Speakers: Mike Davies

Session

First Principles of Web Accessibility

Implementing accessibility fixes without understanding why is liable to make things worse rather than better. We need to understand the real issues, and with that understanding build solutions with confidence.

This session explains how accessibility fits into the modern conception of the World Wide Web, how people with disabilities use computers and the Web. With that understanding we take a holistic and modern look at what it is to make content accessible, and avoiding the minefields that still catch out many technology experts.

Bio

Mike Davies is a Senior Web Developer for Yahoo! Europe specialising in web accessibility. He was the Technical Lead Developer and in-house consultant for Legal & General's website redesign which became a PAS 78 case study into the business benefits of accessible websites.

Mike writes about web accessibility, Atom, web standards and gadgets on his personal blog at isolani.co.uk; offers practical accessibility tips at Accessibility Tips.com; and satiates his unhealthy appetite for chess at the ChessVault. He also volunteers as a guest speaker at AbilityNet's Rich Media workshops where he talks about developing accessible Web 2.0 applications