Accessible content workshop for non-profit organisations
Accessible content workshop for non-profit organisations
Ability Works, as an OZeWAI directory member, conducted a practical masterclass workshop at the InfoXchange, Technology for Social Justice conference held at The Telstra Insights Centre on May 8, 2025.
The Inclusive Design team facilitated a one-hour workshop about digital accessibility and inclusive communication. In the session, audience observed live demonstrations and participated in testing and group discussions. They learned how different people experience digital content. Everyone left with resources they could take back to their organisations to help make websites, documents and communications easier to use and more accessible for everyone.
Our presentation began by introducing Ability Works and sharing Dominique’s experience with hearing loss and the accommodations and tools he uses such as a sign language interpreter, captions for videos and time to review meeting recordings, to show how accessible communication and ways of working help him do his job working as a user researcher. Next, we looked at simple ways to make content more inclusive. This included:
- applying good colour contrast,
- adding captions, transcripts and sign language to videos,
- making sure images have alternative, descriptive text,
- using clear, structured headings,
- explanatory link text,
- easy to read hashtags with camel case (#DigitalAccessibility),
- readable fonts,
- making sure content works with a keyboard, and,
- why PDFs should also be accessible.
The team shared the importance of co-design and usability testing, working with people who have lived experience to make sure communication works well for everyone. These easy steps help more people, especially those with disabilities, use digital content. It also helps build a fairer and more inclusive society.
Ability Works is a member of OZeWAI, The Australian Web Accessibility Initiative. OZeWAI is a volunteer-run professional association dedicated to supporting digital accessibility professionals in Australia. Ability Works regularly supports and contributes to OZeWAI events and in return members of our team receive important digital accessibility mentoring and skills development.