Meet the Speakers: Chapter 1
Sayan Sivakumaran
What Exactly is the Accessibility Tree?
Sayan Sivakumaran (she/they)
Sayan is a web developer based in Madison, WI that likes to contribute to the accessibility module of Chromium's rendering engine.
Here’s what they have to say about their talk:
“The accessibility tree seems to be a subject of mysticism. I hope to share what I learned from contributing to the Chromium project about how the accessibility tree is built, what kinds of information it conveys (hint: it's a lot more than just name, role, value), and the ways the accessibility tree is used in assistive and non-assistive technology.”
Ross Larson
Stress at Work: Changing the Narrative with Cognitive Therapy
Ross Larson (he/him)
Ross became a software developer through the nontraditional path of obtaining a double major in Psychology and French from Luther College. He later obtained a software development degree from Fox Valley Technical College. He works as a Software Developer for Paradigm in Middleton, WI. He currently serves on the board of the Forward Festival. He has volunteered teaching computer science at a local high school through the TEALS program. He enjoys indie and retro video games, board games, the NFL Draft, creating obscure fantasy leagues, and making charts.
Here’s what he has to say about his talk:
“Everyone has stress at work. We can’t make the stressful events go away, but we may be able to change how we think about them, and how we react to them. In this session, you will learn about what Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is, and what it can do for you. We will go over tips and tricks to deal with workplace stressors, big and small.”
Clarissa Peterson
Alt Text Is Your Superpower
Clarissa Peterson (she/her)
Clarissa is a digital technology strategist and educator. With more than 20 years experience working on websites and software, she is able to blend an innate ability to see how things could work better with the solid technical background needed to turn ideas into reality. As UX Director at WebFirst, she leads a team working to improve the user experience of federal government websites. Clarissa is the author of Learning Responsive Web Design: A Beginner's Guide (O'Reilly Media) as well as an instructor for LinkedIn Learning. She is based in Chicago.
Here’s what she has to say about her talk:
“Alt text is one of the key components that will make your website more accessible to users with disabilities. But alt text is more than just describing what you see in an image. It needs to consider context, and make sure that screen reader users are supplied all the same information that is available to visual users. Being able to give screen reader users a great user experience is a powerful skill that can change an unusable website into an intuitive, pleasant experience.”