Making Tech More Accessible with Crystal Preston-Watson

Come find Justin in-person and get FAFOFM stickers! Devopsdays - Portland, OR - September 8-10. Get 20% off tickets with FAFOFM Edgecase - Gooiland Hilversum, NL - September 24 Taloscon - Amsterdam, NL - October 15-16 KCD UK - Edinburgh - October 19 Kubecon NA - Salt Lake City, UT - November 9-12 Have an opening? HIRE AUTUMN!!! She's looking for open source, forward deployed engineer, and developer relation roles. They need to be remote or flexible in-office schedules in Seattle.

If technology serves everybody, then everyone deserves access to a seat at the table. No one better embodies this sentiment than Crystal Preston-Watson. She’s a Senior Digital Accessibility Analyst with Salesforce, and she brings an unrivaled passion for making tech available for anyone to use. On this episode of FAFO, we’re unpacking why her mission is so vital, and the previous career that made Crystal realize the disabled community needs a voice to advocate for them. Crystal goes into why it’s okay to turn personal struggles into triumphs for others, ARIA as a vital resource, and the issues with pushing GenAI tools onto accessibility tools. You’ll also get to hear why Autumn loves Crystal’s presence on the internet, but especially Crystal’s blog (which is a great read if you love serious topics sprinkled with a good laugh). Show Highlights (0:00) Intro (0:29) Tremolo sponsor read (1:51) Introducing Crystal through the power of numeronym (5:43) Crystal's journey to accessibility and software (10:01) How Crystal’s background in tech led her directly to tech (15:30) Using additional tools to help solve problems (18:31) The power of lifting other people up through your own personal struggles (21:53) The importance of the right to repair and accessibility in the disability community (27:58) Rapid evolutions in accessibility, vulnerability, and security (33:57) Tremolo sponsor read (34:55) Changes Crystal has seen in accessibility (39:04) Why ARIA is important to accessibility (43:17) Can open source provide a voice for accessibility advocates? (45:52) Audio accessibility tools and their many functions (48:22) Who's better for accessibility: Apple or Android? (51:42) GenAI's impact (or lack thereof) on accessibility (57:33) Why Autumn loves Crystal's social media presence (59:50) Where you can find more from Crystal (1:01:04) Crystal's advice for making security more accessible

About Crystal Preston-Watson Crystal is an accessibility engineer and analyst. She believes accessibility is a civic and human right, and she is passionate about building accessible and inclusive applications for everyone.

Links Referenced Crystal’s Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/scopicengineer.bsky.social Crystal’s website: https://crystalprestonwatson.com/ Crystal’s blog: https://a11ysavvy.com/ Sponsor Tremolo: http://fafo.fm/tremolo Sponsor the FAFO Podcast! http://fafo.fm/sponsor