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My top takeaways from axe-con 2021

Last week I took some days off and (virtually) attended axe-con, Deque’s conference for building accessible experiences. I picked a few talks to watch and made sketchnotes.

I usually learn a lot from conferences. The problem for me tends to be trimming the list down to something actionable and achievable 😬. For axe-con, I’ve picked three things to do:

  • Counter “we don’t have time to cater to special needs” by focusing on the core human need. E.g. “Eating is not a special need!”
  • Make an a11y Acceptance Criteria library (maybe using the Given / When / Then format).
  • Use the coach model instead of the Subject Matter Expert model: it implies teaching and training, and transferring of skills.

Day one

Here are my sketchnotes:

Sketchnotes from "difference drives innovation and disability inclusion benefits us all". My top takeaway: counter "we don't have time to cater to special needs" by focusing on the core human need. "Eating is not a special need!"

Sketchnotes from "agile accessibility requirements at scale". My top takeaway: make an a11y Acceptance Criteria library.

Sketchnotes from "how designers forget to consider accessibility". My top takeaway: frame a11y as a value add, make it solution-focused.

Day two

Here are my sketchnotes:

Sketchnotes from "accessible data visualisations". My top takeaway: have good text in addition to the visualisation: title, summary, mini-summaries of data.

Sketchnotes from "after the audit - integrating accessibility into the testing process". My top takeaway: play to people's strengths.

Sketchnotes from "accessibility coaching - a peek into the playbook". My top takeaway: use coach model instead of Subject Matter Expert: it implies teaching and training, and transferring of skills.

Sketchnotes from "designing accessible games". My top takeaway: the more granular the customisation, the better.