the three AI tools in my accessibility toolbox
Whenever any cutting-edge technology hits the mainstream, there's an explosion of creativity as people experiment with designs, try to find solutions for old problems, and create new solutions looking for a problem. This is especially true in the accessibility industry. It happened with the internet, web 2.0, the blockchain, and now it's AI's turn. Three quarters of these products disappear without ever gaining adoption. But the ones that survive change the world forever.
AI and the Sound of Disability
Note: the sounds in this entry do not contain actual words, and often are not identifiable sounds. This post is inaccessible to the Deaf or Hard of Hearing. I have done my best to describe the sounds in the entry itself, however I recognize that any level of inaccessibility to any person for any reason is unacceptable. In an attempt to offset this, I have donated $75 to the Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf. I strongly encourage anyone who listens to any of the sounds on this page to do the same.
My Accessible Self-hosting Tech Stack
I've been hosting services for myself and others for over 25 years now: starting on IIS6, moving to Windows Server, eventually to Debian, and now to an entirely dockerized stack. Self-hosting allows me to control my destiny in a way that using cloud services run by others doesn't. If an update causes screenreader issues, I can just not apply it. If I don't like the default themes, I can change them. In most cases, the projects I host are open-source, meaning I can contribute fixes myself, or write plugins to meet my specific accessibility needs. In this article, I'll go over the tech choices I've currently made, why I made those choices, and how they're working out for me. As it can be disappointing to set up and configure an app for hosting, only to find out it doesn't work with your screenreader, I thought it would be a good idea to document what I'm currently using. If you're interested in taking the same control yourself, or just curious about the accessibility of the self-hosting landscape, I hope you'll find this post useful and informative.
Open Protocols and APIs: The Overlooked Key to Accessibility
Note! the following are my personal opinions, and should not necessarily be taken as the opinion of my employer.