(small request) Chat to inform an open-source ecosystem for accessible interactives development?

Hello WAI community!

My name is Brett Fiedler and I’m a member of the PhET Interactive Simulations<https://phet.colorado.edu/> team as an inclusive UX researcher and open-source community manager. My colleague, Taliesin Smith, has been quite active in this list. I am posting here at the recommendation of Shawn Lawton Henry.

I was hoping I could bother you all with a request regarding our shared interests in web accessibility.

PhET recently received an NSF Pathways to Open Source Ecosystems grant to advance our work to expand an open-source ecosystem that supports the community interested in accessible web-based interactives/simulations, SceneryStack<https://scenerystack.github.io/community/>. As part of the award, we are participating in an NSF I-Corps Training, which focuses on gathering information and insight through short informational chats (15-20 min) with diverse individuals and organizations to understand their experience/perspectives on web interactivity and accessibility.

To that end, we are seeking individuals that provide a variety of perspectives and insight, and who have experience and perspectives in software development of web-based interactives. Those who decide which core libraries to use and who have used the core libraries a given project has chosen would be great for us to discuss with (for insight into experiences with code and the creation of interactives in general). We are also interviewing people who has been thinking about or working towards implementing accessibility features in their platforms.

I'd like to emphasize again that we are not looking for a product consult. We are hoping to understand the perspectives and experiences of experts and users in the field.

For our training purposes, the discussions will need to take place between September 27 - Oct 16, 2024.

Two requests:

  1.
Would you be willing to chat with us for 15-20 minutes about your experience in the world of web interactivity and/or accessibility?
     *
If so, please fill out a short survey<https://forms.gle/BdMY9VHGgxAXRnDC6> to help us understand your perspective and to help us prepare for the chat. We will follow up to schedule.

  2.
If you have recommendations for us in terms of individuals/organizations who would be best to approach for further interviews? (no limit, we are looking to speak to > 60 individuals)

Thank you so much for your time and consideration!

Cheers,
Brett

Brett Fiedler, Ph.D
Inclusive Experience Researcher
PhET Interactive Simulations
University of Colorado Boulder