but the problem
> is that while I have a great deal of passion, I've never received any
> training. Where did all of you receive your training, and how did you
> actually get your first job?

I got my first job from my Mum. In the 1980s. It would now be illegal for
me to do it at that age.

I got my training from doing - trial, and far too many errors.

There are a great many places you can volunteer - not least by working
with W3C to improve materials they have, which will also expose you to a
mass of information that can help you learn stuff.

I'm particularly interested in the moment in making more accessible
graphics - although there is a long tradition of studying graphic
communication to determine how accessible it is, this seems to have barely
entered the world of Web development and in particular the world of Web
Accessibility. If you want to try some learning tasks, I've got quite a
list…

cheers

Chaals

--
Charles McCathie Nevile - web standards - CTO Office, Yandex
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = - - - Find more at http://yandex.com

From: Gillen, Lori
Date: Tue, May 03 2016 7:05AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility training?
← Previous message | No next message

Hi all-

I just want to thank you all for the wonderful resources you sent me. I've subscribed to some blogs and newsletters, and I entered the OpenAIR challenge through Knowbility!

Thank you again!

Lori