#gaad

Accessibility, for me, is being appreciative of what's already been done, being grateful to those who worked hard on it, but also pushing for more. I always want more, because whenever I'm stopped by a barrier, I want to find a way around it. Wouldn't you? Let's imagine a fully able-bodied person wants to take a short walk from their apartment to their favorite cafe. But on this particular day, these invisible walls keep popping up in their path. They can't push past, but they watch as everyone else walks on the same path without issue. At first, wouldn't they be a little scared, sad and confused? Then anger might set in, and at that point, the gears start turning. Maybe the walls won't pop up if they take another route or maybe if they just cross over to the other side of the street. But all the while, they see people moving right on through the same part of the sidewalk where they can't as if there's nothing to stop them. Really try to put yourself in that person's shoes. That's what accessibility is, it's tearing down those barriers to give equal access to everyone no matter what their disabilities may be. Doing accessibility work takes drive, patience and perseverance, and most of all, commitment. On this day, I don't give a damn about market share, bottom dollar, or any other corporate concerns. I'm a user, and there are plenty of products and websites that are inaccessible to me, and companies breaking the law by not fixing them. That's what I care about right now. Accessibility work is ongoing. It should never be for only one product your team or organization builds. If you take up the mantle, it should be a from now on kind of thing. I'm tired of seeing accessibility related regressions never get fixed. That is all. #blind #accessibility #gaad

Ok I am truly sorry to be that guy. BUT: Can we PLEASE, leave the "#AI improves #accessibility" talks to people who actually benefit from #accessibility? I see SO MANY articles, On LinkedIn, on Slack, on Medium, about how AI improves #accessibility metrics, compliance, automates all the things. Newsflash: your metrics are likely incomplete or inconclusive, compliance is at best an illusory snapshot, and automation for #accessibility is still a pipe dream, and that's coming from someone who actually uses these tools OUTSIDE a presentation room. I don't care if you're #microsoft, #salesforce or whichever other big name that makes you feel authoritative. You're wrong, sorry to say. Want ACTUAL stories from ACTUAL people using #AI to improve #accessibility? Hire me and I'll talk your ear off. That's been me for months now. Don't want to, right before #GAAD? Welp ... that tells its own story then, doesn't it?

Want a freebie? Sure, I can do that!

1. Can #AI improve accessibility on the web? - Yeah probably.
2. Can it do it without supervision? - No. It almost habitually screws up the simplest of things because the training data is you lot's semantically terrible code. :P
3. Can it save time in making things accessible? - Yeah, provided someone competent is at the helm, see also q2.
4. DO humans need to be in the loop? - yes, see q2.
5. Are random big-tech officials making (generating?) 50-minute presentations to augment the echo chamber of this being a solved problem full of it? - That would be a yes.
6. Are they actually causing harm by not actually including the audience they are claiming to help? - Absolutely, please stop f***ing doing that.
7. Is this a terrible look near #GAAD where we need to convince others we care about #accessibility for one day of the year? - oh yeah.