David Berman Communications
David Berman will help you repeat your successes

Accessible Social Media

Accessibility for everyone who creates social media, without tradeoffs

We have carefully developed up-to-date techniques that ensure that youre entire audience has a  WCAG conformant experience on every major social media platform. And beyond WCAG’s technical requirements, there are powerful strategies we can embrace to make accessible social media is discoverable and less expensive to produce. Whether you are authoring, creating, designing, producing, or delivering words or multimedia for social media, we’ll equip you with the techniques to ensure that everyone in your audience gets what they need — while meeting or exceeding all applicable standards and regulations for your content.

Course Description


David Berman’s team will convince you why accessibility and standards will give you social media that’s socially responsible. We provide in-depth familiarity with everything in WCAG 2 (addressing both WCAG 2.0 and 2.1) that impact social media. These guidelines will help your video and audio content presence be more effective resources for your entire audience … including your most frequent visitor: Google. You’ll also gain familiarity with the assistive technologies that help people.

Our course material includes a thorough review of all pertinent standards to comply with international and government federal or regional policies (such as the United States’ ADA and Section 508, upcoming regulations for the Accessible Canada Act, as well as regional regulations such as Ontario’s AODA, Manitoba’s AMA, and Colorado’s HB21-1110).

Participants leave with techniques they can use right away for authoring, creating, producing, and testing. You will not only be aware of why accessibility and standards affect everyone: you’ll be equipped with a thorough understanding of what you need to do to make your social media accessible, and how to do it in an efficient and sustainable way across all platforms and languages.

“Excellent… knowledge I can use.”

– Sandra Clark, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Oslo (Norway)

“Focused and easy to follow.”

-Jason Hollett, gordongroup

“Great. He kept me listening and understanding.”

– Matthew Brunetti, Lixar IT

“Inspiring!”

– Morten Budeng, King Design

“Excellent.”

– Sylvie Nyman, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada

What Makes This Course Unique

Our course developer, David Berman, is a consultant on accessibility for large social media projects and has worked on projects that include multimedia for many large organizations including the CRTC, Honda, LCBO, the Canadian Association of the Deaf.

He has been the project manager of numerous accessible Internet projects, has developed strategy and design for CFIA, CRA, CMHC, Health Canada, Canadian Heritage, Industry Canada, and the International Space Station … as well as many private sector and non-profit organizations.

By addressing and understanding multimedia accessibility issues, publishers can more effectively deliver their message to their entire audience, regardless of physical or mental impediments, while complying with legal and moral responsibilities.

“I enjoyed it all.”

– Robert Hallat, Public Service Commission

“Right on target.”

– Marius Monsen, Reaktor ID

“He knows what to do!” “This will guide us for the AA Standards”

– Bassil Wehbe, Agriculture Canada

What You Will Learn

You will learn how to make your current communications more accessible by complying with emerging standards and guidelines. Specifically, you will learn:

  • Why make social media accessible?
  • What challenges do people face when accessing social media?
  • What technologies close those gaps?
  • WCAG: the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines applied to social media
  • Exceptions: which success criteria are exempted from specific legislation (e.g., AODA, CVAA, Norway)
  • How to conform to every applicable success criteria, without tradeoffs
    • alternative text
    • captions (open and closed)
      • audio description / described video
        • descriptive text transcripts
          • flashing content / photosensitive epilepsy accommodation (and PEAT)
          • )recipes specific to each platform you use (for example, Discord, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter/X, WhatsApp, YouTube
        • Testing tools to confirm you are meeting or exceeding the standards
        • Exceeding the regulatory requirements
          • extended audio description
          • sign language presentations
        • Sustainable strategies for social media collections and multiplatforms tools (e.g. HootSuite)
          • planning ahead for non-visual users, low vision users, Deaf, and deafened users
          • practical strategies for large legacy collections of multimedia
        • Q&A until we run out of Qs

        “Very good: made me think…”

        – Bente Mollevik, Norwegian Savings Bank Association

        “Great: very comprehensive. Touching on all aspects of accessibility.”

        – Marc Iafelice, CFIA

        “David really knows his topics. Very well done: got the point across in a way that can be applied to everyone.”

        – Sean Strasbourg, CFIA

        Prerequisites:

        None (this course can, optionally, be tailored to remove introductory materials for audiences who already have basic or intermediate knowledge of multimedia production).

        “Clear and entertaining: will allow more strategic planning rather than just reactionary stumbling.”

        – Steve Doody, Justice Canada

        “This will make us better communicators.”

        – Luc Bergeron, SSHRC

        “Perfect.”

        – Jean Leclair, Environment Canada

        Who Should Attend

        This course is targeted to all team members (both new and experienced) responsible for social media content including procuring, creating, recording, and embedding. Project managers and QA teams would also benefit from the content of this course.

        Language

        English (French or Spanish available upon request)

        Duration

        Half-day (or one-day or more when added to a related larger course, such as our introductory course, writing for the web, or accessible multimedia.  Online or onsite.

        Experience

        Social media accessibility

        We are experts in the fulfillment of WCAG, AODA, and Section 508 requirements regarding accessible multimedia and Web publishing. We have performed an accessibility audit and review for Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web Foundation, on both government and business Web sites in each of over 40 countries.

        Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act

        We have expert knowledge in all relevant requirements of the accessibility standards called for in the regulations under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA).

        We are experts in the fulfillment of AODA regulations regarding accessible documents and Web publishing. Our strength in this area is such that we run regular courses in Ontario that specifically teach executives, managers, educators, content developers, and Web programmers how to comply with AODA regulations. The Accessibility Directorate of Ontario itself (who governs AODA) has repeatedly sent their managers and staff to be trained personally by us.

        Ontario municipalities and school boards

        Our AODA clients for consulting and training have included a variety of municipalities and public institutions in Ontario (including the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, City of Cambridge, City of Oakville, City of Ottawa, City of Owen Sound, City of Hamilton, City of Peterborough, County of Essex, County of Wellington, Halton District School Board, Hamilton-Wentworth School Board, Limestone District School Board, Niagara Parks Commission, Norfolk County, Region of Peel, Toronto Transit Commission, and the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.)

        Higher education/academia

        Our clients for consulting and training have included a variety of colleges and universities within Ontario (including Algonquin College, Brock University, Carleton University, Durham College, Humber College, McMaster University, Mohawk College, Seneca College, St. Lawrence College, University of Guelph, University of Toronto, University of Waterloo, University of Windsor, W. Ross MacDonald School for the Blind, and York University), elsewhere in Canada (Concordia University), the United States (Boston College, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Virginia, Savannah College of Art and Design), and beyond (Cardiff Metropolitan University, London School of Printing and Publishing, Universidad de las Americas, Yarmouk University, Bauhaus / Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Binus University, Caldas University, Central Academy of Fine Arts of China, Federal University of Pernambuco, Lebanese American University, Vilnius Academy of Arts, VCU Qatar).

        David is Chair of Carleton University’s Carleton Access Network for accessible information technology, run out of Carleton University’s Paul Menton Centre as an initiative of the School of Engineering.

        Corporations and private sector

        Our private sector clients for accessibility work include Actuate, Adobe, Blindside Networks, BMO (Bank of Montreal), Bruce Mau Design, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Conference Board of Canada, Empire Life, eXplorance, gordongroup, IBM, Jewish Federation of Ottawa, Lixar, Minto, NetCentric, OC Transpo, OpenText, Oxford Properties, Shaw Media, The Home Depot, Toronto Transit Commission, United Way, Yamaha Music

        Government accessibility

        We have been involved with United States and Government of Canada Treasury Board standards on accessibility for over a decade, and have provided training to most major departments and agencies in the federal government. We have also provided consultation to the governments of Manitoba, Ontario, Queensland (Australia), India, and Norway.

         

        “I love David’s approach.”

        -Carole Dubuc, Canadian Armed Forces

        “Clear, concise, and very useful.”

        -Annette Kallevig

        “Excellent, eye-opening, and not preachy!”

        -Carrie Walker-Boyd, Canadian Food Inspection Agency

         

        Subscribe to our e-news to be notified when we schedule new instances of this topic.

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        Reviewed July 5, 2024

        Schedule

        “Really enjoyed your session.”

        – Jim Dixon

        “I love David’s approach.”

        – Carole Dubuc, Canadian Armed Forces

         

        ACCESSIBILITY EVENTS LOCATION HOST/REGISTRATION FEE*
        Day of your choice: Custom one-on-one or one-to-many Your place or our online classroom Let’s collaborate! Call us now TBA
        November 16, 2023 Online David Berman Communications Starting from $199 CAD
        November 17, 2022 Online David Berman Communications Starting from $199 CAD
        November 18, 2021 Online David Berman Communications Starting from $199 CAD
        November 12, 2020 Online David Berman Communications Starting from $249 CAD
        November 26, 2019 Online David Berman Communications Starting from $249 CAD
        June 13, 2019 Online David Berman Communications Starting from $249 CAD
        December 5, 2018 Online David Berman Communications Starting from $249 CAD
        June 13, 2018 Online David Berman Communications Starting from $249 CAD
        November 15, 2017 Online David Berman Communications Starting from $249 CAD
        June 14, 2017 Online David Berman Communications (sponsored by CPL, RGD, Editors Canada) TBA
        May 19, 2017 Ottawa, ON David Berman Communications TBA
        April 3 – 5, 2017 Australia W4A TBA
        May 11, 2017 Online The Institute for Performance and Learning TBA
        February 14, 2017 Ottawa, ON BioTalent Canada TBA
        November 3 – 5, 2016 Wellington, New Zealand Clarity 2016
        Sept 14, 2016 Online eXplorance Free
        August 17, 2016 Ottawa, ON Spruce Creative TBA
        June 29, 2016 Toronto, ON Attend online or in person at OCAD University IDRC, 49 McCaul, Toronto
        in The Red Lab, room
        $299-625
        June 18, 2016 Reno, Nevada TypeWell, in conjunction with the TECHWell 2016 Conference $299-650
        May 20, 2016 Ottawa, ON Carleton University $299-625
        Tue May 10, 2016 National Press Club, Washington, DC Center for Plain Language $250 USD
        Spring 2016, (date tba) Dublin Ireland TBA TBA
        November 20, 2015
        (postponed)
        Vancouver (Downtown)
        SFU Downtown Campus
        West Hastings Street
        NL Thompson Associates $299-597
        November 19, 2015
        (postponed)
        Victoria (Downtown),
        Harbour Towers Hotel and Suites
        345 Quebec Street
        NL Thompson Associates $299-597
        October 15, 2015 Ottawa, ON Art Beyond Sight Conference
        October 12, 2015 Dublin, Ireland National Disability Authority private
        October 2, 2015 (postponed) TBA David Berman Communications $299-597
        October 1, 2015 Ottawa, ON Webinar: 11½ Free Tools for Testing Website Accessibility Free & available online
        August 8 Toronto Keynote at Accessibility Innovation Showcase, Parapan Am Games Free
        July 9, 2015 (postponed) Ottawa, ON TBA $299-597
        June 29, 2015 Toronto, ON OCAD University IDRC, 49 McCaul, Toronto
        in The Red Lab, room number 4904
        $299-625
        June 17, 2015 Ottawa, ON Webinar: Demystifying WCAG 2.0 Free & available online
        April 25, 2015 (Tentative) Brussels, Belgium Inspirit and David Berman TBA
        January 15, 2015 Ottawa, ON Webinar: Spotlight on Digital Accessibility for Your Marketing Campaign Free
        January 14, 2015 Ottawa, ON Webinar: Solving Web Accessibility: Leaving No One Behind Free
        December 2, 2014 Toronto, ON 108 Ideaspace

         

        $357-697
        November 10, 2014 Brussels, Belgium TBA TBA
        November 5 or 8, 2014 Toronto, ON TBA TBA
        October 9, 2014 Toronto, ON David Berman Communications $299-597
        Wed July 16, 2014 (postponed) Ottawa, ON Carleton University $299-597
        July 12-15, 2014 Ottawa Convention Centre, Ottawa, ON International Summit on Accessibility 2014 TBA
        May 26, 2014 Bergen, Norway Den Norske Dataforenings Servicekontor NOK 1000£ – 4450£
        May 20, 2014 Queensway Carleton Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario David Berman Communications $299-$597
        Fri December 13, 2013 Montreal, QC eXplorance Inc by invitation
        November 2013 (tentative) Toronto, ON TBA TBA
        Fri November 8, 2013 City Hall, Toronto, ON DesignThinkers 2013 $299-597
        Fri November 1, 2013 Room 2228, River Building,
        Carleton University,
        Ottawa, ON
        David Berman Communications $299-597
        Wed August 28, 2013 Carleton University David Berman Communications Free
        Thu July 25, 2013 Carleton University David Berman Communications Free
        Fri June 21, 2013 Room 2228,
        River Building,
        Carleton University
        Ottawa, ON
        David Berman Communications $299-597
        Fri May 31, 2013 Carleton University David Berman Communications Free
        Mon April 22, 2013 Cornwall, ON St. Lawrence College $390
        Monday Apr 8 – 9, 2013 Toronto, ON St. Lawrence College $390
        Wed February 27, 2013 Hamilton, ON David Berman / T-Base Communications $549-649
        Fri February 22, 2013 Ottawa, ON David Berman Communications $354-649
        Mon January 21, 2013 St Lawrence College, Kingston, ON St. Lawrence College $390
        Thu January 10, 2013 London, ON David Berman / T-Base Communications $549-649
        Thu December 13, 2012 Ottawa, ON Transportation Safety Board of Canada private
        Thu November 22, 2012 River Building,
        Carleton University
        Ottawa, ON
        David Berman Communications $354-649
        Fri November 16, 2012 (postponed) Ottawa, ON David Berman Communications $549-649
        Wed November 14, 2012 Ottawa, ON Ministère du Patrimoine canadien private
        Thu November 8, 2012 Markham, ON David Berman / T-Base Communications $549-649
        Wed November 7, 2012 Mississauga, ON David Berman / T-Base Communications $549-649
        Fri October 26, 2012 Ottawa, ON OCDSB / T-Base Communications private
        Thur October 25, 2012 Ottawa, ON OCDSB / T-Base Communications private
        Wed October 17, 2012 Ottawa, ON OCDSB / T-Base Communications private
        Tue October 9, 2012 (all day) (postponed) San Francisco, CA David Berman / T-Base Communications $549-649
        Wed September 12, 2012 (all day) (postponed) Boston, MA David Berman / T-Base Communications $549-649
        Tue-Wed July 17-18, 2012 Niagara Falls, ON Web Accessibility Matters private
        Mon May 14, 2012 (morning) Delta Hotel, Winnipeg, MB Manitoba Libraries Conference $65-$130
        Wed May 9, 2012 Strathcona Hotel, Toronto, ON T-Base Communications $549-$649
        Tue May 8, 2012 (all day) Strathcona Hotel, Toronto, ON David Berman / T-Base Communications $549-649
        Thu May 3, 2012 (all day) Toronto, ON Accessible Media Inc. private
        Tue April 23, 2012 (all day) Hotel Pennsylvania, New York City, NY David Berman / T-Base Communications $549-649
        Fri March 23, 2012 Adobe Canada, Ottawa T-Base Communications $549-649
        Fri March 23, 2012 (Accessible PDF by Design – related all day course) Adobe Canada, Ottawa David Berman / T-Base Communications $549-649
        Wed March 21, 2012 (7:00pm speech) Capital Hill Hotel, Ottawa, ON Editors Association of Canada, National Capital Chapter Free: EAC members, $10: non-members
        Thurs March 9, 2012 Ottawa, ON Public Health Agency/T-Base Communications private event
        Fri February 10, 2012 (morning) Ottawa, ON Canada Revenue Agency private
        Thu January 19, 2012 (all day) Ottawa Convention Centre, Ottawa, ON David Berman / T-Base Communications $495-595
        Mon-Tue January 9-10, 2012 Toronto, ON BMO / T-Base Communications private
        Tue November 29, 2011 (all day) Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, ON David Berman / T-Base Communications SOLD OUT
        Thu November 23, 2011 Ottawa, ON National Research Council private
        Wed November 3, 2011 Ottawa, ON National Research Council private
        Wed October 5, 2011 Lord Elgin Hotel, Ottawa, ON David Berman / T-Base Communications $319-595
        Fri September 9, 2011 Indigo Hotel, Ottawa, ON Correctional Service Canada private
        Thu August 18, 2011 Adobe headquarters, Ottawa, ON David Berman Communications /RGD Ontario $249-495
        Fri June 17 2011 Adobe headquarters, Ottawa, ON David Berman Communications /RGD Ontario $249-495
        Thu April 7, 2011 Ottawa Public Library, Ottawa, ON RGD Ontario $395-495
        Tue March 29, 2011 Ottawa, ON CFIA HR by invitation
        Thu February 17, 2011 Ottawa, ON CFIA Public Affairs by invitation
        Wed April 14, 2010 Ottawa, ON David Berman Communications $495
        March 2010 Montreal, PQ eXplorance Inc. by invitation
        Wed October 28, 2009 Beijing, China Icograda World Congress 2009 see host site
        Thu April 30, 2009 San Francisco, CA Voices That Matter Web Design Conference speaker breakfast
        Thu April 2, 2009 Delhi, India World Summit Award Grand Jury by invitation
        Thu November 13, 2008 Ottawa, ON David Berman Communications $495
        Mon July 6, 2008 Daegu Exhibition Conference Centre, Daegu, Korea Icograda Design Week in Daegu 2008 see host site
        Tue April 29, 2008 Ottawa, ON David Berman Communications $495
        Thu March 13, 2008 Tunney’s Pasture, Ottawa, ON Statistics Canada private event
        Tue February 19, 2008 Tunney’s Pasture, Ottawa, ON Health Canada private event
        Wed November 7, 2007 Minto Business Centre, Ottawa, ON David Berman Communications $495
        Thu November 9, 2006 Minto Business Centre, Ottawa, ON David Berman Communications $495
        Thu February 16, 2006 Minto Business Centre, Ottawa, ON David Berman Communications SOLD OUT
        Tue December 6, 2005 Oslo, Norway Norwegian Design Council SOLD OUT
        Thu October 20, 2005 Minto Business Centre, Ottawa, ON David Berman Communications SOLD OUT
        Thu June 9, 2005 Minto Business Centre, Ottawa, ON David Berman Communications $495
        Tue December 22, 2004 Tunney’s Pasture, Ottawa, ON Health Canada private event

        *Discount packages for non-profits, and travel subsidies available. Additional discounts available for groups over 3 people. Call (613) 728-6777 for details.

        All prices, offerings, and dates subject to change without notice.

        To register for a course given by our own organization, register online or call (613) 728-6777.

        Event Schedule (all events)

        *Discount packages for non-profits, and travel subsidies available. Additional discounts available for groups over 3 people. Call (613) 728-6777 for details.

        All prices, offerings, and dates subject to change without notice.

        To register for a course given by our own organization, register
        online
         or call (613) 728-6777.

        Event Schedule (all events)

        “Very understandable and fun.”

        – Liz Breines, Ministry of Trade and
        Industry, Oslo (Norway)

        “Highly valuable.”

        – Maureen Quirouet, Parliament of Canada

        Resources

        RESOURCES FOR ATTENDEES

        For the convenience of course attendees, we provide this list of hypertext links and books cited in this course’s learning guide roughly in the order they appear in the course and learning guide:

        Legislation, lawsuits, and standards

        Canada
        USA
        Other countries
        Global

        Accessibility guidelines

        Assistive technologies and techniques

        Visual difficulties
        Dexterity/mobility/motor difficulties

         

        Hearing difficulties

        iOS Accessibility

        Android, Windows Phone Accessibility

        WCAG 2.0 (including Success Criteria Level A and AA, in order)

        Guideline 1.1: Text Alternatives
        Guideline 1.2: Time-based Media
        Guideline 1.3: Adaptable
        Guideline 1.4: Distinguishable
        Guideline 2.1: Keyboard Accessible
        Guideline 2.2: Enough Time
        Guideline 2.3: Seizures
        Guideline 2.4: Navigable
        Guideline 3.1: Readable
        Guideline 3.2: Predictable
        Guideline 3.3: Input Assistance
        Guideline 4.1: Compatible, etc.

        Testing tools for web and mobile

        WCAG 2.1 (including the new Success Criteria Level A and AA, in order)

        Document standards, techniques and testing

         

        Instructional design software: Adobe Captivate

        Instructional design software: Articulate Storyline

        Instructional design software: other

        Accessible virtual classroom platforms

        Introduction to Online Learning and Accessibility

        Accessible content management

        White papers

        Other accessibility links

         

        Register

        Choose the registration approach that's easiest for you:

        • use our secure form below (for credit cards, PayPal, or purchase orders)
        • … or call 613-728-6777 to register over the phone
        • … or download our registration form PDF, and fax it back to 613-482-4777
        • …or register at Eventbrite

        Course Registration Form:

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