As I chatted with web design and development friends this month, I’ve discovered many have committed in 2022 to learning more about web accessibility.
They’ve asked me for resources and suggestions, and I shared accessibility resources from my site as well as many online resources and books.
One resource I highly recommended was recently published: the Browsing with assistive technology video series from TetraLogical.
Browsing with Assistive Technology Video Series
The focus of the series is to help you understand how people with disabilities use assistive technology (AT) on a computer to browse the web.
Assistive technology on a computer includes:
- Screen readers (desktop and mobile)
- Keyboard
- Screen magnification
- Speech recognition
Released on YouTube in mid-December 2021, the five-part series introduces you to common software used by people with disabilities, explaining how the software works, and how people navigate content.
What I Like About the Series
Each video is captioned, less than five minutes long, and has a related article to learn more about that specific assistive technology.
Since not everyone knows what specific assistive technology is and how it is used, I appreciate that each video’s description provides a definition of the assistive technology.
From the Browsing with speech recognition video, here’s part of the description:
Speech recognition software listens to human speech, transcribes it into text, and executes spoken commands that operate your computer or device. People commonly use it as an alternative to using a keyboard, mouse or touch gestures. Speech recognition provides access to the entire operating system and applications, including browsers and web content.
Due to the end-of-year holidays and people trying to finish up work projects, I suspect the series didn’t get the attention it deserves.
Which is why I wanted to give the series a shoutout on my blog.
Wrapping Up
For anyone working on the web, learning about assistive technology and how people use it on a computer can improve their knowledge about accessibility.
The Browsing with assistive technology video series provides you a better understanding of assistive technology used to browse the web.
And guides you toward making better decisions for creating a more inclusive user experience for everyone.
