diff --git a/apps/labs/posts/accessibility-whos-responsible.md b/apps/labs/posts/accessibility-whos-responsible.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..cb984fce4 --- /dev/null +++ b/apps/labs/posts/accessibility-whos-responsible.md @@ -0,0 +1,135 @@ +--- +title: "Accessibility: Who's Responsible?" +published: March 25, 2021 +author: isabela-presedo-floyd +description: "For the past few months, I've been part of a group of people in the JupyterLab community who've committed to start chipping away at the many accessibility failings of JupyterLab. I find this work is critical, fascinating, and a learning experience for everyone involved. So I'm going to document my personal experience and lessons I've learned in a series of blog posts. Welcome!" +category: [Access-centered, OSS Experience] +featuredImage: + src: /posts/accessibility-whos-responsible/jlabaccess1.png + alt: 'Fingers and question marks pointing in every direction' +hero: + imageSrc: /posts/accessibility-whos-responsible/jlabaccess1.png + imageAlt: 'Fingers and question marks pointing in every direction' +--- + +## JupyterLab Accessibility Journey Part 1 + +For the past few months, I've been part of a group of people in the JupyterLab community +who've committed to start chipping away at the many accessibility failings of JupyterLab. +I find this work is critical, fascinating, and a learning experience for everyone involved. +So I'm going to document my personal experience and lessons I've learned in a series of blog +posts. Welcome! + +Because this is the first of a series, I want to make sure we start with a good foundation. +Let me answer some questions you might be having. + +**Q:** Who are you? +**A:** I'm Isabela, a UX/UI designer at [Quansight Labs](https://labs.quansight.org/), who +cares about accessibility and is fortunate to work somewhere where that is a respected concern. +I also spend time in the Jupyter ecosystem—especially around JupyterLab —though that is not the +only open-source community you can find me in. I like to collect gargoyles, my hair is pink, +and I love the sunflower emoji :sunflower:. It's nice to meet you! + +**Q:** What is the Jupyter ecosystem and JupyterLab? +**A:** [Project Jupyter](https://jupyter.org/) is an organization that produces open-source software +and open standards. The Jupyter ecosystem is a term used to describe projects that are directly a +part of or support Project Jupyter. JupyterLab is one of its primary projects and a staple for +the day-to-day work of many students, professionals, researchers, and more. + +**Q:** What is accessibility? +**A:** Accessibility is a term used to describe the practice of creating things in a way that +makes them usable for people with disabilities. I’m going to be talking mostly about web accessibility +since JupyterLab is a web app. If you're asking why you should care about accessibility, please +take a moment to read [why it matters](https://www.w3.org/WAI/fundamentals/accessibility-intro/#context) +(hint: there are ethical, legal, and business reasons to care). Inaccessible experiences can +have consequences, from people not being able to get information they need to being unable to +pursue whole careers that rigidly require the use of inaccessible software (such as JupyterLab). + +**Q:** Who is responsible for making things accessible? +**A:** I'm so glad you asked! Let's dive into that... + +### How did we get here? + +The Jupyter ecosystem is full of people who care about accessibility. I know this because I've heard +people ask about accessibility in community meetings. I know this because I've read discussions about +accessibility on Github issues and PRs. I know this because the project has a +[repository](https://github.com/jupyter/accessibility/) devoted to organizing community accessibility +efforts. If this is the case, then why hasn't JupyterLab already been made more accessible in the past +three years it's been deemed "[ready for users](https://blog.jupyter.org/jupyterlab-is-ready-for-users-5a6f039b8906)?" +(I'm intentionally not mentioning other Jupyter projects to limit this post's scope.) + +Because for every time accessibility is brought up, I've also experienced a hesitance around taking +action. Even though I’ve never heard it explicitly said, the way I’ve seen these efforts get lost time and +time again has come to mean this in my head: “accessibility is someone else’s problem.” But it can’t always +be someone else’s problem; at some point there is a person taking ownership of the work. + +So who is responsible for making something accessible? Probably not the users, though feedback can be a +helpful step in making change. Certainly not the people that already can’t use the tool because it isn’t +accessible. But I, personally, think anyone who is part of making that tool is responsible for building and +maintaining its accessibility. Just as any user experience encompasses the whole of a product, an +accessible experience does the same. This should be a consideration from within the product, to its +support/documentation, to any other interaction. A comprehensive team who thinks to ask questions like, +“how would I use this if I could only use my keyboard?” or “would I be able to get the same information if +I were colorblind?” are starting to hold themselves and their team accountable. Taking responsibility is +key to starting and sustaining change. + +### Misconceptions + +Here are a few common concerns I’ve heard when people tell me why they can’t or haven’t worked on +accessibility. I’m going to paraphrase some replies I've heard when asking about accessibility in many +different environments (not only JupyterLab) over the years. + +**I don’t know anything!** +And that’s fine. You don’t have to be an expert! Fortunately, there are already a lot of resources out +on the wide open internet, some even focused on beginners (some of my personal favorites are at +[The A11y Project](https://www.a11yproject.com/resources) and +[MDN](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/Accessibility/What_is_accessibility)). Of course, +it’s important to remember that learning will mean that you are likely to make mistakes and need to keep +iterating. This isn’t a one-and-done deal. If you do have access to an expert, spending time to build +a foundation means they can help you tackle greater obstacles instead of just giving you the basics. + +**I don’t have time for another project!** +Accessibility doesn’t have to be your only focus. JupyterLab sure isn’t the only project I am working on, +and it won’t be in the near future. Any progress is better than no progress, and several people doing even +a little work can add up faster than you might think. Besides, there’s a good chance you won’t even have +to go out of your way to start improving accessibility. Start by asking questions about a project you are +already working on. Is there a recommended way to design and build a component? Is information represented +in more than one way? Is everything labeled? It’s good practice and more sustainable to consider +accessibility as a regular part of your process instead of a special side project. + +**It’s not a good use of my energy to work on something that only affects a few people!** +It’s not just a few people. Read what [WHO](https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health) +and the [CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html) have +to say about the number of people with disabilities. + +**I don’t want to make abled people’s experience different than it already is!** +Depending on what you are doing, the changes might not be active or noticeable unless assistive technologies +or accessibility features are being actively used. And in many cases, accessibility features improve the +experience for all users and not just those they were designed for (sometimes called the [curb cut effect](https://uxdesign.cc/the-curb-cut-effect-universal-design-b4e3d7da73f5)). Even if you aren’t convinced, I’d encourage you to ask yourself why creating the user +experience you want and making that experience accessible are mutually exclusive. What are people missing +out on if they can’t use your product? What are you missing out on if they can’t use your product? + +### What could responsibility be like? +With JupyterLab, it was just a matter of a few people who were willing to say they were tired of waiting and able +to spend time both learning what needed to be done as well as doing it. Speaking for myself, I did not come in as +an expert or with undivided obligations or even someone with all the skills to make changes that are needed. I +think this is important to note because it seems to me that it could have just as easily been other members of +the community in my position given similar circumstances. + +Our first step in taking responsibility was setting up a regular time to meet so we could check-in and help +one another. Then we set reasonable goals and scoped the work: we decided to focus on JupyterLab rather +than multiple projects at once, address [WCAG 2.1 standards](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/) in parts of JupyterLab we were already +working on, and follow up on past work that other community members began. This is just the beginning, +but I hope it was a helpful peek into the process we are trying out. + +### But wait, there's more! +Deciding to make accessibility a priority in Jupyter spaces isn't where this work ends. Join me for the next post in this series +where I'll talk about my not-so-subtle panic at the amount of problems to be solved, how to move forwards in spite of panic, and +the four experience types in JupyterLab that we must address to be truly accessible. +___ + +*This is part of a series of blogs around making JupyterLab more accessible. You can read the +[whole series here](/categories/jlaba11y).* + +*Interested in getting involved? Join our community via the JupyterLab accessibility meetings +listed every other week on the [Jupyter community calendar](https://jupyter.readthedocs.io/en/latest/community/content-community.html#jupyter-community-meetings).* diff --git a/apps/labs/public/posts/accessibility-whos-responsible/jlabaccess1.png b/apps/labs/public/posts/accessibility-whos-responsible/jlabaccess1.png new file mode 100644 index 000000000..2ce2712b2 Binary files /dev/null and b/apps/labs/public/posts/accessibility-whos-responsible/jlabaccess1.png differ