JDOT #1: Welcome to Joe Dev on Tech

I'm excited to launch this weekly newsletter where we'll explore the intersection of AI, accessibility, and technology.

If you haven't kept up with me lately, I've founded A11yAudits to bridge a critical gap: while accessibility experts think in WCAG specifications, developers and designers need practical solutions.

We trade abstract WCAG (accessibility) requirements for concrete examples - think sample code for accessible components, demo videos showing how people actually use assistive technology, and real-world testing insights.

We're also helping organizations navigate the intersection of AI and accessibility.

Each week, you'll get insights into:

• The latest developments in AI and accessibility
• Updates from the Accessibility and Gen. AI podcast
• Practical AI tips and best practices
• Technical deep dives

🎙️ Accessibility and Gen. AI Podcast Highlights

Last year, I launched the Accessibility and Gen AI Podcast with my co-host Eamon McErlean, VP & Global Head of Digital Accessibility & Globalization at ServiceNow. Each episode, we interview the pioneers shaping the future of accessible technology with AI.

Here's a quick recap of our past episodes:

Episode #1. Michael Buckley, CEO of Be My Eyes, revealed how their new flagship product, Be My AI, which provides AI-powered visual interpretation, is built on GPT-4, and now handles 1.3 million sessions monthly while maintaining their volunteer community of 7.3 million people - the largest volunteer army in history. Watch episode 1.

Episode #2. Jennison Asuncion, Co-Founder of GAAD (Global Accessibility Awareness Day) Foundation, emphasized that the "lights on moment" for accessibility happens when developers and product managers actually see someone with a disability navigating their product. Watch episode 2.

Episode #3. Jenny Lay-Flurrie, Chief Accessibility Officer of Microsoft, shared how their accessibility journey spans from offline captioning to AI-powered solutions, noting "One of the best things about working in accessibility is that you get to work with every part of the company", while championing disability-inclusive design across their product family. Watch episode 3.

Episode #4. Edward Aguilar, CEO of Echo Labs, revealed how their AI-powered accessibility suite is transforming education. Their audio description engine, Luna, launched to remarkable success: "Luna is the world's first AI audio description engine", helping institutions achieve compliance while saving "75 to 90 percent of what they're currently paying today". Watch episode 4.

Episode #5. Ed Summers, Head of Accessibility at GitHub, shared Seth Godin's wisdom that "culture is the way we do things around here", emphasizing that true success in accessibility comes "when accessibility becomes the way we do things around here". As GitHub's Head of Accessibility, he revealed their impressive milestone of reaching 150 million developers and announced that GitHub Copilot is now free for all GitHub users. Watch episode 5.

Episode #6. Simon Willison, Creator of Datasette, shared a fascinating perspective on AI and accessibility, challenging the notion that AI's unreliability makes it unsuitable for accessibility tools. Drawing from his experience using LLMs for alt text generation, he argued that people with accessibility needs have agency and understand technology's limitations. "If you use a guide dog—it's a wonderful thing and a very unreliable piece of technology," he noted, making a compelling case for embracing AI's potential while acknowledging its constraints. Watch episode 6. Simon is the most prolific AI blogger on the Internet. He blogged about the episode, sharing his insights.

🎉 New episode #7, genius marketing

We welcomed Ted Drake, who brings a fascinating perspective as Intuit's Global Accessibility Leader. Ted shared stories from building Yahoo's first Accessibility Lab, where he helped create groundbreaking solutions we now take for granted. One example? His team pioneered the use of ARIA live regions for dynamic announcements - now a standard practice for making real-time updates accessible.

His unique background in fine arts combined with deep technical expertise gives him a refreshing perspective on making technology truly inclusive.

Ted is the Program Chair of the CSUN conference, and I'm literally in the airport flying to Anaheim for the conference.

I'd love to take credit for the genius marketing of launching Ted's episode as the conference is about to begin, but it's just dumb luck. Before hitting send on this edition, I realized the perfect timing!

Watch episode 7.

🔬 Project Spotlight: ALICE

I'm excited to announce a project I'm working on with Eamon, my podcast Co-Host.

ALICE, the AI-LLM Coding Accessibility Eval aims to evaluate how accessible coding-oriented LLMs are by default.

Editor’s note, October 5, 2026: ALICE was the original name of AIMAC, the AI Model Accessibility Checker. We changed the name to avoid confusion with other AI projects called ALICE.

If you're incorporating AI into your development workflow, I'd love to connect and discuss potential collaboration.

🎯 Speaking at CSUN Assistive Technology Conference

This week is the CSUN Assistive Technology Conference in Anaheim, and I'll be speaking about "Advancing Accessibility and Inclusion Through Open Source". Part of the talk will include the ALICE project.

After my co-presenters (Ed Summers, Jennifer Mankoff, Joshua Miele) and I finish our talks, we will have a panel discussion.

If you're attending the conference, please sign up for our session! And while you're here, let's connect!

📅 Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2025

Mark your calendars for May 15th! Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is approaching, and we're currently planning our schedules.

If you'd like someone from the GAAD (Global Accessibility Awareness Day) Foundation to speak at your event (note: we request a donation for speaking engagements), please reach out.

Planning an accessibility event? Make sure to post it on accessibility.day to reach the global community!

💡 AI Tip of the Week

Andrej Karpathy's latest video is a masterclass in practical LLM usage. Beyond his impressive credentials (Tesla's former AI Director, OpenAI founding member), what makes this special is Andrej's vaunted communication and teaching skills.

He shares his framework for effectively interacting with LLMs like ChatGPT. He demonstrates using voice for natural interaction - something I've been experimenting with using Superwhisper (on his recommendation) and MacWhisper.

No matter your technical skill level, that video is well worth watching.

🖥️ Developer Corner

I've recently transformed my coding workflow using Cursor, an AI-powered IDE that's revolutionizing how I write code. More details on this in future newsletters!

🔜 Stay Tuned

Subscribe to this newsletter for weekly insights on AI, accessibility, and technology. Each edition, we'll explore how these intersecting fields are shaping the future of tech.

Related reading

• JDOT #2: CSUN, Mobile Accessibility, and AI, with a recap of the CSUN open source session.
• JDOT #8: AIMAC Results and AI in 2026, with the first AIMAC benchmark results.