A Podcast for Everyone

Accessibility research can help us better understand how people with disabilities use the web and what we in product design and development can do to make that experience more successful and enjoyable. However, accessibility research is often carried out in academia. The valuable insights gained through research are shared and built upon among scholars, but often do not make their way into the practice of people who are designing and building digital products and services. In this podcast we hear from Dr. Jonathan Lazar, a computer scientist specializing in human-computer interaction with a focus on usability and accessibility. Jonathan has done a great deal of work bridging the gap between research and practice. He joins Sarah Horton for this episode of A Podcast for Everyone to answer these questions: • What are different accessibility research methods and what they are good for? And when are they most effective in the product development lifecycle? • What are the broad benefits of accessibility research? • How can you get organizational buy-in for conducting accessibility research? • How can researchers and practitioners work together to advance accessibility? Jonathan Lazar is Professor of Computer and Information Sciences at Towson University, where he directs the Information Systems program and the Universal Usability Laboratory. He has been working in accessibility research for 15 years, most recently focusing on law and public policy related to web accessibility for people with disabilities. His publication credits include Research Methods in Human-Computer Interaction, Web Usability: A User-Centered Design Approach, and Universal Usability: Designing Computer Interfaces for Diverse User Populations.

If you work in user experience or accessibility, you probably spend part of your time on advocacy—making the case for a new design idea or a new way of working. Structured Negotiations are a collaborative process that can help you reach your goal with an agreement that is a win for everyone. Lainey Feingold joins us to tell us how it works.

If you work in media broadcasting or telecommunications you have probably heard of the U.S. legislation called CVAA, shorthand for the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act. This law, signed by President Obama in October 2010, seeks to ensure that accessibility requirements keep pace with advances in communication technologies. Like most legal documents, CVAA is difficult to decipher. It’s difficult to extract the key points, and determine what actions we need to take. Lucky for us, Larry Goldberg is here to help. Larry was co-chair of the Video Programming Accessibility Advisory Committee (VPAAC), which provided reports that helped shape the legislation. He joins Sarah Horton for this episode of A Podcast for Everyone to answer key questions, including: • How did CVAA get started and what is it for? • What do web professionals need to know about CVAA? • Are there standards we should be looking to for guidance on CVAA compliance? Larry Goldberg is Director of Community Engagement at WGBH, the company that pioneered captioned television in 1972. He has been with WGBH since 1985, for many years of which as Director of the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media, and has been a leader in advancing accessible media at WGBH and worldwide.

If you've just been put in charge of making a site or app work for everyone, the most daunting step might just be the first one. Sure, there are standards, but sometimes they raise more questions than they answer. What you need is an easy way to get started. And Easy Checks may be just what you need. Sharron Rush heads the Easy Checks project at the Web Accessibility Initiative. These simple steps help you get an idea of whether a site meets some of the basics for good accessibility, without any special technology or tools. She joins Whitney Quesenbery for this episode of A Podcast for Everyone to answer some of these questions. • What are the Easy Checks, and why are they needed? • Can anyone use the Easy Checks? Is there special equipment needed? • What's the best way for a project team to get started with accessibility? • How do usability and accessibility fit together when you are evaluating a web site? Sharron Rush has been an advocate, a learner, and a teacher of accessible technology for 15 years. She is Executive Director of Knowbility and an Invited Expert to the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative where she co-chairs the Education and Outreach Working Group, which wrote the Easy Checks.

In this premiere episode of A Podcast for Everyone, UIE's Adam Churchill interviews Sarah Horton and Whitney Quesenbery about their book, A Web for Everyone. They describe their journey in creating the book and share their perspectives on the importance of accessible user experience. They also provide suggestions for how product teams can use the book to support their practice. At the end, they introduce A Podcast for Everyone, a companion to the book, and give a preview of what they will be talking about in upcoming episodes.