Your daily frequent11y newsletter, brought to you by @ChrisBAshton:
The only accessibility specialist in the room
It’s hard being the only one in your organisation or team responsible for accessibility. If that sounds familiar, I salute you, and this one’s for you.
This article by Henny Swan might resonate with some of you. Henny has some advice:
- You are not the only person responsible for accessibility. You may be the only person with “accessibility” in your job title, but it’s everyone’s responsibility, from CEOs to content editors, designers and developers.
- Your role is as much about relationships as it is about accessibility. Look for the managers and decision makers who can make things happen, and look for the designers, developers, editors and testers that want to get into accessibility: they can be powerful advocates.
- Find ways to scale. Think about what questions you’re asked the most, and document your answers in shared spaces (Confluence, wiki, design system documentation, etc). Document processes that can be followed within teams, e.g. reviewing designs for accessibility, triaging a11y issues or writing user stories for accessibility.
- You can’t know everything. Tell people you will need to go and research something, and come back with options for them to consider. Get a consultant if specialist knowledge is needed. If you need a budget, invest some time in writing a business case for accessibility.
- Build a support network. Set up an a11y Slack channel. Join the Champions of Accessibility Network (CAN) on LinkedIn, and the WebAIM discussion list. Consider getting a mentor, e.g. at Accessible Community.
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