Overlays vs Automation: What’s the Difference, featuring Mike Paciello

Hello again! I hope you've all had a great week. I recently had a conversation that I think is going to improve the discussion we have around digital accessibility. This episode is sponsored by AudioEye and I'm so excited to have had the chance to speak with Mike Paciello, AudioEye's Chief Accessibility Officer. First, we covered a small part of Mike's more than 40 year career in the field of accessibility. I think we could have filled an hour with experiences from the multiple companies he's worked with and the initiatives he has been a part of. Next, we got into one of the most important issues: overlays vs. automation. Mike did a great job of explaining the differences between the two and clearly explained how overlays interfere with existing users' adaptive technology. Then we talked about AudioEye — how the platform is vastly different from an overlay. He explained AudioEye's three-pronged approach to accessibility. He first explained how AudioEye's automation catches 32 WCAG violations, which can automatically be fixed by the platform. He then explained that AudioEye offers Expert Audits where experts and individuals with disabilities dive deeper into content to find and fix accessibility issues. I'm familiar with these Expert Audits as I have participated in a few of them myself. I shared some of that experience during our conversation. Around the 16-minute Mark, Mike said something I loved about the relationship between accessibility and usability and vice versa. I'm a big believer in emphasizing how improving accessibility leads to improved user experiences. Mike discussed how through continued automation, education, and collaboration that we will get to a point where accessibility is treated just like any other aspect of localization. I was so impressed with this ready answer. I look forward to hearing what you learn from our conversation! Show Notes While this episode was not recorded live, it has not been edited. Just like episodes from the golden age of Tv it has several hiccups in it. Streamyard still doesn't offer an easy way to know when I am live, so you can hear Mike telling me we are recording. Sadly, I was so nervous about speaking with Mike that I forgot to sing my intro. And I never did get back to doing our audio descriptions. On With The Show On Youtube: