_posts/2015-04-07-icymi-a11yhack-accessibility-awareness-hackathon.md
---
title: 'In case you missed it: #a11yhack, an accessibility hackathon'
date: '2015-04-07'
layout: post
image: /assets/blog/a11yhack/a11yhack.jpg
tags:
- events
- hackathons
- accessibility
authors:
- jackie
- alan
- nick
- kate
- jhunter
description: "Improving accessibility and 508 awareness is one of 18F’s ongoing goals. In support of this goal, we recently hosted a11yhack, a website accessibility hackathon."
excerpt: "Improving accessibility and 508 awareness is one of 18F’s ongoing goals. In support of this goal, we recently hosted a11yhack, a website accessibility hackathon."
---
Improving [accessibility and 508
awareness](https://18f.gsa.gov/2015/03/31/focus-on-accessibility/) is
one of 18F’s ongoing goals. In support of this goal, we recently hosted
[a11yhack](https://18f.github.io/hackathons/a11yhack/), a website accessibility
hackathon.
[Section 508](http://www.section508.gov/), an amendment to the
[United States Workforce Rehabilitation Act of
1973](http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/disability/laws.htm), was enacted
to eliminate barriers in information technology. Federal websites are,
by law, designed to be accessible to everyone – individuals who are
visually impaired, hearing impaired, or have mobility issues – and we
want you to help us develop shareable solutions to some digital
accessibility problems facing Government and users today.
Aimed at accessibility (a11y) users, developers, policy makers, and
technologists, the hackathon featured experts discussing their work,
networking opportunities, and the opportunity to make a real difference
on these issues via general project collaboration and reviews of
different websites (including tips for improving accessibility). The
[White House Office of Science and Technology
Policy](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/ostp), the
[National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and
Rehabilitation
Research](http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/nidrr/index.html),
and [DC Legal Hackers](http://dclegalhackers.org/) also sponsored
the event.
About 80 people attended the all-day event, and many of the organizers
and participants shared that it was a huge success.
“All the presenters were great and I was really happy the [National
Federation of the Blind](https://nfb.org/) could come and help us
out. Their insight was inspiring and we got a lot of great feedback from
them,” said Nick Bristow, one of the event organizers.
“The hackathon itself was also successful. [Megan
Smith](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/ostp/about/leadershipstaff/smith)
loved the [508 Procurement
Playbook](https://18f.github.io/508-procurement-playbook/) that was
put together, and the video CAPTCHA was great. The basic idea was to
authorize a person by asking them to perform actions in front of a
camera, such as looking left then right, holding up a certain number of
fingers, etc. Some members from the NFB were big fans of this idea,”
Nick said.
Alan deLevie, another organizer, appreciated the diversity of
attendance, saying, “It was great to have so many people who use
assistive technology, developers, and policy people all in the same
room. Everyone seemed quite excited to be working on this important
issue.” He added, “When we talk about using technology to help people in
their daily lives, I can't think of many areas with more impact than
accessibility. Unfortunately, accessibility is something that is easy to
overlook if you don't need it. But I hope that the hackathon helped
raise awareness and get the message across that accessibility is
something we all can improve.”
[](https://18f.github.io/hackathons/a11yhack/hackpad-snapshot/)
Jackie Kazil, another organizer, said several aspects of the gathering
stood out to her, including alternatives to Web practices such as video
CAPTCHA for visually impaired users or the calls to action for
policymakers, technology companies, and users to get together to
recognize and/or address
[accessibility](https://18f.github.io/accessibility/) issues early
on. She echoed the sentiments of fellow 18F colleagues who see
accessibility as one of the most important aspects of web development.
And that being 508-compliant is not “just about what the letter of the
law says,” but includes that and considers a meaningful user experience.
And as a data scientist and a software developer, she also appreciated
the emphasis on being consciously aware of user experiences throughout
the project evolution process.
“The idea that often 508 is something you think about at the end of the
development process, something that someone checks off a list, and if
it’s not acceptable, has to be revisited, is not efficient,” she said,
adding that “bringing the accessibility consideration earlier into the
process is going to help improve the experience.”
<p class="authors">Photo: Jameson Dempesy</p>
Overall, everyone in attendance seemed to have a great time networking
and discussing accessibility needs and concerns in the community. We’ll
be doing more events like this in the future, so if you didn’t make it
to this one, we hope to see you at the next.
### Key links
[Resources](https://18f.github.io/hackathons/a11yhack/resources):
Accessibility Resources.
[Tools](https://18f.github.io/hackathons/a11yhack/tools): Accessibility
Tools.
[Best Practices and Common Testing
Tools](http://buyaccessible.gov/content/best-practice-library):
Accessibility Tools.
[Hackpad](https://hackpad.com/Accessibility-Hackathon-a11yhack-FSW5lFX53LP):
Shared notes from hackathon.
### Hackathon projects:
Join or post your projects in the [snapshot of the Accessibility
Hackathon
Hackpad](https://18f.github.io/hackathons/a11yhack/hackpad-snapshot/).