At long last, Jupyter accessibility workshops are here! This is a series of Jupyter community workshops aimed at increasing accessibility awareness within the ecosystem and making Jupyter projects more usable for disabled people.

The goal is to make existing accessibility efforts more prominent across the many Jupyter projects. Much of what we discuss will relate to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and how to apply them in open source, scientific spaces where this work has historically been neglected.

These workshops are a series of events proposed for and supported by the third community workshop cycle.

What are these events?

These workshops are a series of four virtual events alternating between learning from experts and contributing to projects.

They’ve been designed by listening to community requests and combining event types to include people of different skills and across communities. In total, they combine Jupyter experts and accessibility experts, learning and action, and working with old friends and making new connections.

Part 1: January 15 and 22

On January 15 we’ll be hearing from Frank Elavsky about how to build inclusive data representations. You can learn more about this work at Chartability, a framework for creating enjoyable and accessible data visualization experiences. I’ve heard so many questions from the community about how to author more accessible content in notebooks and otherwise, so I’m personally thrilled to announce this speaker. (Check the event time in your timezone.)

On January 22 we’ll host a sprint to learn how to write image descriptions and practice by contributing as a team to Jupyter documentation. Image descriptions, usually alt text, are a great place to make use of different skills and learn from one another. Whether you’re a Jupyter community member who wants to learn about accessibility, an accessibility expert who wants to learn about Jupyter, or someone new to both, all are welcome at this event. No prior git or GitHub knowledge necessary! (Check the event time in your timezone.)

Part 2: March

Two more events — a speaker and sprint event — are scheduled in March 2022. Mark your calendars and get excited for more details after the first two events.

Who can attend these events?

Jupyter accessibility workshops are open to everyone! These events are also entirely remote, so all you need is to be online. Each event is stand-alone, so you can sign up to attend one or all depending on your availability and interest.

Ideally, these events will be attended by a mix of

• Jupyter contributors to provide specific insight about the community and projects
• People with accessibility skills to advise on the knowledge areas the Jupyter community currently lacks
• Newcomers willing to learn and give us feedback on how to make these learning curves better for everyone

Please consider attending if any of these descriptions sound like you!

Some events may be more useful to you if you already have certain skills, so be sure to review the sign up forms per-event for specific details.

How do I sign up?

You can sign up for a Jupyter accessibility workshop per-event. Please note that attendance is limited to about 40 attendees per event to make sure we can provide a quality experience with a small event team. (But don’t despair! Recordings of speaking events and notes for all events will be available to all post-event.)

Where can I get more information?

These events are planned in public on GitHub; you can explore the accessibility workshop planning repository for more information.

You can also read the agendas for the first two events:

Thanks

I want to take a moment to thank some of the many people that have helped make these events happen.

First off, thanks to the Jupyter Community Building Committee for encouraging and supporting the logistics of this and other community workshops. Thank you to the original team that proposed an accessibility workshop for their hard work and help in keeping the proposal going. And, of course, thanks to everyone in the Jupyter ecosystem who have already been committed to accessibility efforts. None of this would be possible alone.