I don’t think I’ve shared this here before — if so, sorry!

A first instinct may be to think of accessibility as a technical problem that needs a solution. I’d suggest that it might be an opportunity to reframe how we approach the idea itself; from accessibility to adaptability. Adaptability of methodology, problem solving, software, and devices.

I suspect that a big reason for accessibility being neglected in computing is ignorance. People who can't participate in the Web as it is today are also invisible to those who can and do, so we don't know what exactly their issues are nor what we could do to improve the situation. It's a kind of digital divide.

FWIW, halfway through the last paragraph I was thinking “cool, now we’re done with the front matter, let’s get into this juicy accessibility vs adaptability thing!” – and then the post ended. So take that as a sign that, if you were to write more on this thought (or if you already have?) I am interested to read it.

Thanks @Joshua Horowitz! I haven’t really “finished” the thought there, but I have written more about accessibility, all very work focused: • https://adhoc.team/2024/02/21/scaling-a11y-va/ • https://eli.li/accessibility-and-the-product-person • https://eli.li/accessibility-first