Svetlana Kouznetsova

Technology changes faster than accessibility guidelines can catch up, so the guidelines had to be updated several times. Sveta will discuss history of web accessibility to help you better understand how it started and evolved over years and why it’s important to go above and beyond the guidelines. She will explain how disabled people use mobile devices and show some accessibility examples. The speaker will also share her personal experience as a deaf professional and a mobile user. Mobile accessibility improves user experience for everyone!

People with disabilities make up the largest minority that is 20% of global population, but their needs are sadly the most misunderstood and ignored. Just like user experience, accessibility needs to be baked into any process and is not to be used as an afterthought. Individuals with disabilities need to be considered in user research in order to improve user experience for more people. Accessibility benefits everyone and not just those with disabilities – including businesses who can improve their bottom lines. Sveta will share her personal experience as a deaf UX practitioner and discuss what needs to be done to make products and services accessible.

Accessibility is for everyone and is a responsibility of all team members. While a lot of web accessibility guidelines are focused on coding, there are other accessibility components that all team members need to consider in order to improve the overall product or service from the beginning of any projects. Sveta will share her personal experience as a deaf person and some examples of accessibility issues and solutions. They may be new to some and sound like common sense to others, but sadly there are many products and services that fail at accessibility. The talk will help developers and their team members better understand why accessibility is not just about coding and why it's not to be used as an afterthought.