Over time, your users will become more accustomed to and reliant on voice-based interactions with their computers and, thereby, the web. Enabling them to complete critical tasks without a visual user interface will be crucial for the long-term success of your website. In this session, Aaron Gustafson will discuss how smart markup choices can improve the overall usability and accessibility of your projects without disrupting your current workflow.

“Progressive enhancement” is a philosophical approach to web design and development that centers users, with the goal of enabling everyone to access the content and complete core tasks, regardless of circumstances influencing how they access the web. In this session, I set the stage for why progressive enhancement is the gold standard for developing web projects before diving into a host of practical examples of how you can apply this practice to a range of interfaces. Along the way, I also show you how your entire team can (and should) get involved in the ideation, development, testing, and evolution of your interfaces and components.

In this talk I use my experience as a Front End Development Manager & Accessibility Lead to dissect the structure of a website. You’ll learn a 3 step process to evaluate designs & code to make decisions across disciplines to arrive at more accessible product experiences.