It all started with a tweet by Heydon Pickering last month, encouraging people on Twitter to join the conversation about web project accessibility budgets:
Pickering, an accessibility advocate, author of the book Apps For All: Coding Accessible Web Applications, and web accessibility editor for Smashing Magazine kicked off the Twitter conversation with his tweets:
which snowballed into a barrage of tweets from designers and developers around the world, sharing their stories.
I nodded as I read the tweets.
I’ve worked on web projects that didn’t focus on accessibility or said it would be added in the “next version.”
I’ve seen thousands of dollars spent on video equipment and production. And then saw the few hundred dollars budget for video captions/transcripts eliminated with the explanation, “we don’t have the money.”
Here are a few of my favorite #WhatIBlewMyA11yBudgetOn tweets:
https://twitter.com/sarahebourne/status/568502943126827010
https://twitter.com/StuRobson/status/568451439569342464
https://twitter.com/ellenking/status/568930170297556993
https://twitter.com/redcrew/status/568475053207236608
https://twitter.com/jkiss/status/568532448130105344
https://twitter.com/sarahebourne/status/568483129880649728
https://twitter.com/stevefaulkner/status/568485382058328065
https://twitter.com/brucel/status/568478350253146112
Spending My Accessibility Budget Wisely
The following day, a new hashtag campaign started, #SpendingMyA11yBudgetWisely, with recommendations on how to spend your accessibility budget wisely.
Useful advice flowed on Twitter as web accessibility experts shared their tips:
https://twitter.com/ppatel/status/568739183084343296
https://twitter.com/ewaccess/status/568883244810280960
https://twitter.com/davidofyork/status/568717099574665216
https://twitter.com/davidofyork/status/568717099574665216
It was fun to get our frustrations out about accessibility decisions made on web projects. But what I enjoyed most was reading the tips for spending your accessibility budget wisely.
Do you have any tips or experiences to share about accessibility budgets in web projects? Share them in the comments.
