Brynn Elliott on The Carpentries

Enhancements to the Toolkit of IDEAS

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The Toolkit of IDEAS emerged from recommendations provided by ReadySet, a diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firm that conducted an organisational assessment of The Carpentries in 2020. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of Kari L. Jordan, Executive Director of The Carpentries, and the generous support of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, this project became a reality. Tara Robertson Consulting Inc. was enlisted in March 2022 to lead this initiative, working closely with the Carpentries Core Team’ Team Leads and the broader community.

The Carpentries Accessibility Statement and Accommodation Form

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

We are excited to announce that we have developed an Accessibility Statement for The Carpentries. Our team is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible experience for all users, and this statement is an important step towards achieving that goal.

Our Accessibility Statement outlines our commitment to meeting the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standards, as well as our ongoing efforts to ensure our lessons, events, and website, are inclusive and user-friendly. We have implemented a number of accessibility features to help achieve this goal, such as:

Community Helps Add Alt Texts to our Lesson Images

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

In early September, Brynn Elliott, Accessibility Manager for The Carpentries hosted two Themed Discussions for the community focused on improving accessibility of our lessons through improving alt text on images. The group started off with an overview of what alt text is, why it is important, and how to add it to images in our lessons.## What is alt text? Alt text - also known as alternative text, alt tags, or alt descriptions - are a written description of the image that has several purposes. Alt text is important for accessibility, screen readers can only read text, individuals who are blind or have low vision are still able to understand the image purpose. Search engine crawlers use alt text to index data and improve search results. Images that are broken or missing can still be interpreted because text is shown in its place. Alt text may vary depending on the goal of the photo.

Access for All

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

We value accessibility as core, and create multiple avenues for participation where all people can learn and contribute.

One of The Carpentries strategic focus areas is to intentionally incorporate equity, inclusion, and accessibility to support a diverse community.

To do this, we teamed up with Understood, whose mission is to shape workplaces to be inclusive for people with disabilities, to better understand where The Carpentries could improve accessibility for the community and what we are already doing well. Understood evaluated organisational statements and policies, employee processes (hiring, onboarding, workflows), and observed a three-day Software Carpentry workshop.

Introducing The Carpentries Accessibility Manager, Brynn Elliott

Wed, 27 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to welcome Brynn Elliott to The Carpentries Core Team! Brynn is joining as our new Accessibility Manager, through funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to advance The Carpentries Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices (read announcement). We asked Brynn to share a bit about herself. Read on to learn more!

Hello!

I am very excited to be joining The Carpentries community as the Accessibility Manager. Though I am incredibly new to The Carpentries, accessibility has been at the forefront of my professional career for years.