Twitter accounts every Accessibility person must follow – Part One

Stemming from a recent post on the Twitter accounts every designer must follow, and timed coincidently when I was planning to send out several “FollowFriday” tweets, I’m sharing a list of the people you must follow on Twitter if you have any interest in digital accessibility. And as I fall under the category of “human,” if I missed anyone who really should be included in this list, please share them in the comments below.

Where’s Part 2, you ask (even if you didn’t, behave…). I know I will leave off people and organizations due to time, forgetfulness, etc. Therefore, expect me to share more Twitter accounts in the future.

Note: everything I know about accessibility is due to these steller individuals. To them, thanks for all you do.

  • Jennison Asuncion @Jennison

    Jennison AsuncionI call Jennison “The Great Connector,” not just because he’s a Digital Accessibility leader at LinkedIn (get it, connector … LinkedIn), but because he has done so much to start communities in Toronto, the San Francisco bay area, and assist with making accessibility matter in many other cities across the globe, including my hometown, Chicago. Not to mention the co-founder of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (read how it all got started).

  • Steve Faulkner @stevefaulkner

    Steve FaulknerSteve is an integral part of what we have with HTML today. Steve posts on the latest nuances with HTML5, ARIA and more. Steve tweets great resources and tips.

  • Léonie Watson @LeonieWatson

    Léonie WatsonLéonie’s powerful presentations, such as “Design like we give a damn!” have become standard study material for up-and-coming accessibility folks. Léonie tweets valuable resources on digital accessibility.

  • Marcy Sutton @marcysutton

    Marcy SuttonI first became familiar with Marcy during a JavaScript for Everybody presentation. During this presentation, she demonstrated attempting to navigate a recently redesigned airline website that was consider slick. Yet we quickly observed that it wasn’t accessible by all. Marcy’s now an Accessibility Engineer at Adobe, an Angular core team member and curates Accessibility Wins, a blog highlighting great accessibility features of websites.

  • Billy Gregory @thebillygregory

    Billy GregoryBilly Gregory is the co-organizer of the Toronto Accessibility Meetup, and an accessibility “guy” at The Paciello Group. You’ll find Billy posting some interesting accessibility stuff, like the tweet that turned into a poster everyone wanted.

  • Karl Groves @karlgroves

    Karl GrovesFormer rocker turned web accessibility consultant and developer, Karl has made a name for himself, first blogging on the perils of accessibility testing, then creating tenon.io, an automated accessibility testing API.

  • Viking & Lumberjack @VandLShow

    Viking & Lumberjack What happens when you place Billy Gregory and Karl Groves together in one place? Accessibility Mayhem! Billy & Karl as the Viking & Lumberjack almost brought the house down at the annual CSUN convention with chants from the crowd of “WTF ARIA!” Their video briefs create awareness of digital accessibility issues in a unique and entertaining way.

  • Joe Dolson @joedolson

    Joe DolsonJoe is a web developer, accessibility consultant, and WordPress plugin developer. He has aided in moving WordPress towards accessibility as a contributor to Make WordPress Accessible, and WordPress Core.

  • Jordan Quintal @JordanQ416

    Jordan QuintalI met Jordan at WordCamp Milwaukee and had seen his presentations on video. Jordan is as much of an evangelist for accessibility as he is for WordPress. He frequently posts on accessibility, WordPress and the web industry in general.

  • Henny Swan @iheni

    Henny SwanHenny is an accessible UX, mobile and multimedia currently for the Paciello Group, formally with the BBC. Great tweets with resources to the latest information on accessibility.

  • Derek Featherstone @feather

    Derek FeatherstoneI’ve been following Derek when he was one of the early leaders of web standards (think Jeffrey Zeldman – @zeldman). Derek focused on his love for teaching and accessibility. Derek runs Simply Accessible, a team of accessibility specialists changing the perception of accessibility on the web. He posts tidbits and links to presentations and resources, and a wee bit on Scotch.

  • Paul J. Adam @pauljadam

    Paul J. AdamPaul is continually testing and tweeting on his discoveries when it comes to developing for accessibility. He posts tweets on his latest demos frequently.

  • holistica11y @dylanbarrell

    holistica11yDylan works at Deque and like Paul J. Adams, tweets and retweets a plethora of valuable information on digital accessibility. I’ve found the resources shared to be invaluable.

  • Aaron Gustafson @AaronGustafson

    Aaron GustafsonLike Derek Featherstone, I’ve known of Aaron for seemingly forever. Best known for his work, writings and presentations on progressive enhancement, there’s always a valuable accessibility spin to his teachings. Aaron is the author of Adaptive Web Design and now advocates for web standards & accessibility at Microsoft.

  • Jared Smith @jared_w_smith

    Jared SmithJared is the Associate Director at WebAim.org, a fantastic resource for digital accessibility. He’s been sharings his knowledge and experience on accessibility for over six years.

  • Denis Boudreau @dboudreau

    Denis BoudreauDenis is a Senior Web Accessibility Consultant at Simply Accessible. He tweets frequently on his observations, experiences and valuable resources. And wears a mean AD/DC-themed HTML t-shirt.

  • Jonathan Hassell @jonhassell

    Jonathan HassellJonathan got his start at the BBC, creating the foundation for accessibility that leads all industries today. He is the author of Including your missing 20% and helped author BS8878, the British Standard for accessibility. Jonathan shares valuable tweets and experiences on accessibility.

  • Dennis Lembrée @dennisl

    Dennis LembréeAuthor of @EasyChirp & @WebAxe; day job at eBay. Posts and retweet valuable information. Plus, shares my name and my favorite decade of music … the 80s.

  • Bruce Lawson @brucel

    Bruce LawsonBruce is a self-described Web standards lovegod, co-wrote Introducing HTML5 and works at Opera. He tweets on web standards, accessibility and entertaining oddities. He also spars with Steve Faulkner from time to time.

  • Sam J @mixolydian

    Sam JSam shares out alot of great accessibility resources and some darn valuable advice from a personal perspective.

  • Patrick H. Lauke @patrick_h_lauke

    Patrick H. LaukePatrick is always seeking and sharing digital accessibility knowledge and tidbits that enrich everyone else’s lives.

  • Wendy Chisholm @wendyabc

    Wendy ChisholmWendy is the co-author of Universal Design for Web Applications and a Strategist for Microsoft. She tweets valuable information and resources.

  • Laura Carlson @laura_carlson

    Laura CarlsonIt’s not the number of tweets, it’s that one tweet a week I look forward to. That’s when she announces the latest edition of her Web Design Update, which typically start off with fantastic accessibility resources from the past week.

  • Adrian Roselli @aardrian

    Adrian RoselliEvery time I see
    a post from Adrian, I get excited. Many of his presentation are reference material for me. Then there’s the Homer Simpson moments:

  • Lainey Feingold @LFLegal

    Lainey FeingoldAs Lainey’s Twitter handle suggests, Lainey is a disability rights lawyer specializing in digital, tech+ info access. Her posts cover the gamut within the legal realm of accessibility.

  • Joseph Karr O’Connor @AccessibleJoe

    Joseph Karr O'ConnorJoseph is a leader not only in the accessibility community, but also the WordPress community. In fact, Joseph is a member of the WordPress Accessibility Team.

  • The Paciello Group @paciellogroup

    The Paciello GroupAn authority in the accessibility field, the Paciello Group posts valuable information frequently.

  • IBM Accessibility @IBMAccess

    IBM AccessibilityIBM Accessibility is a leading organization related to research and experience in the accessibility field.

  • SSB BART Group @AccessDemand

    SSB BART GroupAnother leading organization in the accessibility field. SSB Bart shares out knowledge in the form of articles & blog posts, presentations, etc.

  • AXSChat @AXSChat

    AXSChatA unique account that holds weekly Q&A sessions via Twitter using the hashtag #AXSChat.