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Webex Password: accessibility

"Accessibility is not just a practice, it’s a culture and a mindset." - IBM

According to the World Health Organization, more than 1 billion people worldwide live with a disability. That's more than 15 percent of our global population! In fact, as of 2020, 22 percent of the world's population is over 60 years old---this is noteworthy because, as people age, they may experience changes in their abilities.

To be inclusive means to embrace disability from the very beginning: from the earliest planning stages of a product, from its launch to its latest updates. If accessibility is an afterthought, changes may be rushed or viewed as a low priority, which often results in people with disabilities having an inferior experience and feeling excluded. At a minimum, criteria for success of a designed product, service, or experience should be its usability by everyone, regardless of their abilities or disabilities.

Digital access is not just for compliance or designing inclusive products, it is a civil right covered by the American Disabilities Act. The question of usability and access is as important to designers as to those who produce products like developers and product managers.

“Inclusive design” is becoming the norm as many tech companies expect their developers, designers, and product owners to know the common standards and specs for accessible interfaces that are used by people with disabilities. Unfortunately, even as progress has been made in the industry, digital accessibility is rarely part of design standard or introductory course work. How many developers/freelancers actually graduate or learn these standards during a Web Design 101 class? How many websites actually adhere to these guidelines today? How many of us ensure that we comply with a11y standards on personal/small scale projects?

Being inclusive can change what is possible for people with disabilities. It also helps organizations ensure they are doing their work with truly everyone in mind. In this panel, we plan to address the core topics around accessibility and encourage developers and companies to “build in” rather than “bolt-on” accessibility to their products

This IBM Developer event is open to everyone, and we encourage everyone to join the conversation. When we all have empathy for others, we can build amazing things that benefit everyone.

IBM Cloud Staff Software Engineer | IBM Developer Advocate

Laura Silva - Vice President, Accessibility Technology @ Bank of America

Sunish Gupta - Principal PM @ Amazon, Lecturer @ NEU

Charu Pandhi - Accessibility Researcher @ IBM

Tiffany Chen - UX Designer @ Microsoft, Inclusive Input & Accessibility

Randy Horwitz - Senior Manager @ IBM Cloud

Accessibility 101: Designing for Everyone