Matthew Atkinson
Matthew is a passionate supporter of web standards, and has contributed to W3C projects since 2019. He's a member of the W3C's Technical Architecture Group (which is charged with stewardship of the web platform) and co-chair of the Accessible Platform Architectures (APA) working group (which reviews specifications, and helps them to promote accessibility, and develops original solutions to accessibility challenges). As Head of Web Standards at Samsung Research & Development Institute UK, he leads a dedicated team working to make the web more privacy-preserving, immersive, accessible, and adaptable on a range of devices used to access it.
When not at a keyboard, Matthew enjoys swimming, sci-fi, playing guitar (badly), and the magic of karaoke.
Getting into web accessibility can be daunting, especially if you're trying out assistive technologies (such as screen readers) for the first time. However, as a developer, you already know the fundamental concepts that can demystify how the browser and assistive tools interact, in order to help users access your content.
This talk will (re-)introduce those concepts, in ways that you may find familiar. We'll also look at some of the tools built in to the browser that can help you understand, and debug, accessibility in web content.
