News – OZeWAI

Newsletter 17 April 2024 April - Read the full OZeWAI Newsletter 17 April 2024. OZeWAI News “Ask The Professionals” 18 April and 7 May Digital accessibility skills gap survey and research Become an OZeWAI Member OZeWAI Events Survey Industry News Australian Human Rights Commission – public comment on WWW Advisory Note Dubbo Council wants feedback on an accessibility overlay Accessing Higher Ground […]
AI makes pictures accessible to screen reader users April - By OZeWAI member Andrew Downie, Accessibility Consultant. Introduction Amidst all the discussion and controversy over so-called AI (artificial intelligence) this is a very positive story. We all know (he wrote optimistically) that images should be accompanied by meaningful alternative text. Those of us who use screen readers know that many images lack text descriptions or, […]
Reflections on CSUN 2024 April - A couple of weeks ago, I attended my first CSUN – the California State University Northridge Assistive Technology Conference, generally acknowledged to be THE major live conference in the world focusing on disability and accessibility. It certainly lived up to its reputation, with 600 presenters giving 470 talks in 26 time slots over four days […]
What AI Can Do For (and To) Existing Web Accessibility Tools April - This article was written by OZeWAI member Ricky Onsman and was originally published on the TPGi website. It’s based on the first part of a presentation delivered by the author and Hans Hillen at CSUN 2024 Conference. It includes content that was not used in the conference presentation due to time constraints. You can also […]
Newsletter 19 March 2024 March - Read the full OZeWAI Newsletter 19 March 2024. Gian Wild from AccessibilityOz is presenting at the WordPress Accessibility Meetup on “Mobile Accessibility: Building and Testing Accessible Mobile Sites and Native Apps” on April 16 at 10.00 AEST (virtual) OZeWAI News Digital accessibility skills gap survey and research “Ask The Professionals” 26 March, 18 April and 7 […]
Making Maths Accessible February - This article was written by OZeWAI member Ricky Onsman and was originally published on the TPGi website. Before his untimely passing in December, my TPGi colleague Dan O’Mahony had been working on a KnowledgeBase article about how to make mathematical equations in web content accessible to assistive technology. In his memory, we decided to honor […]
Newsletter 22 February 2024 February - Read the full OZeWAI Newsletter 22 February 2024. New details added 23 February 2024. Melbourne Web Accessibility & Inclusive Design meetup – Tuesday 27 February 2024 OZeWAI News “Ask The Professionals” 26 March Become an OZeWAI Member OZeWAI Events Survey From the OZeWAI Website Industry News Australian Human Rights Commission consultation Digital Experience Toolkit UK Association […]
Tech Events Calendar January - This article was written by OZeWAI member Ricky Onsman and was originally published on the TPGi website. It has been edited to emphasise events that take place in Australia, the Asia-Pacific region, or online, plus some events located elsewhere, all of which may be of interest to Australian digital accessibility professionals. TPGi maintains a calendar […]
Newsletter 22 January 2024 January - Read the full OZeWAI Newsletter 22 January 2024. OZeWAI News “Ask The Professionals” 23 January “Ask The Professionals” 15 February Become an OZeWAI Member OZeWAI Events Survey From the OZeWAI Website Industry News Australian Human Rights Commission consultation Call for Presentations – Perth Web Accessibility Camp 2024 Call for proposals for AccessU Conference 2024 ICEVI Conference […]
Money Talks! Formatting Currency in Web Content January - This article was written by OZeWAI member Ricky Onsman and was originally published on the TPGi website. I was recently asked to comment on the Australian Government Style Manual’s advice on using currency symbols. Non-Australian currency symbols may be inaccessible to people who access content using screen readers. Screen readers may be unable to interpret […]
Newsletter 21 December 2023 December - Read the full OZeWAI Newsletter 21 December 2023. OZeWAI News Year in Review: 2023 “Ask The Professionals” 23 January Become an OZeWAI Member OZeWAI Events Survey From the OZeWAI Website Industry News Australian Human Rights Commission consultation Conversations reveal the state of inclusion in Australia New guidance for accessible ICT procurement from NZ Call for Presentations […]
Recognition for Andrew Downie December - We congratulate OZeWAI Committee member Andrew Downie on being recognised with an ATEND Honorary Life Memberships at the Pathways 16 conference. Celebrating Excellence: ADCET Proudly Acknowledges Merrin McCracken and Andrew Downie for receiving ATEND Honorary Life Memberships. Andrew worked for TAFE NSW for 25 years in the areas of assistive technology and accessible online material. […]
A year in review: 2023 December - It’s been a busy but productive year for OZeWAI with new a membership approach, multiple sub-committee projects and lots of conferences and events so we thought it would be good to share some highlights of 2023. Memberships This year OZeWAI moved to a membership tier approach with a variety of membership options. This membership structure has […]
Making data visualizations accessible December - This article was written by OZeWAI member Ricky Onsman and was originally published on the TPGi website. Data visualization is a term applied to images that are used to make complex data easier to understand by displaying them visually. Examples commonly encountered in web content include pie charts, line charts, column graphs, bar graphs, and […]
Newsletter 24 November November - Read the full OZeWAI Newsletter 24 November 2023. OZeWAI News “Ask The Professionals” 4 December Annual General Meeting Become an OZeWAI Member OZeWAI Events Survey Government guide to engaging with People with Disability Web Directions Summit Industry News Australian Access Awards 2023 Ability News newsletter Industry Events International Day of People with Disabilities Elevate the Stage […]
International Day of People with Disabilities Events 2023 November - What is IDPwD About? International Day of People With Disabilities (IDPwD) falls on the 3rd December each year since it was proclaimed in 1992 by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 47/3. The purpose is to promote an understanding of disability issues, celebrate achievements by the disability community and encourage support for the dignity and […]
Digital Accessibility Podcasts November - This article was written by OZeWAI member Ricky Onsman and was originally published on the TPGi website. You’ve subscribed to the newsletters and RSS feeds, you’ve expanded your library, but what about digital accessibility podcasts? Podcasts have been one of the great enablers for exploring digital accessibility issues and for giving voice to people with […]
Digital Accessibility Books November - This article was written by OZeWAI member Ricky Onsman and was originally published on the TPGi website. Following on from my earlier blog post on Digital Accessibility Blogs and Newsletters, I was asked if I could recommend any good books and podcasts on digital accessibility. This post will focus on books. Books?! Are you kidding? […]
Web Directions Summit 2023 November - This is the conference that almost 20 years ago inspired me to throw myself wholeheartedly into the web tech industry as a freelance web designer / front end developer. Web Directions conferences have been a mainstay of my professional development ever since, and these days I’m very grateful for that. From the start, these conferences […]
Newsletter 20 October October - The latest OZeWAI newsletter is out now and has some great information on upcoming events and conferences, including discounts for subscribers and members to Web Directions Summit on 26 & 27 October. Read the full OZeWAI Newsletter 20 October 2023. OZeWAI News “Ask The Professionals” “Ask The Professionals” Videos Online Partnership with Web Directions Become an OZeWAI Member OZeWAI […]
Taming Google Docs with a screen reader October - By OZeWAI member Andrew Downie, Accessibility Consultant. And so it came to pass In a recent OZeWAI Committee meeting I related a fix for a problem I was having when trying to read some Google Docs with a screen reader. Before I knew it, it was unanimously agreed (no veto permitted) that an article was […]
Digital Accessibility Blogs and Newsletters October - This article was written by OZeWAI member Ricky Onsman and was originally published on the TPGi website. Let me start this post by making clear this is a personal list. It’s part of my job at TPGi to keep up with what’s happening in the digital accessibility industry and I’ve built up a list of […]
Writing Accessible Form Messages October - This article was written by OZeWAI member Ricky Onsman and was originally published on the TPGi website. When it comes to the web, we all have to deal with forms. When you subscribe to an email newsletter – that’s a form. When you apply for a credit card online – that’s a form. When you […]
W3C TPAC 2023 September - This article was written by OZeWAI member Amanda Mace for the AbleDocs blog. Every year around September the W3C’s Technical Plenary and Advisory Committee meetings (TPAC) take place somewhere around the globe. I’ve been lucky enough in my role as Advisory Committee representative for AbleDocs to attend TPAC several times including this year in Seville, […]
Overlays: Just Another Disability Dongle September - This article was written by OZeWAI member Ricky Onsman and was originally published on the TPGi website. Much has been written in recent years about accessibility overlays, third party technologies that aim to make websites more accessible without the website owner having to mess about with their underlying code. The idea of using technology to […]
Newsletter 20 September September - The latest OZeWAI newsletter is out now and has some great information on upcoming events and conferences, including discounts for subscribers and members to Web Directions Summit on 26 & 27 October. Read the full OZeWAI Newsletter 20 September 2023. OZeWAI News “Ask The Professionals” – tonight! First “Ask The Professionals” Video Online OZeWAI Highlighting our Partners Panel Partnership […]
Web Directions and Me September - I’m very excited about going to the Web Directions Summit conference this year. Web Directions and I go way back. Back even to before Web Directions was Web Directions. I’d been dabbling in this new fangled World Wide Web since the mid 90s. At the time, I was working at the Disability Information & Referral […]
Reading and Writing Accessible Equations September - By OZeWAI member Andrew Downie, Accessibility Consultant. Introduction Writing equations that both look as they should and are fully accessible can be a messy business. MathML is a laudable solution in terms of the end result in HTML pages. However, writing MathML directly is a tedious process and accessible tools to automate the process are […]
Newsletter 25 August August - The latest OZeWAI.org newsletter is out now and has some great information on upcoming events and conferences, including discounts for subscribers and members to Web Directions Summit on 26 & 27 October. Read the full OZeWAI Newsletter 25 August 2023. A new date has been added for the Inclusive Research workshops. Past workshop attendees have had a range of UX Research […]
Managing Multiple WCAG Failures August - This article was written by OZeWAI member Ricky Onsman and was originally published on the TPGi website. Web developers, designers and content authors may produce web content that inadvertently causes multiple failures of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). When this content is tested against WCAG Success Criteria (SC), auditors may wonder whether there is […]
A Brief Guide to Effective Microphone Use August - By OZeWAI member Andrew Downie, Accessibility Consultant. Background Clear sound is important during any form of public speaking: lectures, tutorials, conference presentations – even group discussions that are broadcast online. While few would dispute that statement, in both face to face and online situations several factors often militate against this. They include: Poor microphone placement […]
Embedding Accessibility Earlier in Projects July - Introduction To ensure the ‘shift-left’ of accessibility the focus is more on how to involve People with Disability earlier in a project process rather than testing for accessibility (rather than only providing an audit report too late in the project). We look at some practical ways that can be used to assess how the project […]
Newsletter 21 July – Accessibility Policy links July - Please note the updated correct links for the Accessibility Policy workshops: 17 August 2023, 5.30-7pm 18 August 2023, 11.30am-1pm OZeWAI newsletter summary OZeWAI News OZeWAI Online Round Table: “Ask The Professionals” Become an OZeWAI Member OZeWAI Events Survey From the OZeWAI Website Industry News Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Good (Part 1) Nominations for Australian Access […]
Making Numbers in Web Content Accessible July - This article was written by OZeWAI member Ricky Onsman and was originally published on the TPGi website. Numbers are a key part of how we express ourselves and communicate with each other. They are often used to express concepts that are critical to our way of life: cultural, financial, medical, legal … numbers play an […]
Newsletter 27 June June - OzeWAI News Membership Update OZeWAI Events Survey Industry News OZeWAI Supports Centre for Accessibility Australia’s Access Awards with Community Sponsorship Andrew Norman Wins Accessibility in Action Award Paid user study opportunity Report: 2023 Round Table Conference Industry Events Support to attend OZeWAI in-person partner events Local Peoples Canberra Community Event Inclusive Research workshops Enterprise UX […]
Report: 2023 Round Table Conference May - Notes by Andrew Downie I only attended Monday, the middle day of the three-day Conference on Information for People with Print Disabilities. Nevertheless, plenty of food for thought. Notable sessions Phia Damsma enthusiastically championed sonification as a means of presenting spatial information. This approach has been used by blind astronomers for a while and there […]
Andrew Normand Wins Accessibility in Action Award May - We congratulate OZeWAI Committee member Andrew Normand on being recgonised for his “exceptional efforts in championing accessibility” with an ADCET 2023 Accessibility in Action Award. These awards recognise individuals, project teams, and initiatives that have made a significant contribution to advancing accessibility and promoting inclusive practices in education and training and are held annually in […]
Newsletter 17 May May - OzeWAI News Membership Update Industry events Support to attend OZeWAI in-person partner events Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) A11y Bytes 2023 Inclusive Research workshops Accessibility Policy Workshop Local Meetups Industry Jobs Get Involved – read online
Accessible ICT Procurement Update May - Procurement of digital products and services is the other side of the ‘accessibility coin.’ OZeWAI has been busy in supporting a wide range of initiatives related to accessibility requirements in the procurement of ICT. ICT Procurement empathy mapping workshops The 2022 year started with a video for the Zero Project and then focused on running […]
Newsletter 27 April April - OzeWAI News Annual and Special General Meetings Industry events Support to attend OZeWAI in-person partner events Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) A11y Bytes 2023 AITCAP 2023 2023 Round Table Conference Inclusive Research workshops Local meetups Industry consultant request Get involved – read online
OZeWAI networking event – PWAC 2023 April - PWC workshop links Workshop agenda and activity instructions and resources google doc Refer to the online boards or other ways to add your responses Pre-discovery/discovery board and Alpha/Beta/Live board DTA standard phases spreadsheet
OZeWAI networking event – AITCAP 2023 April - PWC workshop links To prepare for the Getting started with accessibility workshop being held as part of AITCAP on Friday 28 April, please complete these checks and bookmark the links: Please complete the pre-workshop questionnaire Bring a laptop to carry out the testing activities If using a PC, download NVDA by NV Access and PDF/UA […]
Newsletter 6 April April - OzeWAI News Annual General Meeting Special General Meeting Industry events AITCAP 2023 2023 Round Table Conference Inclusive Research workshops Local meetups Industry jobs Get involved – read online
Inclusive Research workshops February - OZeWAI has partnered with ResearchOps.Community to develop a workshop “ResearchOps – understanding accessibility and inclusive design”. Capturing the needs of people living with disability is an important activity in any digital project, so what does that mean for User Research? This online workshop is an immersive introduction to inclusive research operations. Are you a user […]
Newsletter 17 February February - OZeWAI News Accessible ICT Procurement Update Annual General Meeting Become an OZeWAI Member A Career in Digital Accessibility Technical News Using the Details Element to Augment Alt Text on Graphics Industry news The Workplace Emotional First Aid Kit call for volunteers Through the disability lens: inclusive strategies to unlock diverse potential Industry events Support to […]
Using the details element to augment alt text on graphics January - By OZeWAI member Andrew Downie, Accessibility Consultant. The following is an attempt to marry or, at least, arrange a harmonious relationship between two HTML elements. This happy couple, together, can provide more streamlined access to text descriptions of images.
Newsletter 23 January January - OZeWAI Annual General Meeting; Become an OZeWAI Member; A Career in Digital Accessibility; Industry news; Call for Presentations – Perth Web Accessibility Camp Industry events; Perth Web Accessibility Camp 2023 AITCAP 2023 Inclusive Research workshops Local meetups; Industry jobs; Get involved – read online
OZeWAI achievements for 2022 January - OZeWAI shares a new vision and mission for members
Newsletter 3 December December - Annual General Meeting; Membership; Website; Industry events; Get involved – read online
Newsletter 25 November November - New OZeWAI website; Web Directions Summit networking event; Careers event; New Committee members; Industry news; Industry events; Events catchup; Local meetups; Industry jobs; Get involved – read online
Get Online Week 2022 October - OZeWAI is once again presenting a session as part of Get Online Week (17-23 October). We’ll be holding Get Online with a Screen Reader on 27 October, in which blind accessibility advocate Scott Nixon demonstrates using the VoiceOver screen reader built in to his iPhone to explore some popular websites. This remote event is hosted […]
OZeWAI networking event – 1 December 2022 October - Partnering with Web Directions Summit OZeWAI is collaborating with various other groups to advance the cause of digital accessibility in Australia. We’re also very excited to announce that we will be holding our very own networking event during the awesome Web Directions Summit conference. OZeWAI is proud to be associated with Web Directions and appreciate […]
Newsletter 13 October 2022 October - New OZeWAI website; Web Directions Summit networking event; Careers event; New Committee members; Industry news; Industry events; Events catchup; Local meetups; Industry jobs; Get involved – read online
Newsletter 16 September 2022 September - New website usability testing; Become a member; Industry news; Industry events; Local meetups; Industry jobs; Get involved – read online
Newsletter 4 August 2022 August - Become a member; OZeWAI Website – Usability Testing; Industry news; Industry events; Local meetups; Industry jobs; Get involved – read online
Newsletter 1 July 2022 July - OZeWAI Membership; OZeWAI Website – Usability Testing; Industry news; Industry events; Local meetups; Industry jobs; Get involved – Read online
Newsletter 12 May 2022 May - OZeWAI news; Industry news; Industry events; Local meetups; Industry jobs; Get involved – Read online
Newsletter 27 April 2022 April - OZeWAI news; Industry news; Industry events; Local meetups; Industry jobs; Get involved – Read online
Newsletter 24 March 2022 March - OZeWAI news; Industry news; Industry events; Local meetups; Industry jobs; Get involved – Read online
Newsletter 21 February 2022 February - OZeWAI news; Industry news; Industry events; Local meetups; Industry jobs; Get involved – Read online
Newsletter 24 January 2022 January - OZeWAI news; Industry news; Industry events; Local meetups; Industry jobs; Get involved – Read online