One line of code can’t fix your website
One line of code can’t fix your website
How do you convince your boss that there’s no silver bullet to make your website accessible?
Presented by �Jessica Chambers
Objectives.
About me
Started making websites in 1996. Love teaching tech �(MCT ‘97). Over a decade in accessibility. Huge nerd.
Skills/
Rabble-rouser. Trying to change hearts and minds.
Role/
I was immortalized as a [minor] character in a video game.
Fun Fact/
12 years at Silktide TODAY
How the industry�views overlays
Is there a silver bullet
for ADA website accessibility? Sorry,
but the answer is no
Straight from the Headlines.
Website Overlays Don’t Work Well - if at all- For Mobile
Why accessibility overlays do not improve site accessibility
Accessibility Overlays: Automation That’s Too Good to be True
Blind people, advocates slam company claiming to make websites ADA compliant
Honor the ADA: Avoid Web Accessibility Quick-Fix Overlays
Overlays are not the solution to your accessibility problems
Are you using an accessibility overlay to help disabled users? Don’t!
Accessibliity Overlays are Evil and Need to Die
CSUN �stickers �23/24
The headlines.
But is it really �so black and white?
The three types �of overlays
(the box, the AI, and the Band-Aid)
We start with the box.
Their behaviors are unpredictable.
“The quick fix”
BAND-AIDS.
“Corporations move at the speed of suck.”
- a very wise former boss
Don’t overdo it
BAND-AIDS.
When you use ChatGPT, you check the results. You need to do that here, too.
The AI
The simplest example I can give you…
sketchplanations.com
“Cartoon of people walking in a park with �a curb”
“A graph on a white surface”
Automatic alt text
“Jessica Chambers �with her awesome �rescue cat, Salem”
alt = “ ”
“Redheaded woman and a black cat”
A redheaded woman �with a black cat?
AI is getting smarter.
These tools can be useful, but they are not a �real solution.
So why are they �so hated?
Nothing about us �without us.
Accessibility overlays: panacea, placebo or poison?
The Headlines.
Truth in advertising does not exist for overlay vendors
For Blind Internet Users, the Fix Can Be Worse Than the Flaws
The messaging.
Strategic�Lawsuits�Against�Public�Participation�
poursuites bâillons
“gagging pursuits”
Chilling �effect on the conversation
Dr. Freeze / really awkward people with their arms crossed
Corporate Social Responsibility.
What about the future?
Where are we going, and what’s with this handbasket?
AI is getting smarter.
I thought they were showing us in the FUTURE you could talk to your computer!
Voice.
Voice.
AI will get better at automated remediation
Are we there yet?
Automated testing �can’t identify all the barriers to usability
You have to do the work
Even humans doing manual testing may not identify all the barriers to usability
You have to do the work
YOU HAVE TO DO�THE WORK
But no one wants to hear this.
Let’s just gently go through �some talking points.
RECAP
You must �let go of your anger
The box
When you rip the band-aid off, the problems are still there.
The Band-Aid
Requires human judgment
The AI
YOU HAVE TO DO�THE WORK
But we’re all in this together.
NEW Free
Chrome
Plugin
Over 200+ accessibility
checks including WCAG 2.2
And tools:
Visit us
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Grab the
Field Guide
Don’t miss �our next talks: Tomorrow 11:20
Elite 1-3
Don’t miss �our next talks: Tomorrow 15:20�Right here.
youtube.com/silktide
YouTube
Voice.
Voice.