Chax Chat Accessibility Podcast

Learn our favorite tips, tricks, and shortcuts to creating accessible documents in Indesign! Every application has hidden secrets, some so good you wish you knew them sooner. Join Chad Chelius and Dax Castro as they share their experiences behind these shortcuts, how they found them, and how each tip can help you become a quicker, more proficient document accessibility expert.

In this episode, we will cover how to name and outline heading levels, adding styles to headers, editing all export tags, different techniques to add Items to the articles panel, using the escape key to select the table cell, creating an object style for artifacting, and creating shortcuts to assign a heading level.

Find the Accessible InDesign Starter Template by visiting: https://www.accessibilityunraveled.com/accessible-indesign-styles/

Get a demonstration of MadeToTag by visiting:

Accessibilityunraveled.com/axesWord

• 0:00: Introduction
• 3:30 - Topic Introduction
• 5:57 - Name and Outline Headers
• 12:56 - Adding Styles to Headers
• 17:09 - Edit All Export Tags
• 20:13 - Adding Items to the Articles Panel
• 24:19 - Use Escape to Select the Table Cell
• 25:06 - Creating an Object Style for Artifacting
• 29:16 - Creating Shortcuts to Assign Heading Levels

Avoiding a lawsuit is as easy as implementing accessibility correctly the first time. But as many of us know, we still aren't quite there yet. There is a lot of work that needs to be done if we are going to truly have an internet that is accessible to everyone. Many businesses and public entities offer services, products, and information that everyone needs access to, regardless of their ability, and sometimes it feels that a lawsuit is the only way to jumpstart that process.

To get an inside look at the legal system, we have invited a special guest to join us of CHAX Chat! Eve Hill of Brown Goldstien & Levy is an ADA lawyer and consultant.

In this episode, we are going to hear firsthand what happens in an ADA lawsuit, the step-by-step process when a complaint is filed, and steps you can take to start preparing your company now for success, enabling your company or organization to serve everyone.

"Automation does not guarantee compliance!" is the inspiration behind today's episode. Here at CHAX Accessibility Training. Accessibility Checkers are one such tool. They check for particular issues, but just because a checker does not flag accessibility issues does not mean your documents are compliant. Today we are going to unravel the 7 things that Fail Accessibility but will pass your Checker!

Passing the PAC Checker or Acrobat Checker is only the first step to remediating a document. Once you master these 7 items that your checker will miss, you will be ready to test your document with NVDA or JAWS to ensure everyone has the user experience you intend.

There is no doubt that the subject of accessibility and remediation can be a confusing landscape for those just starting out in this wonderful industry. Today, we tackle part two of our Top Ten Questions in accessibility and remediation!

Some of these answers might surprise you, as we both learned something new in this episode, too. We discover new tools, like PDFix, review our top applications, discuss some of the oddities in the industry, and so much more. Whether you are new to document remediation or a veteran, there is something to learn every day.

This is part 2 of our Top 10 Questions Accessibility Newbies Ask. Part 1 of this two-part episode originally aired Dec 2023.

Understanding how people use accessibility technology is essential to creating accessible media. In this episode, Chad Chelius and Dax Castro dive into the 2024 WebAIM "Screen Reader User Survey #10 Results" to get an inside look on who uses screen reading tools, and where they use them. They cover age, location, favorite reader, and more. Even though we are exploring a relatively small sample size, the information here is invaluable. So sit back, grab your favorite drink, and get our take on the data! Watch the video on our YouTube Channel @A11Y

In this episode Chad Chelius and Dax Castro discuss what it means to understand the user experience of a screen reader as well as accessibility technology at large. Creating documents and digital media has its challenges, but what if your product does not respond the way you expect it to? Learn about how to adapt your understanding to the end user experience in today's episode. We are also excited to share two new A11y terms just for you! Introducing Chax-ified and Chax-essible! Other topics we cover today include our new partnership with Tamman, Inc, the experience of being an accessibility specialist on the Mac series of M1, M2, and M3 computers, our upcoming classes, CSUN, and more!

In this episode, we unravel nested tag structures. Chad and Dax break down lists, TOC, footnotes, and tables. Learn what the most basic way to create a list structure is and how Dax had to hit the books once again to make sure he wasn't telling tales. Chad talks about footnotes and references and why you might hear "Link Link" in your TOC elements. If you struggle to understand which tags get nested inside others, then you definitely want to listen to this episode!

In this episode, we interview Kelly Swanson and Sherri Smith from the Center for Schools and Communities to understand how Sheri was able to initiate interest in document accessibility and start a successful document accessibility program within their organization. Kelly shared key insights from a manager's perspective that can help others in their quest to implement accessibility at a program level.

In this episode, Dax Castro and Chad Chelius talk about the troubles with creating QR codes and reveal the common mistakes people make when trying to make them accessible. They show you how to create them, how to set the placement correctly, and what your options are when it comes to making accessible QR codes for your documents. Chad even shows how you can use InDesign to make your QR codes right in the program. If you struggle with accessible QR codes definitely tune into this episode!

In this final episode for 2023 we look back at the most frequently asked questions by people just starting out in document accessibility. We also dropped a major announcement about the future of Chax Training and Consulting. So you definitely don't want to miss this episode.

Top 5 Questions:

1. Do Span Tags Matter?
2. Do Container Tags Matter?
3. How Long Should Alt-text Be?
4. Can I have more than one H1 in my document?
5. What is the difference between deleting a tag and artifacting one?

If you felt like we missed any or want to post a final message for the end of the year, please feel free to post in the comments. We read every single one!