I had my first brush with accessibility in 2002. My boss was in a panic that our web application was not accessible, and that we would lose government funding.

Since that experience, I’ve found myself arguing for more accessibility in web design and development. More often than not, I lose that argument.

My professional activism on the topic has caused others to label me an expert on the topic. But I don’t consider myself a practitioner. I am a vocal and heartfelt advocate.

This talk will intertwine the history of web accessibility with my own personal story of how I evolved in my views on accessibility.

I will also discuss the role the open source community has to play, for an accessible web.