Dear AccessWorld Readers,
Welcome to the inaugural issue of the refreshed AccessWorld! As I have mentioned in the last two issues, with our inclusion into AFB's Talent Lab program, AccessWorld has been updated with new content, a new look, and a new structure.
Historically, AccessWorld has focused primarily on assistive technology users with blindness or low vision, their friends and family, teachers of the visually impaired, and rehabilitation professionals. With our transition to the Talent Lab, our new vision is to be a practical source of knowledge regarding the intersection of disability and technology and include technology professionals in our community to help them build their accessibility skills and create a digitally inclusive future.
As part of this effort, we will begin publishing an array of article categories to support our mission of promoting digital inclusion:
- Product Reviews: Analyses focused on the accessibility of a given product or service, detailing the standout accessibility features as well as what access pitfalls may be present in order to inform you of the accessibility of a given product while also spotlighting important practical accessibility takeaways for designers and developers.
- Employment Journeys: Conversations with people with disabilities, spotlighting their experiences and advice for employers and other people who are blind or low vision seeking employment.
- Ask an Expert: Interviews with experts in the field of accessibility, from access professionals to app or web developers.
- Best Practice Guides: Detailed technical insights to digital designers and developers, focusing on process, techniques, and examples for practical application.
- Inclusive Tech Research: Exploration of the use of technology or trends in accessibility to pieces exploring a given piece of novel technology that might be valuable in the work of digital inclusion.
- Conference Coverage: Reports on developments in the field of accessibility as well as new developments in mainstream technology that might be applicable to improving accessibility.
AccessWorld is also sporting a new visual presentation (including a cool new logo) as well as minor changes to page structure. Going forward, AccessWorld will be published quarterly, on a seasonal basis. This issue is our inaugural Spring 2023 issue. The next issue to be released will be our Summer issue, which will be published in August 2023 with Fall and Winter issues released in November and February, respectively. Don’t forget to sign up for our email alerts for the launch of new issues, if you haven’t already subscribed!
As always, we’d love to hear your feedback, so feel free to contact me by email at apreece@afb.org.
Sincerely,
Aaron Preece
AccessWorld Editor in Chief
