Accessibility

Hackers & Designers aims to do the best we can with the tools and resources available to us to make more access in the spaces we convene, the information we provide, the digital tools and platforms we contribute to, the activities we facilitate, the publications we make and all projects we embark on. Making access is an ongoing process and there is always room for more access. Therefore, in the case that you encounter a space, page, moment or event where you believe your needs could have been better addressed, we'd like invite you to inform us through this form.

Approach

The H&D approach:

• A process of creating better access poses the question "What do you need to access ... ?" as a starting point
• A process of creating better access centers crip and disabled voices
• A process of creating better access is never complete
• A process of creating better access is informed by standards (passage way widths, safe listening volumes, global web accessibility consortia) but aknowledges that standardization in and of itself is ableist. We continue to return to the question "What do you need to access ... ?" when the standards stop working.
• ....

Spaces

H&D hopes to make the spaces it hosts, facilitates and presents as accessible as possible. Studio, Website, Activities

Studio

• Our studio is located in ....
• Step free access (but unreliable elevator)
  • the evelvator is reliable. its just that the button needs to be hold pushed.. its stops as soon as you stop pushing. so if someone has difficulties doing that its not a helpful elevator
• Uneven ground floor
• 1st floor with holes in it (not safe for creatures with smaller feet and creatures wearing heels
• Bathroom inaccessible
• ...

Website

• Following all WAI-ARIA reccomendations for accessibility
  • semantic html markup
  • aria-labelling
  • keyboard navigation
  • accessibility tree / alternative navigation for assistive devices
  • attention to different operating system settings (dark mode, inverted colours, higher contrast, reduced transparency, reduced motion, etc...)
  • screenreader / assistive device testing
• writing image descriptions when possible
• Other non-standard accessibility consideration for the website?
  • ...
• translation when possible
  • our website is in english as it's main language
  • we do our best to translate all pages to dutch when we can
  • translations are available in other language that are on a page by page basis (german, korean, french, etc...)
• ..

Communications

• language in newsletters and social media
• image descriptions
• translation to dutch when possible
• simple language when we can

Activities

• each activity has dedicated time and resources to making it more accessible
  • this is different per activity, depends on context, scale, participants, situation...
• we try to ask what participants need when an activity involves signups and known participants
• paying attention to accessibility of spaces when choosing host locations
• ....

Publishing

• trying to experiment with accessibility in each publishing activity in a different way
• ...