a11y friends: what advice do you have for software engineers looking to become a11y specialists? Blog posts, talks, courses, or things to build & practice – any tips are welcome!

I am an accessibility specialist and yet I have never had a satisfactory answer to "how do I get started?" My own path was winding and irregular and definitely not as efficient as it could've been; and anything I can think of feels too steep for beginners.

@codeability I'm biased, but I like our guide that @marcysutton started for @forem. Shoutout to @s_aitchison for improving this guide as we've improved our accessibility story. developers.forem.com/frontend/acces…

@codeability Hard to say what's the best way to get started, but referring to a well done documentation is helpful at all times. This one by Mozilla is quite clear and comprehensible: developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web…

@codeability @cherthedev If we’re talking about software engineers very new to a11y, I would first suggest to research how disabled users use the web! Then, try navigating with a keyboard/screen reader yourself. Empathy is the most important building block. You need to understand what the issues are.

@codeability You can be a champion before becoming a Subject Matter Expert, and start on your current team. Do a learning session about why it matters, and use that as a chance to learn. Use the webaim million as a starting point to find opportunities within your daily work

@codeability Getting involved with online conferences is awesome and a wealth of knowledge. But actually communicating with the people you want to advocate for is one of the best ways to start and get inspired through the journey of accessibility.

@codeability Consumed excellent conference talk from @karlgroves along the lines of “What is it, and what does it do?” Stuck with me. Is it apparent to all users what your thing is, and what it does? Links, buttons, form elements, all of it. I’ve gotten a lot of mileage from this small bit.

@codeability honestly, I learned as I went. need to make an accessible x? research time! then people told me I’m doing y wrong because z, and then I learned. 😅

@codeability (Re-)learn HTML. So many folks skip straight to JS app dev, with HTML as an afterthought. Use semantic tags. Associate labels to fields. Use links for routing, buttons for actions. Base heading choices on content logic, not visuals. Add alts to imgs. Learn what's valid and not.

@codeability @handcoding For web dev, learn (semantic) HTML

@codeability For software engineers, I recommend reading: • the #WebContentAccessibilityGuidelines (WCAG) 2.1: w3.org/TR/WCAG21/ • Understanding WCAG 2.1: w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Und… • Techniques for WCAG 2.1: w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Tec… …and then auditing someone’s website against WCAG 2.1

@codeability The route I took isn't necessarily one I'd recommend, but my journey started with understanding the WCAG guidelines from the W3C. These moved abstract ideas like "It should work for blind people" to the mechanics of what that means. A good FIRST step, but far from the end...

@codeability Empathy, for sure. Try using various access tools to see how they work. Watch a whole load of YouTube videos by people with access needs. Head to conferences and meet ups - huge thanks to @LeonieWatson for introducing loads of us - including me - to a screen reader!

@codeability The deque university courses are really quite good. I used it to prep for the cpwa, but I refer to it frequently

@codeability Thanks @jasonbyday for mentioning us 🤗 we have some free beginner coding challenges on accessibility

@codeability Shameless plug for the AFB Talent Lab which launches this year. Applications are still open. afb.org/talentlab

@codeability @xirclebox and @toddlibby ... ur #2cents ?

@codeability alphagov.github.io/accessibility-…

@codeability edx.org/course/web-acc… accessibility.blog.gov.uk youtube.com/watch?v=BktMJz…

@codeability Google's Udacity course is great for engineers. It's the rare course that has hands-on dev-centric exercises like building a dialog - rather than readings. udacity.com/course/web-acc…