Denis Boudreau has spent the past ten years actively advocating for Web standards and accessibility and is co-editor of the recently-adopted Quebec government's Web accessibility standards that are based on WCAG 2.0. He is the acting president of AccessibilitéWeb, a french speaking Web accessibility agency specialized in training, assessment and consultancy, located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
His session, "Build Accessible HTML Structures" on Monday, February 27 at 1:30 PM, will provide you with the foundation you'll need for the technical track of this two-day pre-conference. Denis will explain the value of semantics and structure when building sites that are intended to be accessible to all on a wide range of platforms, from the desktop, to the tablet, to the smart phone.
He will discuss how to design tables and forms accessibly, as well as ways to make sure Web content is organized efficiently so it can be accessed by all types of users, including people with various disabilities. You'll learn how to take reading order into account as you implement CSS, how screen readers deal with HTML content and scripts, how images can be integrated so they make sense to those who can't see them, etc. You'll also learn what to consider when you want to ensure your site will work properly for a wide range of keyboard users. If you're wondering how to provide alternate attributes (text descriptions) for images or how to make sure colorblind users will perceive your content adequately, this is the class for you!
Bring examples, so you can take concrete results back to your workplace.
Denis is an active participant in several working groups of the Web Accessibility Initiative, including the Education and Outreach Working Group and the Evaluation and Methodology TaskForce. In addition, he periodically posts a great "link roundup" about Web accessibility. As his site suggests, he's busy "Advocating web accessibility and social inclusion. One link at a time." To see a sample, visit AccessiWatch and/or follow Denis on Twitter at @dboudreau. He is also running the a11yMTL unconference, taking place every year by the end of august in beautiful Montreal.
This session, along with others, will be held as part of Knowbility's AccessU at CSUN 2012. We look forward to seeing you there.