Free Accessibility Tools and Technology Pay It Forward
May 17 marks the seventh anniversary of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). GAAD was introduced to spark a conversation around digital accessibility to get people thinking and learning about accessibility. While the conversation is important, we must remember this is not a theoretical exercise. These are real challenges affecting people daily, but tackling these challenges […]
AI-Enabled Tools and Automation to Improve Accessibility
Try Automated Accessibility Tools wth Unlimited Scans through June The IBM Accessibility Research team is laser-focused on seamlessly integrating accessibility into the development process. We have developed a suite of IBM Automated Accessibility Tools to help development teams easily and effortlessly “make accessibility happen.” Teams that use our tools tell us: “The automated tests run […]
Updates to the Va11yS Open Source Project
With Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) quickly approaching, Sharon and I thought it would a be a good time to give you a brief update on our open source Verified Accessibility Samples project – or Va11yS. Jack Dam, our Accessibility Test Engineer, has been rigorously testing the latest samples and adding the results for […]
IBM Accessibility Research at CSUN 2018
Artificial intelligence (AI), automation, compliance, and best practices in enterprise accessibility make up the IBM Accessibility Research lineup for the 33rd annual CSUN Assistive Technology Conference in San Diego next week (March 19-23, 2018). CSUN is the world’s largest event dedicated to presenting and exploring new ways technology can assist people with disabilities. At the […]
IBM Employees with Disabilities Volunteer Time to Create Accessible Technology
Who better to confirm the accessibility of solutions before they are released to market than people with disabilities? Being visually impaired, I rely considerably on magnification and altered colors to see what’s on my device screens. One day, not long ago, I sat in a room full of developers in a meeting and it was illuminating to […]
Simplifying the New WCAG 2.1 Guidelines
Recommendations for new accessibility guidelines were released on January 30, 2018 by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). In this new draft version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), none of the current 2.0 Success Criteria have been altered. Instead, 17 additional criteria have been recommended for 2.1. This article is intended to help […]
Revised Section 508 Standards Now in Effect
In the United States, the Revised Section 508 Standards went into effect on January 18, 2018, a year after the U.S. Access Board published the final rule of the updated Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Standards and Guidelines. The Revised 508 Standards, and the accompanying updates to Section 255 of the Communications Act, have transformed […]
Streamlining the Workplace Accommodations Process
I’ve been deaf since contracting spinal meningitis at two years old. I am accustomed to a world without sound. Many call it silence, but from my perspective, I’m here to make as much noise as possible – at work and in my personal life. As a sixth grader, I wrote my first program using BASIC […]
The Power of an Inclusive Workforce
Mobility and independence are powerful devices, especially for someone with a disability. Every year as we celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I am reminded why I work for IBM – its long history of inclusion, commitment to workforce diversity, and innovations in accessibility. I joined IBM in 2013 for the IBM Accessibility Research team […]