Last week (April 22-23), I attended the IAAP-EU Meeting at Masaryk University in Brno. The event had 2 parts: a workshop and a conference. It was a valuable experience of connecting with a warm community, learning from accessibility specialists and gaining a broader view of accessibility alndscape.
The Workshop: EN Requirements Beyond WCAG
There are some requirements in the EN301549 that are not found in WCAG, which means there is not a technical documentation about how to meet and understanding these standards. This focus group gathered accessibility specialists, users and surveillance authorities to discuss and and harmonize the interpretation of these requirements, especially with European Accessibility Act (EAA) around the corner.
The following EN requirements were discussed:
- 7.2.2 Audio description synchronization: Where ICT has a mechanism to play audio description, it shall preserve the synchronization between the audio/visual content and the corresponding audio description.
- 11.6.2 No disruption of accessibility features: Where software provides a user interface it shall not disrupt those documented accessibility features that are defined in platform documentation except when requested to do so by the user during the operation of the software.
- 11.8.4 Repair assistance: If the accessibility checking functionality of an authoring tool can detect that content does not meet a requirement of clauses 9 (Web) or 10 (Non-web documents) as applicable, then the authoring tool shall provide repair suggestion(s).
- 12.2.2 Information on accessibility and compatibility features: ICT support services shall provide information on the accessibility and compatibility features that are mentioned in the product documentation.
I was assigned to the 4th group facilitated by Shadi Abou-Zahra. The discussion was structured around these questions:
- What is it relevant / applicable and why is it required?
- For what target groups(s) is important?
- What are the issues (is something unclear or difficult to interpret?
- What should be tested and how?
This was a completely new topic for me. Some discussions felt a bit dry, but they were very useful. The workshop introduced me to a different way of thinking about the EN requirements. I was fascinated by how deeply others explored the smallest details, constantly asking why and how to better understand the standards.
The results of this Workshop will be presented in an online webinar on May 7.
The Hybrid Conference
The second day was a hybrid event — with speakers and participants joining both in person and online. The panels and Q&A sessions included many voices: users, designers, developers, lawyers, business leaders, and policy makers.
The following topics was presented:
- Implementation of the European Accessibility Act (EAA).
- Pannels about the main sectors affected by EAA: banking, e-commerce, ebooks, computers, TV, and audiovisual media
Banking: When it comes to challenges, there are many. Most significant ones is crossroads of accessibility and security
The topic I found most valuable was e-commerce, where I learned how teams are preparing for EAA:
- making improvements based on users’ feedback instead of focusing on WCAG;
- companies are working to improve accessibility by training teams with external support;
- What are the most challenging in this complex process of optimizing large e-commerce for accecibility is adding relevant and Alt-images for thousands different product images;
- Where is the e-commerce start and end? All the e-commerce features have to be accessible.
You can tick the boxes of the accessibility act and you still have no idea whether your customer will understand what you have written. So we interface with the customers and make sure they give us feedback… I still think it is absolutely necessary to make sure you talk to customers and not obsessing about ticking boxes.
It was an open-eyed experience to hear different perspectives — from users, designers, developers, consultants, and stakeholders. An important part of the pannel discussions was the voice of users with dissabilities and how companies are listening and make improvements.
People & Community
Both days had lots of space for networking, meaningful connections in a not-too-large group of people that felt warm and welcoming.
Some highlights I picked up from informal chats:
- Where to find a community for technical people (Accessibility.Club);
- How to speak about overlays without being in trouble;
- Useful tool for WCAG testing (CAAT).
I found an answer for a question that bothered my mind many times: Why are the presentation useful when you can find the answer easily on internet? . As Erica shared” Presentations are for plating seeds and inspiring people. I really felt that connections in person fives you something deeper and more powerful that listening online.
I was happy to meet and chat with Oliver, Malin, Sara, Erica, Peter, Josef, Michael, Marina, Redina, Lazar, Lazar, Magda, Veronica, Hidde, and many others. Thank you for sharing your passion and for helping make this community so welcoming, with meaningful conversations throughout the event.
A special appreciation to the organisers for bringing together and created this space for learning, connection and supporting: Susanna Laurin and her team (Malin Hammarberg, Sara Kjellstrand, Peter Kemeny) and Radek Pavlíček and Teresias Center team.
Discovering Brno
At the end of the 2-day event, I enjoyed discovering the charming and calm Brno city, with its elegant and well-preserved architecture and I had a chance to listen a concert in the St Thomas Church (Stabat Matter de Pergolessi)
Špilberk Castle in Brno
City View from the Castle Hill
Church of St. Thomas in Brno
Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul
