Accessibility and Data, Data Softwares, Data Products Resources

[vknoppkewetzel]

A lot of conversations in the geospatial world focus on the visual, but accessibility goes beyond the visual and we can consider how to change workflows, frameworks, and more and where else we can make changes, such as providing more accessible data, data products, etc

Resources

Accessibility Fireside Chat (Presentation)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqx5PQwds80
Timestamp: Accessibility of Data vs the visual experience

Actually, Data Science Can be Accessible (presentation)
“Barriers to inclusion of people with disabilities in the data science workforce pipeline and ideas for lowering them”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmQWED1PWKc

Accessibility principles specific to coding (text)
Quick tips/reference: https://www.accessibilityoz.com/factsheets/coding/coding-accessibility-principles/
(web-related code)

Accessibility of Python and Data Science (presentation)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp--dmT5MvE

It’s Data Accessibility, not Data visualization (Presentation)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlyADrqba9w

Screen Reader Demo for Digital Accessibility (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEbl5jvLKGQ

Accessible tables and screen reader demo (presentations)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACmYzyN0b3U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1KR4u94cho

Creating Accessible Excel Spreadsheets (presentation)
This video in the Accessibility in Microsoft Office Suite series describes the key points in creating the most accessible Excel spreadsheets, including creating accessible tables and charts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAfO9f765nw

Using Microsoft Word Accessibility Checker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSY2EyA0rH4

Bonus

Shorts centering people, accessibility, and code

Becky
The first installment in GitHub’s “Coding Accessibility” video series features Becky Tyler, a bright, funny, and incredibly tenacious young woman with quadriplegic cerebral palsy who interacts with her computer exclusively by using her eyes. Becky started off simply wanting to play Minecraft, but the shortcomings of available accessibility tech led her down a path beyond mining ore and into the world of open source software and collaboration. She now attends the University of Dundee, where she studies applied computing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmHqthzJER4

Anton - Audio Descriptive
In the latest episode of GitHub's "Coding Accessibility" video series, we meet Anton Mirhorodchenko, a software developer hailing from Ukraine. Anton has cerebral palsy and, as a result, he has difficulty typing and cannot use voice-to-text software. However, Anton found that by embracing GitHub Copilot and other AI tools, he can significantly reduce the amount of code he needs to physically type. These tools not only enable him to build software efficiently but also allow him to communicate effectively with fellow developers by generating detailed comments, documentation, and project descriptions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUvaRdCIa4

Paul: Disability as a catalyst for creativity
The second installment in GitHub’s “Coding Accessibility” video series features Paul Chiou, a Ph.D. student at USC and developer who creates software to automatically detect and solve accessibility barriers for keyboard users. Paralyzed from the neck down, Chiou does all of this by using custom hardware and software he designed and built to act as a mouse. Meet Chiou and his collaborators, and hear how he’s working to make software more accessible to all. “I believe everyone should have the equal right to access information,” says Chiou. “It shouldn’t be limited just because the developers didn’t consider it during their design."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xudr6NhDXfs

How Della found her voice with open source AAC
In the latest episode of GitHub’s “Coding Accessibility” video series, we meet Della Calder, her brother Archer, and their parents. After watching several expensive and proprietary Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) apps fail to meet his sister's needs, Archer decided to build an open source alternative. With Della helping to guide the design, and the open source community by his side, Archer built the FreeSpeechAAC app, which meets Della’s needs like none before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3jM7wFW1A0

Other Bonus

RStudios: Accessible Data Science Beyond Visual Models (presentation)
Data science is full of vision-dominant practices, and most data scientists rely heavily on visual models.
However, data science itself should require insight and computational thinking beyond what is just seen by eyes.
JooYoung Seo, who is a blind data scientist and who was working for RStudio's accessibility projects over the summer 2020, will talk about his experience with some non-visual techniques to interact with data.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HvyNtltu-A

Do No Harm Guide: Accessibility in Data Visualization (text)
This discusses how the data’s final visual products should be designed with accessibility in mind. This is relevant in understanding what considerations are thought about in design processes.
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/do-no-harm-guide-centering-accessibility-data-visualization

Chapters

• Part One: Centering Accessibility in Data Viz
• Part Two: Framing Why Accessibility is Important
• Part Three: Alt Text and Screen Readers
• Part Four: Accessibility Testing and Remediation
• Part Five: Accessibility in Teams and Orgs