In this blog post, I would like to talk to you about my first ever Axe-con experience and things that I (re)learned, (dis)liked and what I now am scared of.
For those of you who do not know Axe-con, it is a conference by Deque devoted to digital accessibility for developers, designers and anyone interested in creating digital experience that is available and accessible to everyone. It is a 3-day online event that is totally free. All you would need to do is register.
If you would like to know more, check out the Axe-con website.
I feel like starting with what I did not like about the whole conference. And this is really not that pressing. The conference took place from the afternoon till evening for me. So that is from 15:00 (3:00 pm) until 21:00 (9:00 pm). And while the recordings are available, I mostly lack the discipline to re-watch things. Plus I do not get to interact live and in the heat of the moment. There are discord channels available to discuss further, but I do not really use discord. So as you can see, this is just a me thing. There are workarounds, and that is fine.
On with the talks!
One of my favorite talks was the neuroinclusive content design by Laurie Cameron-Back where she talks about how content design affects user experience. And this is where I viewed my knowledge differently afterwards. It is common knowledge to UX and UI designers that the simpler something is (like a page, a form, an interaction, or a poster), the better. It can convey what is necessary easier and quicker. This talk hammered this knowledge in me again, but because of conditions that users have and experience. Like ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), Dyslexia, Autism, to name just a few. Even hyper focus, reading and verbal skills and memory too. I highly recommend this talk to everyone.
Alternative text was a huge topic, especially with the possibilities now offered by AI (Artificial Intelligence). There are still challenges that need to be tackled in this area though. Like how can the tool tell if the image is used as an ambient image or if it plays a huge role in its context? Or how the description of a historical image is provided by AI but the person of importance is not even mentioned? And how can one provide text that is descriptive and short at the same time? One talk actually mentioned some criteria that should be considered for alternative text for artistic and cultural visual content, which was a good start at creating some standards. Heck, even I do not know how to write proper alt text. But that is a different topic.
One interesting talk mentioned the challenges and benefits of having a research panel for accessibility aspects. Another mentioned how creating something for users based on demographics and assumptions are never really going to work out correctly because the assumptions will never meet reality. And another talked about how even though WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is already a good start at making experience in the web accessible for most, it still does not cover everything. This is just to name a few.
There is one talk that sort of scared me even though it is too early to really be scared, and it is Demystifying the APCA (Advanced Perceptual Contrast Algorithm) by James Sullivan. Why? Well, let me start by saying that I am a designer of the design system in our company. And we have awesome accessible colors created by an ex-colleague who took the time to check and calculate the colors we have focusing on the lightness. So colors in our system are easy to use. If you put an 80 on a 20 and vice-versa, the difference of 60 means that there is at least a 6:1 contrast. But with the ACPA, things will change. And I mean jarring changes. And although current information aren’t final just yet, this makes me scared of what is to come. I know I am getting ahead of things, and that there really isn’t much to worry about. But hey, that is just my nature of things.
So, that is it. I do not want to bore you with more. I have already included the link to Axe-con at the beginning of this post. Just want to urge you now to check them out and see if you (re)learn some new things like I did.
Silke 