Happy 2024, everyone! As part of building Pedal Point Solutions this year, I am going to try writing a weekly blog post in this space. There are several hopes for this endeavor.
- To foster conversation and engagement about matters related to web accessibility.
- To distill my thoughts and ideas about accessible design, development, testing, advocacy, and doing life as an individual with a disability.
- To develop a community of people excited about and committed to web accessibility.
As I consider the beginning of a new year, I find myself thinking about things that drive us to do web accessibility. There are lots of good reasons to make the web accessible, but as I look ahead, I think one of the most basic motivators is this. We do digital accessibility for ourselves and for those we love.
Over the holiday, I watched as one of my kids helped my dad troubleshoot an issue with his online bank account. My father’s vision has been dwindling in recent years, and it was apparent that he was struggling with some of the visual elements on his bank’s website as he fiddled with his laptop keyboard. I asked him if he would be interested in learning to use a screen reader, and he responded that perhaps that might be a good idea.
Then I thought about my own limited eyesight and how I have perceived it becoming less acute in recent months. It made me realize that I will need an accessible web more and more in the coming years. Digital accessibility issues which are now inconveniences to me will soon become barriers if they are not addressed in the near future.
And this is really the truth for all of us. Even if we don’t think we need an accessible web right now, we will need it soon. Obviously, there are billions of people who need the web to be accessible today, and that should be reason enough to do the work, but my point here is that we all have a deeply personal incentive for an accessible web.
So Happy New Year to all and let’s get to work.
Question: What kind of material would you like to see covered on this blog?