Kuba Zwolinski | Snowdog | Accessibility is a process. Make it an easy part of your team's routine.
Summary
TLDRAt MMUK 2024, Maiik introduces the first speaker, Kuas Volinski, who discusses web accessibility's importance in business, emphasizing its impact on e-commerce, the need for a legal framework, and the potential for accessibility to benefit all users. He advocates for building an accessibility culture within organizations to avoid costly audits and make accessibility a standard part of development processes.
Takeaways
- 🌟 The importance of accessibility in web development is highlighted, emphasizing its impact on inclusivity and business success.
- 💼 Accessibility is not just a moral imperative but also a business necessity, with legal regulations driving its necessity in e-commerce.
- 💡 The speaker's initial optimism about building accessible web solutions has evolved, recognizing the challenges and complexities involved.
- 💰 The cost of accessibility is discussed, noting that while it was once seen as expensive, it can be integrated effectively into business processes to avoid costly audits.
- 🛠️ Building an 'accessibility culture' within organizations is crucial, ensuring that all aspects of development, from content creation to maintenance, consider accessibility.
- 🔍 The speaker advocates for education and awareness about accessibility within teams, noting that it's not just a front-end developer's responsibility but a collective effort.
- 👥 Decision makers are urged to understand the business case for accessibility, recognizing its role in expanding the customer base and improving user experience.
- 👴 Aging populations and the increasing number of older online buyers are highlighted as a significant factor that underscores the need for accessible web solutions.
- 🛑 The speaker warns against the common misconception that accessibility is a one-off task, stressing that it is an ongoing process that must be integrated into regular development cycles.
- 🛍️ The potential for accessibility to benefit all users, not just those with disabilities, is emphasized, showing how it can improve usability for everyone.
- 🌐 The speaker encourages collaboration and contribution to open-source tools and initiatives, suggesting that a collective approach can make accessibility more attainable and less costly.
Q & A
Who is the host of the technical track at MMUK 2024?
-The host of the technical track at MMUK 2024 is Maiik, the head of development at JH.
What is the role of the first speaker, Kuas Volinski, in the web industry?
-Kuas Volinski is a web standards and accessibility enthusiast, a former developer working with Magento since 2008, a several-time Magento Master, Market maker, organizer of Meet Magento Poland, and a former board member of the Magento Association.
Why is accessibility important in the context of e-commerce?
-Accessibility is important in e-commerce because it not only complies with legal regulations and avoids financial penalties but also because it opens up the market to a large group of potential customers with disabilities, making the web more inclusive and usable for everyone.
What are some of the legal implications for e-commerce sites that are not accessible?
-Non-accessible e-commerce sites risk facing financial fines due to regulations such as the American with Disabilities Act in the US, and similar laws in the UK and the upcoming laws in the European Union.
How has the internet changed the lives of people with disabilities?
-The internet has opened doors to a normal life for people with disabilities, allowing them to participate in activities that were previously inaccessible to them, such as earning money and being regular customers.
What is the common misconception about the cost of accessibility in web development?
-The common misconception is that accessibility is expensive, often due to the costs associated with audits and rebuilding existing solutions. However, integrating accessibility from the start can make it a cost-effective part of the development process.
What is the key to making accessibility a common practice in web development?
-The key is to build an accessibility culture within every organization, ensuring that everyone understands the principles of accessibility and incorporates them into their everyday work, from content creation to maintenance.
Why is it important for developers to care about accessibility guidelines?
-Developers should care about accessibility guidelines because if they don't, even the best designs and user journeys will not result in an accessible solution, which can lead to the exclusion of users with disabilities and potential legal issues.
What role do decision makers play in promoting accessibility within an organization?
-Decision makers play a crucial role in promoting accessibility by understanding its importance, allocating budget for training and development, and supporting the integration of accessibility into the organization's processes.
What are some tools that can assist in making web development more accessible?
-There are various tools available, including plugins for design software like Figma, machine learning solutions for code analysis, and open-source libraries that can help developers and QA specialists ensure accessibility during the development process.
How does Kuas Volinski suggest contributing to the field of accessibility?
-Kuas Volinski suggests contributing by discussing accessibility within organizations, integrating it into everyday processes, and considering open-source contributions to improve and share accessibility tools and knowledge.
Outlines
🎤 Welcome to MMUK 2024 Technical Track
The speaker, Maiik, introduces himself as the head of development at JH and the host of the technical track at MMUK 2024. He expresses gratitude to sponsors, speakers, and participants for making the event possible. The event includes technical talks, soft talks, and panel discussions. Maiik also invites attendees to visit the sponsor marketplace during breaks. The first speaker of the day, Kuas Volinski, is introduced as a web standards and accessibility enthusiast, a former developer with Magento, and a former board member of the Magento Association. Kuas emphasizes the importance of accessibility in business, noting that it is not just a moral obligation but also a legal requirement in many countries, which can impact a business's financial standing if not adhered to.
💼 Accessibility as a Business Necessity
Kuas Volinski discusses the importance of accessibility, highlighting that it is not only a legal requirement but also a significant opportunity for businesses to cater to a large customer base with disabilities. He points out that the internet has revolutionized the lives of people with disabilities, allowing them to participate in the economy as consumers. Kuas also emphasizes that accessibility is crucial for making all solutions more usable, not just for people with disabilities but for everyone. He mentions the aging population and how accessibility considerations are essential for maintaining a business's relevance as society ages. Kuas concludes by stressing the need to build an accessibility culture within organizations to ensure that accessibility is integrated into every aspect of business operations.
🛠️ Building an Accessibility Culture
The speaker explains the concept of building an accessibility culture within organizations. He emphasizes that accessibility is not just about following guidelines and front-end coding but involves many aspects of both online and offline business. The speaker outlines the process of content creation, user experience design, user interface design, development, and maintenance, highlighting the importance of incorporating accessibility at each stage. He stresses that if any element of this process lacks basic knowledge about accessibility, it can make the work harder for everyone involved. The speaker also discusses the challenges of getting different stakeholders, including developers and decision-makers, to understand and prioritize accessibility. He suggests that making accessibility a common practice, similar to coding standards, can help avoid expensive audits and ensure that accessibility is a part of the regular development process.
💡 Tools and Education for Accessibility
The speaker discusses the importance of education and the use of tools in the accessibility development process. He mentions that accessibility is not just about developers but involves everyone in the company, including decision-makers and backend developers. The speaker suggests that spending time on education and investing in online courses can be beneficial. He also highlights the availability of tools that can help during the development process, such as plugins for design software like Figma and machine learning solutions for code analysis. The speaker introduces an open-source library and a tool developed by his organization that can help analyze websites during the development process, combining automated and manual tests to make accessibility a smoother process. He encourages organizations to discuss accessibility internally and to contribute to the accessibility community by sharing and collaborating on solutions.
🌐 Open Source Contribution and Collaboration
The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of discussing accessibility within organizations and making it a part of everyday processes like designing, coding, and decision-making. He encourages organizations to contribute to accessibility by sharing knowledge and collaborating on solutions. The speaker also highlights the role of open source in making the internet accessible and reasonable in e-commerce. He mentions the release of a tool developed by his organization that can be used, modified, and contributed to as an open-source project. The speaker invites questions and acknowledges that the 20-minute talk only scratches the surface of the vast topic of accessibility, but his main point is to encourage organizations to start the conversation about accessibility.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Accessibility
💡Web Standards
💡E-commerce
💡Regulations
💡Inclusive Web
💡Magento
💡Financial Consequences
💡User Experience
💡Maintenance
💡Open Source
💡Aging Population
Highlights
Introduction of Maiik as the head of development at JH and the host of the technical track at MMUK 2024.
Thanking sponsors, speakers, and participants for making the event possible.
Announcement of the technical tracks including talks, soft talks, and panel discussions.
Invitation to the sponsor marketplace during breaks.
Introduction of the first speaker, Kuas Volinski, a web standards and accessibility enthusiast.
Kuas Volinski's background as a former developer with Magento, Magento Master, and organizer of Meet Magento Poland.
The importance of accessibility in web development and its impact on business.
The evolution of accessibility from a legal requirement to a business necessity.
The financial consequences of not being accessible in e-commerce.
Accessibility as a way to reach a larger customer base, including people with disabilities.
The transformative impact of the internet on the lives of people with disabilities.
The need for accessibility in everyday web solutions, not just for compliance.
The aging population and its implications for accessibility in e-commerce.
The cost of accessibility and the need for a shift in perspective towards it being a normal part of development.
Building an accessibility culture within organizations to avoid expensive audits and rebuilds.
The role of education in making accessibility a common practice in all aspects of web development.
The importance of involving everyone in the organization in understanding and implementing accessibility.
The use of tools and plugins to assist in designing and coding with accessibility in mind.
The release of an open-source accessibility tool by Snow to help developers and agencies during the development process.
The call to action for organizations to discuss and integrate accessibility into their everyday processes.
The potential for collaboration and contribution to the field of accessibility to improve standards and practices.
Transcripts
uh hello everybody Welcome uh welcome to
the technical track of mmuk 2024 I'm
maiik I'm the head of development at JH
and I will be your track host uh this
year I would like to thank all our
sponsors speakers and you the
participants as well for making this
event event possible because without you
we would not be here uh we'll have
technical tracks here uh technical talks
soft talks and panel discussion
uh as well uh during the breaks I would
like to invite you uh to the sponsor
marketplace where our lovely sponsors
have prepared many different things for
you uh and without further Ado I would
like to introduce our first Speaker of
the day kuas volinski uh web standards
and accessibility Enthusiast spreading
awareness about accessibility uh and how
it can positively impact every business
former developer working with Magento
since 2008 several times Magento Master
Market maker and organizer of meet
Magento Poland uh and a former Bo board
member of the Magento Association please
welcome
kisi good good morning everyone I really
do appreciate that you are here the
break was really short so it's like a
it's even more important to me that you
are here and that you want to listen and
maybe talk about about
accessibility uh so we have only short
short time for for this uh for this talk
but if you have any questions uh I'm
staying here for the whole day so I
really invite you to come and let's
let's talk about it later um so thank
you for the
introduction uh I I work with different
web Technologies for years already and
since the very beginning I was always a
a big Enthusiast of web accessibility uh
that's how I started my my web career 20
years
ago uh I really like the idea of having
a a very inclusive uh web that is that
is a place that everyone can access and
it opens door uh to uh to different
activities to people who were isol
isolated from that before and uh at that
time I was just optimistic and I thought
that I can build uh accessible web just
like that uh of course it was very
difficult at that time and accessibility
was really uh reserved only for some
government sites some government
services that were forced to be
accessible and right now the situation
is is slightly different and we can talk
about accessibility from a completely
different uh point of
view so first of all why accessibility
and uh I changed my answer to this
question over years uh when I started
working with with web and and with
accessibility the answer for me was very
simple we need to make it accessible
because it's important for all we are
making our like our life and life of
others better the world will be better
with accessible
web uh it is somehow correct answer but
the problem is that when we are talking
about web and especially about
e-commerce we are talking about business
it's not done for fun it's done for
business so every e-commerce should
bring money and just making something
good for the World is Not Enough To to
make it uh a viable solution for a
business so actually we really do talk
about accessibility and I can really see
so many of you
here just because it's a
low it's a low in some of the countries
it's already something
uh on the market for a few years like in
us we have American with Disabilities
Act for about 5 years that actually
bring some serious uh Financial uh fines
for not being accessible and we are
talking about commercial sites we have a
dedicated low here in UK and we will
have a low coming in European Union so
right now if we like it or not there has
to be a place in the budget for building
accessibility and the big question when
we are talking about accessib ility over
years was that it's expensive that why I
should pay more for for accessibility
and and today we will try to look at
that from a different
perspective why we should think about it
as a just another process not something
extra so low this is number one we have
to think about it because there are some
regulations and there are smaller or
bigger but but fines yeah like we if we
if our if our e-commerce is not
accessible we are risking uh some uh
Financial consequences uh but of course
the first
answer that that that I was talking
about it's still it's still something
important that we should that we should
think about that people with different
disabilities are a huge group of our
customers and if we are not if we are
not building the solution that will uh
that will attract this group we are just
losing money so of course it's a low
that's number one for many if we like it
or not but this is also a very
important group of our customers because
when we think about how internet changed
our life uh in terms of people with
different disabilities it actually made
even bigger change for some people who
were
just you know their disabilities didn't
allow them to leave their home uh or
take any any normal job access to the
internet it open door to normal life so
if we think about it those people who
were treated before as uh I would say uh
just a person who is financed by the by
the society right now those people can
earn money and be a buyer can be just a
regular customer they can they can live
normal life so this is why accessibility
is even is even more important but
outside of the of the legal part outside
of the number of potential uh customers
that uh that we can deliver our services
or products to uh it's really it's
really important to think about
accessibility as a as a way to make also
all the solutions more uh usable
uh all of us sometimes are disabled like
uh a very simple thing when when we just
uh try to use any mobile uh any mobile
site on any site on mobile in a bright
sun it's really hard to use it if if
it's if it's built the right way with
the with the proper contrast uh with the
proper font size or with the proper
distances between different elements so
when we think when we think about that
we can see that accessibility in in
e-commerce can actually be a huge
benefit for every
user and uh the last one and actually uh
year after year it's becoming my
favorite unfortunately that we are aging
and uh people who are building internet
as a as a young people who are just
thinking how to conquer the world I
right now 10 20 30 or even more years
older and when we are getting older if
we like it or not we are getting less
fit and it's about our
uh about different aspects of our life
so this is this is a very interesting
statistic and uh that's from That's from
the Polish market uh but it's it's more
or less similar across the Europe this
is just the newest report I I could find
it shows how
the percentage of people the older age
is increasing in the number of total
buyers online so it's it's it's just
that our society is is aging so if we
want to keep delivering our service we
have to think about this aging uh aging
uh customers group
so those those few aspects are super
important when we are talking to some
decision makers why accessibility needs
any attention why it needs any funding
or any time uh in in our budgets or or
plans and here is the is the most
important uh the most important element
does it have to be expensive for years
accessibility meant
mostly expensive audit and rebuilding
everything from scratch so it was it was
really expensive the audit is itself was
expensive and the whole operation of
course of building uh many solutions
from scratch uh and destroying some of
the previous solutions they were built
for years it was really a nightmare for
everyone for every product owner uh who
was supposed to uh make their their
product
accessible and there is one solution for
that and solution for that is building
an accessibility culture in every
organization ation and this is this is
the the accessibility culture should be
built in the solution provider
organization but also should be built
inside
every um every e-commerce every business
organization because the simple the
simple things like understanding they
help build access become accessibility
the part of everything what we do and
why it's so important because
accessibility is not only uh about
guidelines and about front-end coding
accessibility is about many aspects of
our online and offline offline business
so the first step to building the proper
the proper accessibility culture is
understanding why everyone in the
organization should understand the the
basic the the principles of
accessibility
there are different different uh like a
parts of every of every Pro of every
project and if we skip one of them
accessibility is getting much more
difficult because let's let's look at
let's look like at this at this circle
that we start with some content we do
some analyzis what to do with this
content uh we build the proper uh user
experience the user Journey just to go
through all those informations then we
design a beautiful user interface uh so
it all looks pretty and uh we build
it then we have to maintain it somehow
we have to always analyze and verify the
quality and then we go back to create
more content and build new features Etc
and we can if if simply we just look at
that and we see that we that any of
those elements
will not have a basic knowledge about
accessibility it make life and work much
harder for all others because if we
don't start with the proper
accessibility approach to the content
with the content creation and idea how
to how to maintain it later how to add
more content in an accessible way it's
much harder for people to plan its
position in the whole
structure and if we if we don't if we
don't think about accessibility aspects
when designing customer
Journey it breaks everything and it
makes it impossible later to to
code if we don't think about
accessibility when
designing even the best coder who is
super skilled in accessibility practices
will not build a really accessible uh
solution uh so everything here is
important and then we are going to
development and if we have a beautiful
design and great uh user journey and
amazing content but we have developers
who don't care about
accessibility uh guidelines then again
we had a great plan but there's no
implementation and uh the same in
maintenance accessibility is not a
oneoff activity it's a process so it's
we start it and then we keep going
because every e-commerce is a is a
it's like a a living organism so it
needs it needs constant changes and all
those changes has to be has to be done
with accessibility in mind if we if we
forget about accessibility one week two
weeks of updating new products or new
content we are losing accessibility of
the website so starting with
understanding including everyone in the
organization to understand Basics why
accessibility is important and then
keeping this process and of course the
the the begning begning of that may be
may be difficult because we need to
bring attention of different people to
to accessibility and to to understand
why it's important and just to just to
be realistic for many people especially
like no for for like I can focus on
developers because I used to be a
developer and it's definitely less sexy
to think about accessibility guidelines
than about the new framework we can use
so if we are going to spend some time
usually we spend time on new
technologies not how to make something
you know more accessible so it is hard
at the very beginning but this is the
key to make
accessibility really common because if
it if it will generate extra costs it
will never be a common task so to to
make everything accessible we need to
make sure that uh building designing
creating with
accessibility is just a normal thing
like when we are thinking about coding
we think about coding standards if we
are using tabs or spaces or how we place
different parts of the code this is
exactly the same that we use some common
techniques from the guidelines and that
should go through regular Q&A and if
it's not really fulfilling those
requirements it's not following
guidelines it goes back it goes back as
as a regular bu not not something extra
and this is the only
way to just avoid expensive audits
because right now audit is a number one
uh tool to to see if we are accessible
but audit means that actually there was
something really wrong before that we
forgot about everything that is simple
uh
accessibility accessibility for for
websites for e-commerce is simple this
is really not a rocket science most of
the most of the software right now is
more or less ready for accessibility and
what we need to do is to not to break it
just to follow the guidelines to keep
building it following the uh the the the
good practices and we can forget about
Audits and because audits in every field
they are be they are a problem like we
order an audit we pay a lot of money for
that and then usually if someone made an
audit they try to show that they deserve
the money so they make the audit as big
as possible and then we get this huge
book of different uh
recommendations and nobody
has the big problem with uh with audits
so if we have to do the audit it's
usually because we have a problem or
there is some some other immediate
action that needs to be taken but it's
really not the best idea so the most
important is to start early with
education uh just spend
couple hours every month or maybe um
invest in some online courses for
everyone in the company that's really
important that that slide I showed you
before that accessibility is not only
about developers and it's like if we
talking about developers it's not only
about front-end developers even if
backend developers don't touch this
customer facing part they should
understand why accessibility is
important and what are principles of of
accessibility uh we have guidelines the
guidelines are pretty straightforward
they are they are not really telling us
exactly what to do but they are telling
us what we want to achieve and that
there may be different ways and we may
be creative but knowing
WC is something that at least summary
should be known to everyone and uh one
of the most important groups are also
decision makers because if if we want to
dedicate some time for accessibility
even for the training we need to show
the business case why we should do it we
should do that even if it's not that
expensive it should be placed somewhere
uh somewhere in budget and when we are
talking about uh actual work and
avoiding uh those expensive audits later
there are more and more
tools uh that can be helpful during the
development process and this is this is
just just few of them
uh that can be used but starting from
the from the designing we have uh we
have already tons of plugins for to
figma that can that can help us design
the right uh The Right Stuff following
the the good good accessibility practice
uh where it when it comes to coding we
have more and more plugins using
different machine learning Solutions uh
to analyze our code and just help us uh
fix those simple issues at the very
begning so we don't have to fix them
when it's on on production and actually
not not
accessible and uh many of them they are
of course paid as a as a as a service
but there are also a bunch of tools that
are free that we can use as an open
source we can we can modify them we can
contribute and uh uh that's also like
based on uh axd tools they really
released a pretty cool open- Source
library and uh that that was the the
start of the idea that we did at snow do
uh we built an
accessibility uh tool for developers and
agencies uh that can help analyzing our
websites during the development process
so it's it's really easy like uh during
in this tool we can we can combine both
automated and manual test
to make accessibility a smooth process
that during the development we just
don't have to waste extra time and every
tester or QA specialist can become an
accessibility specialist so from the
very beginning of my uh adventure with
uh Magento I believed in open source I
believed in so in so-called competition
so collaboration and and competition and
I think that this is a great example
that to make internet accessible and to
make it a
reasonable uh tool in e-commerce
something that is not expensive that
just a part of normal process that
collaboration is needed uh and that's
why also we released uh a huge part of
that uh tool that you can actually use
you can play with it you can contribute
as an open source uh so it's not like an
out-of-the-box solution but it's
something that you can use you can
launch that application and you can also
modify it to your to your own needs so I
also encourage you to
first talk about accessibility in your
organization this is number one people
have to understand that it exists and
it's not only low it's not only the
legal part but this is just something
that makes it better for your for your
users for your customers so discuss it
internally in your organizations spend
some time to make it
part of your everyday process of
Designing coding decision making and uh
if you have time uh think about
accessibility as something that is
really worth contributing because this
is this that's that's something that
always will have some lower lower
priority in business so if we can
contribute if we can share and actually
take the accessibility to the higher
level together that's only better and uh
I think that's it for today so if you
have any questions about that like you
know that 20 minutes is just to really
touch the tip of the iceberg I didn't
really uh Deep dive deeper into any
details of accessibility principles
whatever but I assume that you know it
or it's so easy to find it on in million
sources that that really my my point was
to tell you one thing talk about
accessibility in your organizations it
will make the whole accessibility
building process much easier easier and
cheaper thank you very much
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