About Accessibility Unconferences

Introduction

According to Wikipedia: “An unconference is a facilitated, participant-driven conference centered on a theme or purpose.” (Wikipedia, undated)1.

It is within this context that the Second Annual Boston Accessibility Unconference will be held on September 17, 2011 with, as the name suggests, the theme centering on accessibility—namely, to information technology for people with disabilities.

This IT accessibility unconference brings together developers, usability professionals, web designers, other IT professionals, and end-users with disabilities together in an informal, non-threatening environment to learn from each other and to promote universal design of and accessibility to IT. As it is an unconference, speakers will be solicited onsite and the schedule will be built on the spot. What's more, the event will be free of charge to participants. However, donations of any size are gratefully accepted to help provide food, drinks, and more. Use the Donate button on any page.

Target Audience

The target audience of the Boston Accessibility Unconference is intended to include: web developers, software developers, people involved in Government 2.0, other IT professionals, usability professionals, students of computer science/web development/multimedia/IT, along with end-users with disabilities and IT accessibility professionals. The expectation is that many, but not all, participants will be at the introductory to intermediate-level when it comes to being knowledgeable about accessibility.

Topics and Schedule

TBD

Due to the nature of an unconference, specific topics will only become known the morning of the event as people volunteer to speak. It is from these proposed topics that a schedule will be built, likely resulting in at least four presentations per time block for participants to choose from. It is anticipated that subjects will include topics such as addressing specific web/software accessibility issues of the day, defining and dissecting WCAG 2.0, how to test for accessibility, and any specific projects that participants are working on that they want to share and/or get feedback on.

If you are considering presenting at the unconference, some suggested topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

What is accessibility and who does it benefit?
Understanding New Accessibility Standards, such as:
1. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0
2. Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA)
HTML accessibility topics, such as:
1. The basics
2. What will be different or better with HTML5?
3. Can AJAX be used in an accessible way?
Approaches for accessibility testing
Discussions on making specific technologies accessible, such as:
1. Accessible PDF form development
2. Delivering accessible video in Flash and HTML5
Making Web sites more usable
1. Human-Computer Interaction
2. The roles of project management and other disciplines
A day in the life of an Accessibility Professional
Discussions on adaptive technologies, such as:
1. Screen readers (e.g., JAWS)
2. Adaptive devices
Topics in mobile- and software accessibility, such as:
1. What is currently possible?
2. What are the trends?
Emerging issues in accessibility, such as:
1. Touch screens
2. Broadband access to the Internet
3. Social media
4. Government 2.0
5. Cognitive disabilities
Professional development and career advancement in the accessibility space

It is also hoped that there will be an opportunity for participants to be exposed to adaptive technologies, and if feasible, get hands-on experience navigating either the web or Windows as a person with a disability would. Moreover, based on interest, the day may have a Mozilla Hackfest component. A hackfest brings together developers for a single project and development efforts lead to a specific development outcome. Here the outcome would certainly have an accessibility benefit.

Sponsorship and Funding

This event wil be free of charge to participants. It will be funded exclusively through sponsorships both financial and/or in-kind (e.g., space). Those sponsoring aspects of the event will receive recognition on the unconference website and throughout the event itself.