Best Wcag Podcasts (2026)

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Norbert Rum (CPWA) – r/Blind, Alt Text, and the Future of AI 1:17:38

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2M ago1:17:38

1:17:38

Norbert Rum (CPWA) is the creator of Reddit's r/Blind and an accessibility specialist at AmericanEagle.com. He has over two decades of experience in digital marketing, website development, and customer acquisition strategies. Bringing his insights to the table, Norbert talks to Jessica about key moments in his life that highlighted the importance o…

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Accessibility by design | #11 Dean Birkett 50:10

4M ago50:10

50:10

Send us a text Dean Birkett and Tim Damen discuss the role of consultancy and how to empower internal teams through training. Real-world examples illustrate the impact of accessibility on individuals, while the discussion also explores the future of accessibility technology, the maturity levels within organizations, and the influence of AI. The con…

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Accessibility perspective of a person with blindness | #10 Rik Wouters 48:32

5M ago48:32

48:32

Send us a text In this conversation, Rik Wouters, Expert by Experience Digital Inclusion at Bureau EDDI, discusses the importance of digital accessibility for everyone, particularly for individuals with disabilities. He emphasizes the role of assistive technologies, the significance of the WCAG guidelines, and the challenges posed by legacy systems…

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Caroline Desrosiers – Scribely – Alt Text, Metadata, and the Power of Words 1:21:38

6M ago1:21:38

1:21:38

Caroline Desrosiers, founder of Scribely, talks with Jessica about making content truly inclusive – from alt text that tells the right story to the metadata standards that help it travel. With clients like Sesame Street and features in the New York Times, Caroline brings both warmth and precision to a topic many still get wrong. From AI description…

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Ben Tillyer – University of Oxford – Reflections on WCAG, AI, and Inclusion 1:25:25

8M ago1:25:25

1:25:25

Ben Tillyer, Head of Digital Accessibility at Oxford, talks with Jessica about WCAG’s limits, the messy ethics of unpaid testing by disabled staff, and whether AI could ever help fix it. From alt text to overlays to Oxford’s own machine learning research, this episode pulls no punches—and yes, there’s a cat.…

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Accessibility Leadership | #9 Anuradha Kumari 54:51

8M ago54:51

54:51

Send us a text In this conversation, Tim Damen and Anuradha Kumari discuss the importance of accessibility in web development, sharing their personal journeys and insights on fostering an inclusive culture within organizations. They emphasize the need for awareness, education, and collaboration among teams to ensure that accessibility is prioritize…

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Accessibility Advocacy, Automation and Best Practices | #8 Quintin Balsdon 56:15

8M ago56:15

56:15

Send us a text In this episode of Focus Trap, Tim Damen speaks with Quinten Balsdon, a technology advocate, about the importance of digital accessibility. They discuss Quinten's journey into accessibility advocacy, the challenges faced in developing accessible applications, and the role of engineers in creating inclusive technology. The conversatio…

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Introducing The Outer Circle 0:25

9M ago0:25

0:25

Welcome to The Outer Circle—a podcast about digital accessibility: what it is, why it matters, and the people working to make the web a better place for everyone. I’m Jessica Chambers, Accessibility Evangelist at Silktide. In each episode, I sit down with someone in the field to talk about their experiences, insights, and the real-world challenges …

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Managing Accessibility in Web Development | #7 Joran Quinten 58:52

9M ago58:52

58:52

Send us a text In this episode of focustrap, Tim Damen and Joran Quinten discuss the importance of accessibility in web development, sharing personal and organizational successes in improving accessibility standards. They delve into Joran's experience writing a book on web applications, the challenges of balancing accessibility with security, and t…

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Automating accessibility testing with Abra and facilitating standards at W3C | #6 Jan Jaap de Groot 59:37

9M ago59:37

59:37

Send us a text In this episode of focustrap, Tim Damen speaks with Jan Jaap de Groot, a prominent figure in digital accessibility. They discuss Jan Jaap's journey into the field, the mission of the Foundation Apt, and the importance of accessibility in app development. The conversation covers various topics, including the differences between Androi…

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The Journey to Inclusive Design | #5 Emma Dawson 48:30

10M ago48:30

48:30

Send us a text In this conversation, Tim Damen and Emma Dawson explore the significance of digital accessibility, Emma's journey from teaching to web development, and the growing importance of accessibility in the tech industry. They discuss the upcoming European Accessibility Act, strategies for embedding accessibility into organizations, and the …

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Stack Overflow's Accessibility Journey | #4 Giamir Buoncristiani 45:31

10M ago45:31

45:31

Send us a text In this episode, Tim Damen and Giamir Buoncristiani discuss the evolving landscape of digital accessibility, focusing on the initiatives taken by Stack Overflow in 2024. They explore the challenges of color contrast, the importance of automated accessibility testing, and the implications of the European Accessibility Act. Giamir shar…

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The Role of Accessibility in Banking | #3 Bianca Prins 58:21

10M ago58:21

58:21

Send us a text In this insightful conversation, Tim Damen interviews Bianca Prins, the Global Head of Accessibility at ING, who shares her personal journey into the field of accessibility, driven by her own visual disability. Bianca discusses the importance of integrating accessibility into banking services, emphasizing that it is not just about co…

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Accessibility in Web Development | #2 Martijn Fleurkens 42:42

11M ago42:42

42:42

Send us a text In this episode, Tim Damen and Martijn Fleurkens discuss the critical importance of accessibility in web development. They explore personal motivations for advocating for accessibility, the role of education, and the impact of legislation on accessibility practices. The conversation emphasizes the need for a mindset shift within orga…

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Unlocking Digital Accessibility: A Conversation with Anastasiia Batarei 55:01

11M ago55:01

55:01

Send us a text In this conversation, Tim Damen and Anastasiia Batarei discuss the importance of digital accessibility, its impact on user experience, and advocating for inclusive design. Anastasiia shares her journey into accessibility advocacy, highlights her achievements, and discusses the challenges faced in implementing accessibility practices.…

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Introducing Focustrap: A New Digital Accessibility Podcast 1:28

11M ago1:28

1:28

Send us a text Welcome to focustrap, a podcast dedicated to digital accessibility. In this introductory episode, host Tim Damen outlines the vision and format of this new podcast focused on making the digital world more accessible for everyone. Follow us: focusring.io/podcast-focustrap Linkedin Twitter…

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When Everybody's Watching 1:12:13

4+ y ago1:12:13

1:12:13

Access to television is in many ways still evolving, and as one of the leading TV, phone and internet providers in the United States, Spectrum is thinking beyond closed captions and large-button remotes to innovate across different channels. Their large accessibility team, headed by designers and incorporating people with disabilities to ensure tha…

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Cognitive Dissidents 1:09:52

4+ y ago1:09:52

1:09:52

Shell Little actually studied accessibility in college – making her a rare example of someone who didn't "stumble" into accessibility but hit the job market knowing exactly what she wanted to do. Still, she didn't know that she, herself, was part of the demographic that benefitted from inclusive design. Now an inclusive design lead on Wells Fargo's…

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Rethink the Screen 1:24:11

4+ y ago1:24:11

1:24:11

Martez Mott is a senior researcher at the Ability Group at Microsoft Research, where he works everyday to challenge assumptions and rethink paradigms for how people interact with technology. In one of our favorite interviews yet (on Global Accessibility Awareness Day no less), we chatted with Martez about AR, VR, touchscreens and everything in betw…

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Perfect Mismatch 1:25:59

4+ y ago1:25:59

1:25:59

The author of the beautiful accessibility book Mismatch, Kat Holmes, comes on to share her own personal journey and how inclusive design can take some of its greatest learnings through examining acts of exclusion.

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Adrian and the Overlays 1:13:06

5y ago1:13:06

1:13:06

Accessibility expert Adrian Roselli comes on the show to share his story, and talk about the questionable implications of the now-popular "accessibility overlay."

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College Try 1:34:03

5y ago1:34:03

1:34:03

Colleges and universities are proving grounds for digital and physical accessibility. With disabled students living on their own in many cases for the first time, these institutions need to be fully compliant, ADA literate, and not just accessible, but highly accommodating –– and if they're not, students are left out. With the cost of education on …

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Meet The Letterheads: Paul Parravano 1:18:28

5y ago1:18:28

1:18:28

Here at 13 Letters, we talk a lot about inclusive design and accessibility – but these terms mean nothing if we don't keep in mind the stories of the listeners who are most affected by bad design and most assisted by good design. That's why we're starting a new feature called "Meet the Letterheads," where we introduce you to a 13 Letters listener w…

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Accessibility Down Under 1:22:10

5+ y ago1:22:10

1:22:10

This week on 13 Letters – we take you to the land down under. Sarah Pulis and Andrew Arch are big names in a vibrant and thriving accessibility scene in Australia. Hailing from Sydney and Melbourne, respectively, the two live and breath accessibility at Intopia, a digital accessibility consultancy that Sarah co-founded. You may have seen Andrew and…

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Global Accessibility Action Every Day 1:15:38

5+ y ago1:15:38

1:15:38

Accessibility is for everyone – not just people with disabilities. That's why Jennison Asuncion and Joe Devon put their heads together almost ten years ago to conceive of an accessibility awareness day that has quickly turned into a global phenomenon. Cordelia and Will sat down with the co-founders of #GAAD this week, on the occasion of the 9th ann…

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Household Names 1:02:57

5+ y ago1:02:57

1:02:57

Going with your gut is easier said than done — but for Sumaira "Sam" Latif, Company Accessibility Leader at P&G, trusting her instincts has made some of the most impactful changes to the world of accessibility. For far too long, blind and low-vision people had to rely on the shape of a product to judge what was in the package. Sam challenged all of…

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First to the Party 38:53

5+ y ago38:53

38:53

It ain't always easy being first – that's why we have brilliant folks like Victor Tsaran to do it for us. Victor was the first blind employee on the Yahoo campus, and has a whole bunch of other "firsts" under his belt from a 20 year accessibility career that starts with the first Ukrainian screen reader and involves, most recently, the first screen…

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270 CEOs Can't Be Wrong 15:37

5+ y ago15:37

15:37

What's it like to hide your blindness from the world? Caroline Casey did it for years. Her parents never told her she was "blind," and, when she got into the working world, she hid it from everyone else. Holding down a high-powered job as a consultant at Accenture for several years while still "in the closet," Caroline finally came to the realizati…

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Branding Accessibility 1:10:16

5+ y ago1:10:16

1:10:16

We don't always decide what we hear or how we hear it – but that's changing. KR Liu, the new head of brand accessibility at Google, has a mission to bring accessibility to the masses and she's not going to stop until everyone's listening. A pioneer in the hard of hearing community, a sales powerhouse, a policy wonk and a creative technologist in he…

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Will VR Be Accessible? 1:28:55

5+ y ago1:28:55

1:28:55

Larry Goldberg wants every piece of media to be "born accessible." 40 years ago there was no captioning, no audio description, no secondary audio channels on TV sets for blind viewers or people who speak foreign languages. And for the last thirty years, Larry has presided over great changes in media accessibility that have blazed the trail for our …

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The Deaf-blind Lawyer 56:52

5+ y ago56:52

56:52

'Fearless' is a word many would use to describe Haben Girma, the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School. A disability rights lawyer, memoir author, and public speaker, Haben has certainly pushed the boundaries of how society regards deafblind citizens. Even with her many achievements, Haben would not consider herself fearless, but rather ac…

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Right at Home 35:47

6y ago35:47

35:47

There was once a time when traveling with a disability was a daunting prospect. Srin Madipalli co-founded Accomable to create a database for disabled individuals to find and book the most accessible accommodation for their trips. Airbnb acquired Accomable in 2017, and Srin went on to work as Airbnb's product manager for in-home accessibility while …

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How (Not) to Get Sued 1:13:37

6y ago1:13:37

1:13:37

You don't mess with Lainey Feingold. That's probably why, after a 25 year career in accessibility and 75 successful, precedent-setting agreements with behemoth companies, Lainey has only had to sue someone once. (Can you guess who??). Based out of a small spare bedroom law practice in Berkeley, CA, Lainey has brought the corporate world to the tabl…

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The Mad Blogger 56:18

6y ago56:18

56:18

Sheri Byrne-Haber self-identifies as a "no excuses type of gal." The head of accessibility at VMware, public speaker and accessibility expert with degrees in law, business and computer science, Sheri is most well known for her outspoken accessibility writing on her personal blog. Publishing at a steady clip and always raising the bar to outdo her o…

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Can Disabled Americans Vote? 1:13:40

6y ago1:13:40

1:13:40

When Whitney Quesenbery talks about elections, she uses phrases like "design tragedy" and "unintended consequences." Though the number of disabled voters has gone up over the last few decades, the numbers are still scary – and the gap between disabled and non-disabled voters still means millions of uncast votes. A usability and UX leader known for …

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Accessibility Should Be Free 51:35

6y ago51:35

51:35

PART TWO: Mike Shebanek made Apple products work for everyone. He wasn't always an accessibility maven, though. Mike worked his way up to become the product manager for some of Apple's most famous and influential products – from the original iMac to the first-ever iPad. And when he found himself pushing for the failing consumer electronics company …

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Who Invented VoiceOver? 53:53

6y ago53:53

53:53

PART ONE: Mike Shebanek made Apple products work for everyone. He wasn't always an accessibility maven, though. Mike worked his way up to become the product manager for some of Apple's most famous and influential products – from the original iMac to the first-ever iPad. And when he found himself pushing for the failing consumer electronics company …

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Introducing 13 Letters: The Accessibility Podcast 18:44

6y ago18:44

18:44

Accessibility is, ironically, not the most "accessible" concept. An intricate mix of best practices, regulations and creative approaches, accessibility really just means making things work for everybody. On this new podcast from Be My Eyes, Will Butler and Cordelia McGee-Tubb interview some of the world's leading experts on accessibility to talk ab…