Jen Dionisio

This article highlights how landmarks in most instances do not need an accessible name. Landmarks like header, main, and footer should only appear once per page, which makes them easy to identify. The accessible name may add redundancy or create confusion. Also limiting the number of landmarks can help make them more useful. #accessibility

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This. I mostly do strategic facilitation these days, which evolved out of my team’s research and discovery practice. The gap was so stark in effective strategy development that as a facilitator, more and more clients would ask us to facilitate the strategy setting phase as a way to ensure the research findings were put to meaningful use. Strategic planning is difficult and requires effective stakeholder engagement and thoughtful interpretation and deliberation on discovery findings. Most leaders and teams do not have this capability or capacity, and UX or other research teams should learn to guide them through this process, but it requires us to develop those skills in effective strategic planning facilitation and leadership advising. Design research insights by nature will have broader business relevance. If a leadership team is open to it, building this capability can profoundly improve their product market fit, value proposition, and impact. But it does require developing competence in strategy development, not just research. #strategy #leadership #research #servicedesign

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Attention researchers! Rosenfeld is hosting a series of seven community workshops over the coming months, and we're accepting applications for presenters. Each workshop will feature three presenters, moderated by a senior research leader. We'd love to hear from you, whether you work in #UXresearch, #DesignResearch, #MarketResearch, #CustomerResearch, #ContinuousDiscover, #DataScience... all the research silos! The Call for Proposals link is in the first comment below. Workshop dates and topics: • July 24: Democratization--Working with it, not against • August 7: Collaboration--Learning from market research, data science, customer experience, and more • August 21 : Communication--Innovative techniques for making your voice heard  • September 4 : Methods--Expanding the UXR toolkit beyond interviews • September 18: Artificial Intelligence--Passionate defenses, reasoned critiques, and practical application • October 2: Junctures for UXR--Possible futures and the critical decisions to move us forward • October 16: Open Call--Propose ideas that don’t match our other workshops’ themes These workshop sessions will take place virtually, and are free to all to attend. And we'll be drawing most of the speakers for Advancing Research 2025 from these workshops' panelists. (This model worked really well for AR24.) Please consider applying, and mark your calendars regardless to attend any or all of these sessions.

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Accessibility tip: Don't fall for the H2 subtitle trap. By "subtitle," I mean the secondary title that adds detail to the main title of a document. It can be tempting to assign Heading Level 2 to the subtitle. The main title already has Heading Level 1. The subtitle is often on another line. Its font is smaller. But we should always assign heading levels based what the heading identifies. Although it looks different, the subtitle also refers to the *whole* document. So, it should have an H1 tag. There may be exceptions. Some subtitles are so long that they resemble short paragraphs. In those cases, a Paragraph tag could be more appropriate. This might seem like a small detail. But often, small details can have a big impact on user experience. The good is they’re easy to implement. Image description: An excerpt from an essay. At the top of the page, the main title is centered above the smaller subtitle. The main title reads, "An H1 in Disguise." The subtitle reads, "The Truth about Subtitles." The opening paragraph summarizes the information from this post. #accessibility #gaad #EdTech #education #content #publishing

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How different is Research Ops in for-profit vs non-profit? What are the unique challenges of enabling UX research in government, especially where representation is critical? Stig Parfrey has answers to those questions! We discuss all things Research Ops, including: 🫶🏾 How working in the nonprofit space allows for a direct impact and the opportunity to do good. 🏢 The overlap between ReOps in government and other sectors. 📧 How recruitment in government makes a significant impact on people's lives. 🤖 The potential of AI to enhance qualitative research. Listen now on Spotify or on your favourite podcast app. 👇🏾 🎧 https://lnkd.in/gAMs94RK 🎧

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⭐ A beautiful piece and a gentle reminder that our personal lives add value to our work rather than detract from it. When we can bring our authentic selves and lived experiences to the workplace, it can make us better at our jobs. "My background set the groundwork for my career, and now I know the key to UX research: learning, continuously, from the relationships that surround you. There is immense value in our personal histories. I have confidence in my voice as a researcher from having traced my roots, the path that had prepared me for this moment all along." 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eKevq7GX #UXResearch #Career #Authenticity #Relationships

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PDF accessibility tip: Beware. A space isn't always a space. Sometimes, body text appears properly spaced on the page. But the screen reader pronounces it as one long word. Or, if a word has expanded letter spacing, the screen reader pronounces it as individual letters. We use two methods to check for these issues, often in combination. Method 1: Test the text with a screen reader. Method 2: Check the text content in the Tags panel. If the text has no spacing or extra spacing, that's how the screen reader will pronounce it. We can correct spacing issues in different ways. The best solution depends on the amount and type of content affected. Scenario 1: The issue affects a single word or phrase. Solution: Apply a Span tag to the affected text. In the Object Properties of the Span tag, add the correctly spaced word or words as Actual Text. Scenario 2: The issue affects a paragraph. Solution: Open the Reading Order panel. Select the affected text. Then choose "Text/Paragraph" in the panel. The text should now be properly spaced in the Tags panel. Scenario 3: The issue affects the whole document. Solution: Export the PDF to Word. Review page layout and adjust it if needed. Then convert the Word document back to PDF. Word-to-PDF conversion can sometimes lead to additional tagging and file cleanup, however. So, for document-wide spacing issues, the Reading Order Panel may still be the better solution. In part, this depends on file size and page complexity. Importantly, the Acrobat and PAC Checkers won't flag this type of spacing issue. One more reason to test with screen readers. Image description: A graphic shows text and 2 snapshots of a PDF file. The text reads as follows. PDF accessibility tip. A space isn't always a space. Test the text with a screen reader. Check word spacing in the Tags panel. The first snapshot shows the following heading and paragraph on a PDF page. Heading: Spacing Matters. Paragraph: Visual word spacing doesn't always match what the screen reader uses. The second snapshot shows the tags for the heading and paragraph in the Tags panel. The heading appears as individually spaced letters. The paragraph appears as one long word. #accessibility #gaad #education #EdTech #publishing

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All I see are truths in this statement. However, many companies only hire for quick fixes to meet compliance, overlooking that true #accessibility needs ongoing maintenance, a committed culture, and #collectiveResponsibility. It's about embedding it deeply into the organization's fabric, not just checking boxes. #Accessibility #A11Y #DigitalInclusion

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I want to recommend a book, that it not only about accessibility but also about public speaking. A thoughtful guide in how to make sure your presentations and presenting techniques are including everyone. One amazing book by Denis Boudreau called The inclusive speaker. I read it before presenting at Axe-con and I made a lot of adjustments when creating the presentation, which I probably would not have done without this book. https://lnkd.in/dCT7Eg-r #inclusive #accessibility #bookTips #a11y #publicSpeaking

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This week, I came across Maggie Appleton's term "barefoot developer." The concept is as follows: non-tech folks have been pushed to learn how to code/program (e.g., doctors, teachers). These folks may not be interested or have the time to learn. On the other end of the spectrum are professional developers. In the middle are "barefoot developers" who use pre-existing software and tweak it to meet the needs of a small group. Their needs will never be fully met by commercial products nor can they hire a professional developer. The barefoot developer is the person who creates a "home-cooked" app to fill that gap. I work in a small library and fulfill this barefoot developer role. Some of my projects have included using * JotForm to develop readers' advisory tools * Coda.io to build an interface to manage book groups * Notion to create a dashboard/homescreen for book groups * Floorplanner to design 3D models to reuse elsewhere including in home-built kiosk software What do you think of this concept and are you a "barefoot developer" for your library? If yes, what projects have you been built? Read Maggie Appleton's conference notes at https://lnkd.in/eN6yjrxw

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Question for folks in Higher Ed accessibility teams: do scientific publications, or similar documents such as research posters or presentations need to be accessible? We see a fair amount of students/faculty using various design tools to create research posters and scientific diagrams for papers, presentations and publications. Presumably they are exported in PDF. Do the PDFs need to be accessible? We're trying to figure out the #a11y requirements of these types of documents. Any feedback is much appreciated. You can comment or DM me directly. Thanks in advance. #Accessibility #ResearchPoster #Academia #ScientificPoster

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The perils of technical writing gone wrong - Is this your experience? How can you prevent this from being your experience? Let's connect in the comments below #technicaldocs #softwarestartups #softwareprojects #technicalwriting #customerfacingdocs #whitepapers #ebooks #longformcontent

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Technical writers have been underappreciated and disregarded by engineers for decades, despite their critical role in product development and user understanding. Contrary to popular belief, technical writing requires both linguistic skills and a deep understanding of the technical domain and target audience. Check out the link below to see what you can learn. #technicalwriting #techwriters https://lnkd.in/gYguX2r8 

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To my editor and writer friends. What do you think 🤔 about this debate? Comment below 👇 to enrich your friends.

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Adactio: Journal—Applying the four principles of accessibility https://buff.ly/4bLeahm Web Content Accessibility Guidelines—or WCAG—looks very daunting. It’s a lot to take in. It’s kind of overwhelming. It’s hard to know where to start.I recommend taking a deep breath and focusing on the four principles of accessibility. Together they spell out the cutesy acronym POUR:PerceivableOperableUnderstandableRobustA lot of work has gone into distilling WCAG down to these four guidelines. Here’s how I apply them in my work…Source: Adactio: Journal—Applying the four principles of accessibility ()

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Accessibility compliance can be a heavy lift, but it's an absolutely essential one. Inclusivity quite literally means no one is excluded, and when something as omnipresent and invaluable as the web (and all its digital content) isn't accessible to all users, that's not ok, and that's not what inclusivity is all about. Fortunately, there are some simple things you can do that can have a huge impact. Consider PDFs. They're just about everywhere, and just about everybody uses them for just about everything. But when they're not accessible, that means a large percentage of people are excluded from the ease, efficiency, and value that PDFs offer. Committing to making PDFs accessible can be a major step forward for any business when it comes to achieving inclusivity and digital equality. Kyle Paciello, my colleage at Deque Systems, Inc, has written an exceptionally clear and helpful post on this topic, and provided an easy-to-follow 8-step checklist for PDF accessibility: https://lnkd.in/gpKWMWJ7

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Today I’m sharing some resources for writing inclusive content. Maybe you’re a UX writer, content specialist, or designer who writes. If you’ve been wondering how to make your words work for more people, then these resources will help you! Content makes such a big difference in how inclusive and accessible things will be, so you have a lot of power! Resources: Accessibility Strategies for Your Content Team from Deque Systems, Inc (article) - https://lnkd.in/eigMrhY7  Content Design for Accessibility: Why It Matters and How To Do It on Medium (article) - https://lnkd.in/eEyXTQkf Creating Accessible Content: 5 Rules for Writers from Bureau of Internet Accessibility (article) - https://lnkd.in/ebPbVq_G Creating accessible content from Texthelp (article) -  https://lnkd.in/eV6SNS-K  Dyslexia friendly style guide from the British Dyslexia Association (article) -  https://lnkd.in/e36z8Pwk 50 Ways To Make Your Content Accessible by Stephanie H. (article) https://lnkd.in/eAdghX52 Marketers in Progress: How we’re building accessibility into our content practice from Siteimprove (article) -  https://lnkd.in/gffkJFm3 Neuroinclusive Content Design from axe-con (video) - https://lnkd.in/dkeGjMmC Plain language guidelines from Plain Language . Gov (site) - https://lnkd.in/eSQRFt-A If you have accessibility resources for content then please share them in the comments! And I'd especially love some recommendations for videos. I only have one video on this list, and it would be great to have a wider range of options so people can use what works for them. #Accessibility #A11y #AccessibilityMatters #UXWriting #Content #ContentWriting #AccessibleContent

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"As a woman of color in the workplace, I'm operating in systems that fundamentally weren't designed for me. How I'm showing up is almost at a contrast, at conflict with the systems. Does that mean I completely disregard and step back? No. But what's the level of fight involvement change that I want to drive within the environments that I'm in?" On the latest episode of What is Wrong With Hiring, I talk with coach and mindfulness teacher Roberta D. about the experience of interviewing for tech jobs as “an only”. If you’ve ever been an “only” (woman, person of color, neurodivergent, queer, etc.) or first of your kind on a team, this one’s for you. Tune in to hear about ways to prioritize yourself and what you need when deciding to take a new role. Hiring managers and recruiters can also learn a thing or two about creating an inclusive hiring and onboarding process that sets “onlys” up for success. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

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My Journey with Accessibility Overlays: A 13-Year Reflection Thirteen years ago, I came up with the groundbreaking idea of the Accessibility overlay. If you aren’t familiar with the concept, it's the accessibility button often found on the side of a website screen. The initial purpose of the overlay was to provide a scripting environment for developers and QA teams to tackle in-code accessibility challenges, particularly those stemming from difficult-to-amend code libraries and legacy systems. Despite the importance of web accessibility, many companies have been reluctant to invest in it, even with legislation like the ADA enforcing its necessity. This reluctance has led to a dependence on vendors and a general lack of awareness. Unfortunately, this environment of ignorance created opportunities for some vendors to exploit the situation. What started as a helpful tool to enhance accessibility became a notorious solution. Many companies pinned their hopes on the promise of a magical "AI" that would fix all accessibility issues and prevent lawsuits, a promise that turned out to be false. Over the last four years, I have been providing extensive evidence and research to the Israeli courts, often pro bono, to address the misuse of this idea I originally conceived. After taking some time away from the industry, I now feel compelled to break my silence and share my story. I want to thank people like Karl Groves and many other experts who have fought against the abuse of overlay solutions by various vendors. I encourage you to read the report by over 800 experts worldwide that condemns many of these vendors: Overlay Fact Sheet ( https://lnkd.in/dFY6znYV) As an expert, activist, and the original inventor of the overlay idea, I believe it has brought important awareness to the need for accessibility. However, it has also been misused and abused, causing harm. I am optimistic that the industry will come to its senses and invest in the need for accessibility sooner rather than later.

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