From Front-End Developer to Accessibility Champion

Crystal Preston-Watson takes us on her fascinating journey from self-taught coder and journalism dropout to becoming a Senior Digital Accessibility Analyst at Salesforce's Office of Accessibility. With refreshing honesty, she shares how her own visual impairment and an unexpected quality assurance ticket requiring screen reader testing sparked her passion for digital accessibility.

What makes Crystal's work particularly groundbreaking is her exclusive focus on internal accessibility for Salesforce employees. While many companies prioritize customer-facing accessibility, Crystal champions a more holistic approach: "You can't really say you're accessible if your employees are having issues with accessibility trying to provide accessibility for your customers." Her role involves ensuring all internal digital tools, resources, and documentation are accessible to everyone, especially employees with disabilities.

Crystal offers a compelling vision for accessibility education that starts far earlier than most would consider. Rather than beginning at university or in professional settings, she advocates introducing accessibility concepts when children first encounter technology. By comparing accessibility features to video game "mods" when speaking to school children, she makes these concepts relatable and plants the seeds for a more inclusive technological future.

The conversation takes a fascinating turn when discussing artificial intelligence and accessibility. Crystal provides nuanced insights into how AI systems trained on existing internet data may perpetuate accessibility problems without expert oversight. She highlights how technical literacy gaps and science fiction expectations create challenges in critically evaluating AI's capabilities and limitations.

Whether you're an accessibility professional, educator, or technology enthusiast, this episode offers invaluable perspectives on creating truly inclusive digital experiences from the inside out. Subscribe now and join the conversation about building technology that works for everyone.

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