Celebrating 1 year of A11y Design Bootcamp: Takeaways and tips

Global Accessibility Awareness Day is marked by a reflection on the development and impact of the Web Accessibility (A11y) Design Bootcamp, a live educational initiative designed to enhance web accessibility understanding among designers. This bootcamp, which started in March 2023 at GitHub, uses a reverse classroom model that involves pre-session work and focuses on interactive exercises and discussions to foster engagement and actionable learning. The program aligns with values such as relevance, engagement, actionability, and safety, aiming to debunk myths about accessibility and integrate it into product development processes. Live training is emphasized for its adaptability, opportunity for immediate questions, and fostering of community-centered learning, particularly in a remote work environment like GitHub's. The bootcamp's development involved collaboration with stakeholders to ensure alignment with organizational goals and values, and it has seen significant participation, with adaptations made based on feedback to continuously improve its effectiveness. Looking ahead, there are plans to expand the bootcamp to more product design teams and other functions, with a focus on co-creation and scaling efforts.