The Jeff Beckham Weblog

I got word a couple of weeks ago that one of my panel suggestions was accepted for the 2008 South by Southwest Interactive Festival.

The session, “How Accessible Should Your Site Be?”, won’t be in a panel format, however, but will instead be a part of the new Core Conversations program at the event. Here’s how SXSW organizers describe the new addition:

Here is how this concept works. You will be given a one-hour timeslot in the Core Conversation room. You will be seated at a table that is surrounded by chairs. The rest is up to you. But instead of a panel, you are leading an informal discussion on the “How Accessible Should Your Site Be?” concept. You may have 10 people show up to listen to (and participate in) your talk — you may have 50 or more. In addition to your discussion, there will be five or six other Core Conversations on related topics going on in the same room at the same time. Attendees are free to move from table to table, according to what interests them most.

And here’s the description for the topic that I submitted back in the summer:

How accessible does your site have to be?: Section 508 and W3C guidelines give you the blueprint for making your site usable by people with disabilities. But designers don’t have to give up all of their creativity to meet those standards. There is a way to accomplish both goals. So really, just how accessible does your site have to be?

After talking about design and convergent devices at the past couple of conferences, I’m looking forward to this new topic. I’ve got some great resources to draw from at work, and I’ll reaching out to some other folks to get their input as well.

I’m going to be creating a short podcast about “How Accessible Should Your Site Be?” and I’ll post it here and at the SXSW site early next year.