I spoke at axe-con last week, and it was one of the most satisfying talks I’ve given…ever.

I rarely get a lot of feedback from talks, and I have generally assumed this was either because I am not great at speaking in public, or the subject matter is just not interesting enough to give feedback about, or even both.

This time it was different. So I’m going to write them down, anonymously because I didn’t ask anyone if I could quote them specifically, but I do also want to be able to read these later and feel the joy of knowing that I really did help someone understand a thing.

I gave a talk called But…Why? and walked through some of the common UI patterns on the web, how they are not accessible, and what to do instead. I also took a little detour and explained the differences between browser instructions for obtaining the accessible name and developer instructions for creating an accessible name.

I showed real code, real design, and even showed that if you follow the guidelines for accessibility you might even get a little bit of responsive design for free. It was great.

So, without further ado:

“As Melanie Sumner said, you do not require permission to create accessible code. In her talk But…Why?, she provides practical examples demonstrating how buttons and links can be made understandable for all users, regardless of the technology they use to navigate a website. The best part? It takes less than a minute to implement more accessible code in these cases.”

“I just watched your talk at Axe Con. What a great talk! I wish I could do half as well. I loved how it was layered so that someone new could watch it and learn from it, but also, as someone who has been doing this stuff since 2008 or so, you gave me several things to follow up on or learn more about. So anyway, solid work and thank you!”

“I like the label cheat sheet Melanie provides. Helpful! 👍”

“I love the title of your talk. Why is my favorite question / I like to say I never grew out of my why kid phase.”

“love to learn the Why something is done.”

“This is great. New reps/devs I work with are often the most confused about accessible names and labels…”

“Loving this presentation. This is EXACTLY why I registered for axe-con!”

“Fabulous ending- you don’t need permission to write accessible code - yes!”

“I love this last slide”

you do not require permission to create accessible code

Also, I now get to say that I gave a talk at the same conference as my Senator, Tammy Duckworth. If you’re unfamilar, she’s one of the sponsors of the legislation to explicitly enforce accessibility of websites. To quote:

This legislation would establish a clear, enforceable accessibility standard, as well as establish a technical assistance center, grant program and advisory committee to provide advice, financial assistance and guidance on how to create and maintain accessible websites and applications. Additionally, it would authorize a study on addressing emerging technologies

So there’s that.

Until next time. -M