Cyndy Otty

Introduction

Cyndy provides insight on issues affecting AT users to the WordPress community. She is available @ceotty and blogs at Gentle Wit. I asked her a few questions and she replied.

Shoe Size?

I’m a size 7. My guide dog, Uschi, wears a medium (2.5″) set of boots. ;-)

Pride?

Giving a voice to the reasons why certain features should be accessible. That “human” aspect of accessibility is sometimes lost because people don’t understand why such-and-such a thing should be altered. So, I’m glad to be able to present a different view to showcase usability.

Biggest Challenge?

Well, I’m the non-technical sort so by “work” I’m mostly just bringing awareness to things. I think the most difficult aspect of that is presenting it in a way that’s understandable and doesn’t undermine the positives that are already present. There are always compromises, but that doesn’t mean that anyone should have to sacrifice a feature that works how they want.

Change Most Needed?

We really need more people involved! There’s definitely a willingness to put accessibility as a higher priority, but it’s a tall order and without more people involved in every aspect it’s just an insurmountable task. I also think there has to be some give-and-take; it can’t only be the people who are interested in accessibility that work on this, but also cooperation from the other side as well. Coding from the ground up with accessibility in mind is always the best practice, but I admit it is not easy to do.

Graham Armfield

Introduction

Graham plays a pivotal role in the WordPress volunteer accessibility group and demonstrates a true understanding of WordPress culture. He is available @coolfields and offers WordPress and web design services at Coolfields Consulting and also does accessibility testing on websites – both large and small. I asked him a few questions and he replied.

Shoe Size?

10 (UK size)

Pride?

My presentation at WordCamp UK last July and the warm reception I received, coupled with the trac tickets I raised as a result contributed to a11y improvements in 3.5 and hopefully some wider understanding of a11y in WP theme and plugin developers.

Biggest Challenge?

The fact that I’m really busy on client work. It means that I struggle to be on the case consistently.

Change Most Needed?

The moment when Cyndy Otty @ceotty and Dave Martin @lessbloat were communicating during the IRC chat on February 6 about the menus issue was priceless. So I think that people like Cyndy need to be more in direct communication with the WP devs – to help them understand the difficulties some people face. I’d also like to see accessibility become an overt part of WordPress’s mission statement. If Matt could be persuaded of the value of it and how the lack of accessibility within WP tarnishes his whole democratisation of content thing – then things could be very different.