Maybe Level AAA is not so bad?

Presented at 10:30am in WB I on Friday, November 17, .

#10257

Speaker(s)

  • Gerard Cohen, Lead Accessibility Strategist, Atlassian

Session Details

  • Length of Session: 1-hr
  • Format: Lecture
  • Expertise Level: All Levels
  • Type of session: General Conference

Summary

We often focus on meeting WCAG Level AA, which includes Level A, guidelines and often dismiss Level AAA as being too hard. If we really want to improve user experience, instead of just meeting a checklist of guidelines, then we might want to start looking at Level AAA...

Abstract

Those teaching and those learning WCAG often aim for, and stop, at Level AA conformance. Level AAA is often dismissed as being too hard and restrictive to implement, that nobody is expected to meet. Granted, some guidelines would definitely require additional investment in order to meet but we also know that we should not treat accessibility as a checklist and that we should focus on improving the user experience. If you are interested in improving the user experience then we can certainly look to the Level AAA guidelines for help.

In this presentation I will go over the Level AAA guidelines with a fresh perspective. You might be surprised to find that you are already doing them, or that it might not require much more effort.

Keypoints

  1. Level AAA can be achieved
  2. User experience should be the goal
  3. Accessibility should not be a checklist

Disability Areas

Topic Areas

Uncategorized, Web/Media/App Access

Speaker Bio(s)

Gerard Cohen

Over the past decade, Gerard has built and advised top-notch digital accessibility teams that have impacted millions of individuals worldwide. His experience ranges from supporting commercial financial applications responsible for transferring trillions of dollars globally, to enhancing accessibility on pre-Elon Twitter. Currently, Gerard drives the Atlassian Design System Accessibility Team where he collaborates with a group of exceptional designers and engineers to help enhance the accessibility of components used to build team productivity tools like Jira, Confluence, and Trello.

Gerard is recognized as a catalyst for change, igniting cultural transformation at both grassroots and executive levels. He possesses an understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of digital accessibility and effectively bridges gaps between HR, Legal, Marketing, Product, Design, Engineering and Quality Assurance teams.

He has a remarkable history of advocating for individuals with disabilities and promoting diversity and fairness in the workplace. Moreover, he is highly regarded for his expertise, as evidenced by his frequent speaking engagements at conferences nationwide and the widespread recognition of his courses on the Pluralsight learning platform as essential training for organizations worldwide.