The Intrazone, episode 30: “Accessibility from the start”

[Mark Kashman]

Today, we celebrate GAAD (Global Accessibility Awareness Day | May 16^th, 2019) with a special episode of The Intrazone podcast.

'Accessibility from the start' means SharePoint, OneDrive and other Microsoft 365 apps aspire to "represent the voice of people with disabilities" throughout planning, development, design, testing and into production with continuous feedback. It's something that must be built into every product Microsoft makes so that our offerings are inclusive for everyone.

In this episode, we hear from three accessibility experts: Megan Lawrence, PhD (senior technical evangelist - Microsoft), Eli Waalkes (senior program manager – SharePoint/Microsoft) and Lauren Back (usability engineering – HCL Technologies).

The full audio of episode #30 is accessible below and/or review the show’s transcript.

Subscribe to The Intrazone podcast! And listen to episode 30 now.

The Intrazone is your bi-weekly conversation and interview podcast hosted by the Microsoft SharePoint team (aka.ms/TheIntrazone).

Left to right, top to bottom: Megan Lawrence – Senior Technical Evangelist (Microsoft) [guest], Eli Waalkes – Senior Program Manager (Microsoft) [guest], Lauren Back – Usability Engineer (HCL Technologies), Chris McNulty – senior product manager (SharePoint/Microsoft) [co-host], and Mark Kashman – senior product manager (SharePoint/Microsoft) [co-host].

The Intrazone episode #30 guests in-studio at Microsoft Studios (Redmond, WA), from top-to-bottom, left-to-right: Megan Lawrence, PhD, Lauren Back, Eli Waalkes and Kaya (Lauren's guide dog).

Link to people, articles and resources mentioned in this episode

• The Intrazone Audience Survey

• GAAD https://globalaccessibilityawarenessday.org/; https://www.facebook.com/globalaccessibilityawarenessday; https://twitter.com/gbla11yday
• Enable(ing) people to do more with Dr. Rico Malvar (podcast) "Produced the core technology that allows you to type on a keyboard without your hands and drive a wheelchair with your eyes."
• Accessibility Learning Webinar Series (Sway) https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/enableing-people-to-do-more-with-dr-rico-malvar/
• Windows 10 accessibility features empower everyone (video w/audio description)
• "An inclusive Office 365"
• Xbox: Adaptive Controller (website) + related Microsoft Super Bowl Commercial 2019 “We All Win (Extended Version)"

• Microsoft Accessibility https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility, https://twitter.com/MSFTEnable; https://www.youtube.com/user/MSFTEnable; https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/accessibility/

• Microsoft Accessibility blog- https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/accessibility/
• Microsoft Accessibility feature spotlight- https://sway.office.com/vAdiAMXOJEQGVbqX
• MSR using image recognition for Accessibility- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/hearing-believing-researchers-innovation-provides-rich...

• Autism Acceptance Month https://www.autismacceptancemonth.com/; https://twitter.com/autselfadvocacy; https://www.facebook.com/AutisticAdvocacy; https://www.youtube.com/user/autselfadvocacyntwk;
• To learn more about the BrailleNote touch tablet Lauren Back uses
• SharePoint Conference, May 21-23, 2019, Las Vegas, NV
  • Use one of these speaker codes to get $50 off your registration fee; pick the speaker that you're most excited to see, use that code when you register to save yourself money and give them kudos to let them know you’re interested in what they're doing at #SPC19.
• SPS Events, Twitter @SPS_Events (various cities worldwide throughout 2019)
• European Collaboration Summit, Wiesbaden, Germany, May 27-29, 2019
• Microsoft Business Applications Summit, Atlanta, GA, June 10-11, 2019
• ESPC, European SharePoint Conference, Office 365 & Azure Conference - December 2-5, 2019, Prague, Czech Republic
• SharePoint Twitter @SharePoint | website
• Megan Lawrence, PhD, senior technical evangelist – Microsoft | Twitter | LinkedIn
• Eli Waalkes, senior program manager – Microsoft | Twitter | LinkedIn
• Lauren Back, usability engineer – HCL Technologies | HCL on Twitter | LinkedIn
• Mark Kashman – Twitter @mkashman
• Chris McNulty – Twitter @cmcnulty2000

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Be sure to visit our show page to hear all the episodes, access the show notes, and get bonus content. And stay connected to the SharePoint community blog where we’ll share more information per episode, guest insights, and take any questions from our listeners (TheIntrazone@microsoft.com). We, too, welcome your ideas for future episodes topics and segments via The Intrazone survey. Keep the discussion going in comments below; we’re hear to listen and grow.

Subscribe to The Intrazone podcast! And listen to episode 30 now.

Thanks for listening!

Thanks for the access to your reading eyeballs and/or your listening eardrums. The SharePoint team wants you, and everyone, to unleash your creativity. We will do this, with great accessibility, one episode at a time.

Cheers,

Mark Kashman, senior product manager (Microsoft 365)

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The Intrazone, a show about the SharePoint intelligent intranet; aka.ms/TheIntrazone.