Portland Accessibility and User Experience Meetup (PDX A11Y UX)
About
The Portland Accessibility and User Experience (PDX A11Y UX) Meetup addresses how to incorporate accessibility and universal design principles into project planning, user research, and UX evaluation. We are based in the Portland, Oregon metro area.
This meetup hosts an ongoing conversation about how to create in a way that is inclusive to the greatest number of people possible — meaning those with and without disabilities.
The accessibility conversation is timely around the world and locally in our Portland tech community. Some join the conversation to mitigate legal risks, others are motivated by social justice purposes, while many find that building accessibility early into a development lifecycle improves user experience.
PDX A11Y UX acts as a resource for Portland based companies and individuals interested in accessibility, universal design, and inclusive design. We encourage you to use the #PDXa11yUX hashtag for accessibility topics you are interested in seeing in the future with our group.
Upcoming Events
Subscribe to calendar (iCal feed)
You can also find our events on Portland's community tech calendar, Calagator.
Tiny CSS, Big Impact [virtual] — January 20
- Virtual event
- Location: Online; RSVP for the meeting link
This talk explores the incredible power of tiny CSS snippets that create big accessibility improvements, proving that sometimes the most impactful code is measured in lines, not libraries. We'll dive deep into practical, copy-paste-ready CSS solutions that require minimal implementation time but deliver maximum inclusivity. Each snippet comes with real-world context, showing exactly how these small changes impact actual users.
Agenda
The event begins at 6:00pm; join early, starting at 5:45pm for networking.
- 5:45–6:00pm Networking
- 6:00–6:15pm Introductions and announcements
- 6:15–6:45pm Presentation
- 6:45–7:15pm Q&A and discussion
About the presenter
Mike Mai is an expert in design systems, web accessibility, HTML/CSS, and typography. His design philosophy is rooted in a fundamental understanding of the web. Mike's passion for typography, cultivated during my BFA in Graphic Design at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, directly informed my decision to pursue web design professionally. He considers typography to be the most critical foundation of any website, given its text-centric nature, making typeface selection and typesetting my first order of business on any new projects.
Mike firmly believes that design is about solving problems, a principle instilled by a formative mentor. This conviction drove his path to specializing in accessible web design. While strong typographic forms are important, they must be balanced with robust function and an intuitive user experience. He is committed to ensuring all his designs are usable, useful, and truly inclusive.
Accommodation requests
If you have any accommodation requests, don't hesitate to get in touch with us before the event to discuss.
RSVP on Meetup, or RSVP on Eventbrite, or RSVP by email for the meeting link
Accessibility book club: Year of the Tiger by Alice Wong — January 24
- Location: TBD
Discussing Alice Wong's book, Year of the Tiger. More details to come!
February presentation - details TBA — February 17
- Virtual event
Save the date — details TBA soon!
Past Events
Archive of past events coming soon! In the meantime, refer to past events on Meetup or via the calendar embed above.
Email list
Join our email list to receive periodic updates. You can join by any of these ways:
- Complete our email sign-up form (uses Google Forms)
- RSVP to one of our Eventbrite events and opt in to receiving emails
- Email us and ask to be added to the list
We only use emails for communicating about our group's activities and other local Portland accessibility happenings. Your email is never shared with anyone else or used for another purpose.