Last week, a tech entrepreneur named Sahil Lavingia published “DOGE Days,” which reflected on the almost two months that he spent as part of Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” or “DOGE,” within the Trump administration. Lavingia spent his 55 days of DOGE employment embedded with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Last week, I […]
The politics of accessibility
After last November, I heard a number of people in my professional life say things like “good UX isn’t political” or “building products that work for everyone isn’t political” or even “accessibility isn’t political.” When the new administration issued an executive order targeting DEIA programs, I heard people express shock that the “A” stands for […]
What’s wrong with VPATs?
Summary: A discussion of some problems with VPATs and ACRs and their role in the procurement process for government and large organizations. From that discussion, I’ll also put forward the kind of accessibility documentation that I think would be more valuable when purchasing a product. In the Ad Hoc Insights blog post about state and […]
The DOJ’s new accessibility rule: A crisis or opportunity for state and local governments?
Note: This post was originally published on the Ad Hoc Insights blog. It was removed in February 2025 when company leadership determined that featuring accessibility content on the website could jeopardize contracts with the new U.S. presidential administration. Take that as you will. (with Mark Headd) The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently finalized a new rule that […]
Jakob Nielsen’s Bad Ideas about Accessibility
Summary: A response to Jakob Nielsen’s blog post declaring accessibility to have failed and proposing an artificial intelligence-based solution. I critique his claims and his solution, and identify what I perceive to be a fundamental misconception of what accessibility is. I have observed that the more important you become, the more susceptible you are to […]
How to start your agency’s digital accessibility program
Note: This post was originally published on the Ad Hoc Insights blog. It was removed in February 2025 when company leadership determined that featuring accessibility content on the website could jeopardize contracts with the new U.S. presidential administration. Take that as you will. OMB memo M-24-08 sets aggressive deadlines for advancing digital accessibility. Here’s how […]
Things that Jakob’s Law is not
Summary: A response to the misapplication of “Jakob’s Law.” Note: I wrote this to vent after a bad day and a frustrating interaction I had a few months ago. I left it as a draft because there are enough angry screeds on the internet already. But revisiting it now, I feel like it’s actually maybe […]
Designing and Coding for Voice
Summary: An overview of simple interactions for voice command or speech recognition software users, and the accessibility barriers that can emerge. Adapted from an internal Ad Hoc Technology Blog post. Introduction One area of accessibility that’s I find is frequently overlooked is voice accessibility, or speech recognition accessibility. Improving voice support comes up frequently on VA.gov, […]