How I Curate Accessibility Weekly
I put a lot of thought into the links that land in Accessibility Weekly.
How that happens evolves constantly. I keep an up-to-date set of guidance over on a page called What makes a good link. Recently, I shared a virtual stage with Jack McElaney (Accessibility in the News), and Ricky Onsman (Weekly Reading List), two other newsletter curators, and it made me realize I should outline more of how I think about what goes into the newsletter in a blog post. Much of what I’ll cover here gets a mention on that virtual stage though. OZeWAI, a professional accessibility organization based in Australia, ran the event. You can watch the stream, called Accessibility News - Ask the Professionals on YouTube for all the accessibility nerd content. Huge thanks to Amanda Mace for moderating with thoughtful questions, and Jack and Ricky for participating.
In the meantime, let’s dive into how I decide on links that end up in Accessibility Weekly.
As mentioned, I use that good links page as a guide. I’m not going to rehash that page here, but will mention the most important aspects.
Help People Learn Digital Accessibility
I started the newsletter to help people learn and make accessibility less intimidating. This trumps all other requirements when it comes to the posts and resources I share. It should help someone interested in digital accessibility bring new knowledge to their everyday work.
Present Current, Accurate Information with a Perspective
I want a link that provides current, accurate information while bringing a unique perspective. Readers should have confidence in the information available. I remember reading forum posts when I first started learning accessibility. Many contained levels of nuance I wasn’t ready to understand. That’s part of accessibility, but I want the links I select for Accessibility Weekly to have a level of clarity that those forum posts lacked. That clarity can show up in different ways, but the reader should be able to walk away with an action or a concept to investigate further, thanks to a new understanding.
Feature the Lived Experience of People with Disabilities
I try to bring the perspectives of people with disabilities to readers of the newsletter. I want to feature posts that talk about everyday life, not only content centered on using technology. As much as I aim to do this, other sources do it better. Disability Debrief stands out as one.
Include Content Written by a Human on an Independent Domain
Social media sites come and go. I try to feature posts on domains owned by independent companies or people because they have a chance to survive longer. I want content that someone invested time and resources into before putting it out there. That means there’s a higher chance a human crafted it.
Bring More Insight Than a Tool Alone
We need tools that help accessibility specialists do their job. I do include them now and then. What excites me more? How did you make the tool? What decisions did you make and why? Those are the stories I want to share. Tools alone don’t often convey that.
Stick to a Boring Structure
The newsletter hasn’t changed much over the years. It has three main sections and compiles about 10 to 15 links each week. Here’s how I approach each section:
Featured post: I want this to bring depth and make people think. It could have an unpopular opinion, be a long tutorial or a less broached topic. I hope people read it, and think about it throughout the week.
News, resources, tools and tutorials: This functions like a grab bag. I hope everyone finds something in here to click on and explore. I try to include accessibility-adjacent links in addition to the regular topic. It might be anything from performance to HTML to design systems.
New to A11y: I reserve this section for beginner-level posts. I want this content to bring people along slowly. I don’t mind covering the same topics, especially when written by different authors or from different perspectives.
Chatting about creating and curating accessibility news and links was a huge blast. Here’s to more links coming people’s way.