Free online event
Centring digital accessibility in public services
Exclusively for public servants and policymakers
Tuesday, Mar 5, 2024
Time is displayed in your local time zone
You’ll learn:
- About the importance of digital accessibility in public services
- How to identify key digital accessibility challenges and overcome them
- Best practices and strategies for implementing digital accessibility in your work
Speakers
This is a 5 minute highlight from the event, but you can view the full recording of the digital accessibility event here.
Resources from the speakers
- Craig Abbott's presentation slides
- Recording of Craig Abbott presenting a longer version of 'Beyond accessibility regulations'
- Mell Magment's presentation slides
- Mike Gifford's presentation slides
- Craig Abbott's blog
- How to Write Alt Text and Image Descriptions for the visually impaired, Perkins School for the Blind
- Dos and don'ts on designing for accessibility, gov.uk blog
- Government-wide Section 508 Assessment/Survey and Report
- More on Accessibility Champions from AbilityNet, Intuit, Fable, IAAP
- Deque’s Axe and Microsoft’s Accessibility Insights
- Purple A11y from Singapore Digital Services (an accessibility crawler using axe) - Desktop & CLI
Increasingly, the public engages with government online — they’re accessing basic services through web portals and phone applications. They're applying for identification, paying bills, enquiring about taxes, engaging with community initiatives, taking part in consultations and much more.
But if a service is full of barriers for users, then the benefits of using that digital service will be lost for everyone involved. Digital accessibility isn’t just about technology; it’s about empowering the people using it, and ensuring they can use it in the first place.
If you're involved in researching, designing or delivering public services, this free online event will shed some light on the importance of digital accessibility, and share best practices and strategies for truly putting user needs and digital accessibility at the heart of your work.
The event features lightning talks by experienced public servants and policymakers who have led digital accessibility projects and designed user-centred, accessible services, followed by a Q&A session.
Interested in how Apolitical can support you and your organisation? Learn about collaborating with us.
Picture credit: Pexels
Speakers
Mike Gifford
Senior Strategist at CivicActions and former member of the Government of Canada's Open Source Advisory Board
Canada
Craig Abbott
Design Lead
United Kingdom
Mell Magment
Senior Software Engineer
United Kingdom
Mike Gifford, is CivicActions’ Open Standards & Practices Lead and a thought leader on open government, as well as digital accessibility and sustainability. He has worked with governments in North America and Europe, and spoken internationally. He is also a W3C Invited Expert and recognized authoring tool accessibility expert. Mike has served for two years on the board of the Digital Services Coalition. In his last year he served as president of the board where he helped better define what it was to be a digital agency. In this role, he met with leaders in government and the private sector who are working for modern digital government. Previously, he was the Founder and President of OpenConcept Consulting Inc., a web development agency specializing in building open source solutions for the open web. OpenConcept was an impact driven company and Certified B Corporation. Like CivicActions, OpenConcept worked extensively with the Drupal Content Management System. Mike has spearheaded accessibility improvements in Drupal since 2008, and has served as a Drupal Core Accessibility Maintainer in 2012. As a long-term environmentalist, Mike has found ways to integrate his passions for the web and the planet. He is an active participant in both the W3C’s Web Sustainability Interest Group and in the ACT-IAC Climate Change Community of Interest.
Craig Abbott, Design Lead at Elastic, and the former Head of Accessibility at the Department for Work and Pensions. Bringing over 15 years of experience in User-Centred Design and accessibility, Craig is known for his contributions to the UK Government's digital transformation, the GOV.UK Design System and the DWP Accessibility Manual. As a frequent speaker on accessibility, inclusion, and neurodiversity, and being neurodivergent himself, Craig is deeply committed to creating inclusive digital services that work for everybody.
Mell Magment, senior software engineer at Apolitical, has over 20 years' experience in coding accessible digital platforms. With a background in web agencies and tech start-ups - industries notorious for tight deadlines and limited budgets - Mell advocates for creating with accessibility in mind from the beginning of each project, never letting it be an afterthought. Working across design and engineering, she cares deeply about the entire user experience and ensuring everyone can reach the information they need.
