December 13, 2021 — This talk discusses how to advocate for contributing to Open Source projects. (Did you know that not everyone who works on open source projects is a developer?)

Smaller tasks help newer contributors gain confidence and gain experience, which, in turn, leads to more contributions.

Contributing to Open Source also helps contributors feel connected with their community. But how does one become a contributor?

Learn what we can do as a community to help foster new contributors and encourage those who are already contributing.

August 24, 2021 — This talk provides a nostalgic walk through imagery from the 1980s music scene to show how alt text conveys meaningful information to those who cannot access web images visually. From 99 Red Balloons shaking us all night long to Burning Down the House, let’s not leave any of our users behind.

Presentation Slides »

May 26, 2021 — This talk shares a holistic approach for the complete lifecycle of an accessible website, including how to iterate on existing content.

November 17, 2020 — We often talk about websites the way we talk about cars. Are you driving a flashy sports car or a stable hatchback? And is yours a lemon, no matter how pretty the paint job? And if you just got one used, what’s going on under the hood? There’s a way to address these questions about your website, and it’s called a technical audit. The vast majority of site owners live in fear of the day their site breaks down. Performing a site audit can ensure you understand the current state of your site, from the back end code level to the front end performance. It can also help you see potential problems when it comes time to add features (like that sweet audio system). People attending this session will learn the basic building blocks of performing a technical audit, including approaches for auditing different aspects of your site including custom code, theme and front-end functionality, back-end configuration and plugins, and accessibility. The session will also cover tools that can be used to run these tests and tips on what to watch for when managing a website over time.

November 16, 2020 — Going from freelance to working at an agency can be overwhelming, but don’t let the fear of a collaborative workflow scare you.

What is Git?? Better question, what is version control? And what is a local environment?

This talk covers the basics of
– local environments, multidevs, and branches
– version control
– overview of a git client

October 31, 2020 — Inclusivity is at the heart of an effective content strategy. Accessible code may be imperative for inclusion, but the value of code is compromised when content is not meaningful to our readers.

This talk explores what we can do as content authors to ensure our readers feel that we are speaking with them, not at them. It reaches beyond semantic markup and structured content to recognize the strategic value of inclusive content.

Presentation Slides »

September 30, 2020 — The vast majority of site owners live in fear of the day their site breaks. Performing a site audit can ensure you understand the current state of your site, from the back end to the front end. It can also help you anticipate potential problems as there are new opportunities to add features.

September 15, 2019