A11y Liverpool launch
The Management School hosted an online launch event on Thursday 1 October for A11yLiverpool, a network for the local User Design/User Interface design community with a particular interest in accessibility to online content.
A series of short lightning talks were shown with contributions from Simeon Mcaleer, Programme Director – Accessibility at IBM, Andrew Eagling, Senior UX Designer at The Very Group, Doina Klinger, Senior Software Engineer at IBM AppConnect and Steven Hassall, Design Director at local tech start-up Frontier Labs. The lightning talks focused on the importance on embedding accessibility in online content as part of the design process and the need to collaborate across teams to ensure balanced input and a more effective outcome. Case studies were also shared to help illustrate some of the challenges and solutions the speakers had experienced.
A Q&A panel session followed with discussions around retaining what is already good practice (not re-inventing the wheel), positive outcomes from investing in improving accessibility, the relationship between creating a powerful brand and facilitating accessibility, the use of language, contrast and captioning, and tips on engaging colleagues across the entire organisation in considering accessibility.
John Brindle, Learning Technologist at the Management School, said, “As someone who is really interested in accessibility to online content for every user, it was great to be able to bring a group of like-minded people together, share examples of where accessibility has been done well and increase awareness more generally about its importance, particularly at a time when more and more people are relying on online interactions for work and in their wider lives.”
Following positive feedback, future events and projects are in plan. Follow @A11yLiverpool for details.