Keepin' it real about digital accessibility practices (SBLTN Lab Notes 042)
Deaf CEO’s leadership lessons, government website accessible redesign, and Afro art & animation
IN THE MARGINS
I wanted to shout-out a great example that balances “let’s keep it real with this digital accessibility ish” with care-in-practice Amy, of
, launched their “Green Web Design” course and was very transparent on the accessibility of the course content.Will there be transcripts / captions to the videos?
Yes! Every video will have a transcript provided. Captions will be coming soon! I wish I could say immediately but logistics and I can only do so much. Video Captions should be coming June 2023.
Each video will include timestamps and an outline so you know what’s coming at you and so you can easily go back and reference specific parts.
(Source)
We’re human, not robots. That means we can’t do EVERYTHING (everywhere) all at once (no, I haven’t seen the movie yet). Many entrepreneurs are bootstrapping their businesses when they start, lacking the massive capital big companies have to pay for services like captioning. So with finances and time tight, small biz owners have to be realistic about what they can achieve. And that’s okay because these kinds of steps add up to big impact and mindset shifts! I respect Amy’s ambition for the future and commitment to student needs. Remember, accessibility is a journey, not a one-and-done!
P.S. I wonder if one day I can get in good with the big caption companies and see if they want to sponsor some peeps. Have any of the big online education platforms like Teachable gone into partnerships with caption companies? That would be a great add-on service. Send your vids to the caption partner before uploading to the course. Hm….
ACCESSIBILITY
Government site gets it right
Government websites are clowned for being “ugly” and “outdated” but honestly, practicality has to beat pretty when you’re delivering crucial services and information to the masses. When one manages to hit both function and form, it’s kind of cool.
In the United States, the website for the Social Security Administration (SSA) was recently redesigned. With over 180 million visitors each year, the SSA website administers benefits (disability, retirement, etc), determines eligibility for certain government services, and more.
Awesome accessibility and user-friendly changes that I noticed?
Larger text for older people or those with low vision
Simple menus focusing on most commonly used actions
Spanish translation easily available (the 2nd most spoken language in the US)
Greatly improved information organization
Adhering to the Federal Plain Language Guidelines by making text easy to read, understand, and use. Bonus kudos for having a Plain Writing Implementation Plan.
Dedicated accessibility services section to assist people that need an interpreter, offer notices in other formats such as braille or audio CD, or how to request accommodations
“Part of ongoing efforts to improve how the public can do business with the agency, the redesign is intended to provide a clear path to the tasks customers need to accomplish. Many of the most visited sections of SSA.gov are now live with a more user-friendly and task-based approach. New pages and improvements based on public feedback will continue to be unveiled in the coming months.”
- Jeffrey Buckner, Acting Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Communications (Press Release)
Another benefit to these accessible changes? Improved self-service capability allows people to skip calling or visiting an office, which helps Social Security staff focus on those visitors who need in-person assistance. And lbr, the staff is already stressed and there definitely isn’t enough of them so however we can lighten their load, I’m down for!
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
Gaining New Perspectives: Leadership Lessons from Deaf CEO Ryan Maliszewski
It's tough being a CEO and even tougher opening a new business in the middle of a pandemic. Ryan Maliszewski shares how his DeafGain helped him succeed in life on the football field, at the FBI, and in running DC's first Deaf owned and operated pizzeria.
One of the parts that I could relate to as a Hard of Hearing person was Ryan talking about adapting and problem-solving. I wonder how much of those traits in me is inherent vs acquired 🤔
“Perhaps this is why we [deaf people] are viewed as the original hipsters. Not only are we early adopters of creative solutions, but we are also natural born problem solvers… We’re experts in communication and in overcoming communication challenges… Another reason we adapt well in tough situations is because we’re used to being uncomfortable.” (Timestamp 5:11)
ART & DESIGN
Afro art & animation
Afrofuturism combines science-fiction, history and fantasy to celebrate Black people. Work from Paul Lewin has recently caught my eye. Lewin takes inspiration from folklore, surrealism and science-fiction to create mind-blowing paintings.
AfroAnimation Summit 3.0 - AfroAnimation is a platform dedicated to empowering creatives, creating employment pathways and increasing diverse and women representation in the animation industry.
This is done by connecting creators of color from around the globe, once a year to Hollywood and Canadian film and television companies to meet and discuss important topics relative to the vertical, gain new insights, recruit, screen indie films, network, award and celebrate.
Last year’s virtual summit helped African, Afro-American and Afro-European animators, comic book artists, and gamers showcase their work, exchange ideas, receive student internships, and get a peek into the animator talent pipeline.
The videos from the 2022 virtual version are still available.
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Signing off from the Starship SBLTN,
Laneen (Pronouns: she/they)
🎧 Listening: The best 12 min EP ever - “Strawberry” by Epik High (Spotify | YouTube)
🖊️ Word of the Day: Apricity (noun) - The warmth of the sun in winter
✔️ Random Fact: Water sounds different depending on the temperature. Heat changes how thick water is, which affects the sounds water makes as it is running. Cold water makes a higher pitch than hot water.
I love Afrofuturism sci-fi. Always a good time. I also wish Teachable had an easier system for subtitles. They actually recently made it harder to do! They updates their UI a bit- when you upload an .srt file from a place like Otter, sometimes there are small errors in the timestamps. Previously, Teachable would show an error indicating where in the timestamp was the problem so you could easily fix it. Now it just shows a generic error “Captions could not be added due to error”. You have to manually sift through the .srt to find the mismatches or use a different program entirely. For long videos, this feels like a nearly impossible task.