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A11y Design Bootcamp is a live educational program that consists of exercises, discussions, and knowledge shares to raise awareness of web accessibility best practices, the role designers play in creating accessible products, and how to advocate for accessibility with cross-functional partners.
May 16 is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), and I’m using the occasion to reflect on one of the longest, if not the longest, projects I’ve worked on throughout my accessibility design career: Web Accessibility (A11y) Design Bootcamp. In talking to fellow web accessibility practitioners and folks who work in product development, I often get asked what the bootcamp is, how we got started, and how they can do the same in their organizations. Let’s break all of that down!
A11y Design Bootcamp is a live educational program that consists of exercises, discussions, and knowledge shares to raise awareness of web accessibility best practices, the role designers play in creating accessible products, and how to advocate for accessibility with cross-functional partners. Topics we cover include: what is web accessibility, assistive technology and how it works, identifying bugs in wireframes and in build, and disability justice, or what I like to call “bringing it back to the people.”
Currently, a cohort meets for four sessions over two weeks. Bootcamp utilizes a reverse classroom model, meaning designers complete pre-work prior to each session, such as bespoke videos, documentation, and articles, so we can utilize our time together through exercise and discussion. Each round consists of pre- and post-bootcamp surveys that allow us to iterate each cohort and ensure it is meeting designers’ needs. Adaptations are made to fit the course material, and breaks are introduced to make sure attendees digest material without overwhelm. Additionally, we use a Slack channel to send reminders and review messages with each cohort.
Since its inception in March 2023, I’ve facilitated four cohorts that mount to 50% of our design organization here at GitHub completing training–and counting!
Having prior experience running live web accessibility education programs, content creation was more or less straightforward. What was more difficult was figuring out how to connect these programs to larger team and organization goals.
In preparation for our first bootcamp, Catharine McNally, a program manager focused on accessibility, led a few stakeholders through an awesome brainstorm that helped us ground our content. Some questions posed included:
During this time, we also worked through important information, such as:
As a facilitator, the best part of the grounding exercise discussed above was establishing A11y Design Bootcamp values. This felt integral because everything we did–every exercise, discussion, slide, and both spoken and written word–was in service to four principles:
Tangentially related, I often get asked “Why a live workshop? That’s so much work!” I promise it’s not just because I like socializing. In fact, live facilitation is in alignment with all of the our values because it:
While we’ve made great strides, there’s still a big journey ahead of us! We intend to create boot camps for more product design teams and use the frameworks we have to scale bootcamp to other functions.
I personally want to thank Allie Thu for the opportunity to lead this project, and Catharine McNally for all the ways she’s helped this program grow, and both for their unwavering support and enthusiasm. I’m grateful my job includes fostering designers’ appreciation and dedication to designing accessible products, and that I get to lead a training program that continues to grow with them.
