This post explains why audio description in advertising is still rare, even though millions of blind and low-vision people want and need it. Companies often say it’s too expensive or hard to fit into short ads, but the cost is tiny compared to what they spend on production and airtime. The post offers practical solutions, like creating separate AD tracks or getting feedback from the community, and urges advertisers to treat accessibility as a smart business move, not a burden.
Author: Equal Entry
This conversation explores the challenges of writing good alt text and why relying only on AI isn’t enough. Alt text needs to match the purpose of the image and fit the context where it appears, which AI alone often misses. Creating useful image descriptions requires a clear workflow. This ranges from understanding how images are used to drafting, reviewing, and distributing the descriptions. They also highlight how accessibility often gets lost in complex media workflows, and why human oversight is key to making alt text accurate, respectful, and meaningful. The takeaway: AI can help scale the work, but people still need to guide the process to get it right.
This article is based on Fred Moltz’s talk at A11yNYC. Nine years ago, Fred Moltz started Verizon’s accessibility program. He built it from the ground up, which helped him evolve into a disability advocate and champion. When Fred started his accessibility journey, he did not have a disability. Then, five years ago, he was in […]
This article is based on Andrew Hedges’ talk at A11yNYC. Andrew Hedges has been building the web professionally since 1998. This is the year that section 508 passed and one year before the publishing of version 1.0 of the World Wide Web consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Fast-forward kind of two and a half […]
Accessibility Under a New U.S. President
Jan 8, 2025In this episode of Accessibility Insights, we talk with Michal Nowicki of the CommLaw Group. Michal’s work has focused on disability issues primarily technology-based. Michal has expertise in the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) and works to advocate for the widespread implementation of audio description. Hello, everyone. This is Thomas Logan from […]
This article is based on Vlado Vince and Natalie Kertes’s talk at A11yNYC. Vlado Vince, IT director at Perelman Performing Arts Center (PACNYC), has been doing IT in the performing arts space for 10 years. It’s a fascinating in-between space, between something hugely non-technical — such as all sorts of things that you put out […]
This article is based on Xian Horn’s talk at A11yNYC . Xian’s presentation talks about the do’s and don’ts of disability representation in the media. Her first tip is to stay humble and don’t assume that you know better than someone who has lived experience of disability. Xian shared a story about when she met someone […]
![Illustration of Thomas and Ken at a desk with A11y Insights. Thomas has a laptop in front of him. A city skyline is in the distance behind them. The news window shows Detective Knomo with a magnifying glass to a monitor and bland captions say, "[Music playing]".](https://equalentry.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/captioned-lyrics-accessibility-insights-knomo.png)
Captioning Lyrics and Copyright Laws
Oct 8, 2024In 2015, Attorney John F. Stanton published [Song ends] Why Movie and Television Producers Should Stop Using Copyright as an Excuse to Not Caption Song Lyrics in the UCLA Entertainment Law Review. The short version is that “copyright defense” is not a valid argument for not captioning song lyrics in movies or shows. Making song […]
Challenging the Case for Delayed ADA Compliance
Sep 25, 2024San Jose Downtown Association CEO Alex Stettinski wrote an op-ed published in San Jose Spotlight. Stettinski affirms that the association supports the Americans with Disabilities Act to ensure non-compliant spaces are compliant. However, they don’t support lawsuits with the “sole intention to financially benefit from it.” “San Jose’s small businesses have encountered way too many […]
Local and state government organizations should be able to share information about the accessibility of various technology products they use. If a local government organization spends money to evaluate the accessibility of a product, it should make that information freely available to other local and state government organizations. Vendors don’t want everyone to know about […]