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Kae Anderson, CPACC
IAAP Certified Digital Accessibility Specialist | Inclusive Design | WCAG | I help companies make their sites work well for as many people as possible
Kae Anderson, CPACC, is a talented professional with a background in anthropology, front-end development, and UX design, specializing in digital accessibility.
With a passion for creating positive digital experiences, Kae has leveraged her empathy and technical skills to ensure that digital products are usable by everyone.
Through roles at various organizations, such as The Reserves Network, Kae has honed her expertise as a Digital Accessibility Specialist, focusing on inclusive design and product usability.
Having completed a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology at the University of Northern Iowa and certifications in Front-End Development and UX Design, Kae brings a diverse skill set to her work.
She has experience working with both small entrepreneurs and large corporations to address accessibility issues at the design level, where she believes most problems can be effectively resolved.
In addition to her professional pursuits, Kae is an avid traveler, book enthusiast, and TV show aficionado, with a keen interest in learning and problem-solving.
With a portfolio showcasing her work and a desire to continue making a positive impact in the field of digital accessibility, Kae is actively seeking new opportunities to contribute her expertise.
Kae's unique blend of skills, experience, and personal interests make her a valuable asset in creating inclusive and user-friendly digital experiences for all.
Highlights
There are no silly accessibility questions - field labels version!
You might have heard an accessibility person say that form fields should have labels. And if you’re a designer you might have thought forms looked better without them. So I’m going to talk about why they matter!
Some of you will have heard these things before, but I’m going to say them again just in case. People rely on form fields to help them fill out a form. And if you’re creating a form then (hopefully!) your goal is to make it easy for people to fill out.
Everyone benefits from having field labels. They give us clarity about what we’re doing and help us understand what information to put in the field. When fields have placeholders they give some of us the context for the field at first. But when we start to type in it then the information goes away.
If the form has more than a couple fields then it takes more brain capacity to fill out. The longer something is, the more effort it takes. And if you get distracted in the middle of a field (maybe your dog wants to play or you get a notification) then you have to reorient yourself when you get back to the form. Having labels helps people figure out where they are faster when they come back.
And people who can’t see the form rely on the labels to let them know what the field is for. Some screen reader / browser combinations will announce the placeholder text when someone first gets to a field. But once someone types in it then that placeholder goes away and probably won’t be announced again. The labels and help text should be actual text to make sure everyone can access it each time they go to the field.
The labels should be connected to the fields in the code with an ID. That will make it so people understand that the field goes with that specific label and not something else around it.
Labels help people fill out forms more quickly and accurately, and this is definitely the type of thing where little changes make a big difference.
Here are some resources if you want to get better at making accessible forms!
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A beginner’s guide to form accessibility: the 5 things accessible forms need and how to fix common mistakes by Whitney E Lewis (article) - https://lnkd.in/eRsTnNkb
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Creating Accessible Forms from WebAIM (article) - https://lnkd.in/eUtk8Wja
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Form missing accessible label screen reader example from Pope Tech (2 minute video) - https://lnkd.in/eedqReea
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Forms Tutorial by W3C (multi-page article) - https://lnkd.in/eq-BQ6s8
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A Guide To Accessible Form Validation from Smashing Magazine (article) - https://lnkd.in/emDwHTz2
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The anatomy of accessible forms: Best practices by Uday Shetty (article) - https://lnkd.in/e7vtuxDz
#Accessibility #A11y #AccessibilityMatters #UserExperience #AccessibleForms
There are no silly accessibility questions - carousels version!
You might have heard an accessibility person go on an angry rant about carousels. Most of us aren’t big fans, and this post gives you a quick introduction to why we don’t like them!
Carousels are often used as a way to improve the experience of people working at the company. Maybe someone on one team thinks their stuff is the most important. And they’re trying to compete with people on other teams. They all want the best spot at the top of the page.
So a carousel becomes the way to have several things at the top of the page. Everyone wins, right? Probably not!
Because carousels are often used to satisfy people at a company, they’re not really used to give people what they’re looking for. They can be a big ad for something people aren’t looking for, instead of directing people to the things they want.
That means most people will scroll past them. And it also means that some people will get stuck in them while they’re trying to get past them.
They can be a little tricky to make accessible. Someone who uses a keyboard might not be able to get past them without tabbing a whole bunch of times. And someone with ADHD might get distracted and forget what they came for. And someone using a screen reader might hear a message like "left arrow white circle white circle white circle white circle right arrow" instead of something useful!
If you actually want to show people things at once, there are other ways to do that.
You could find out what the most visited parts of your site are and have them in cards near the top of the page. You could have sections of the home page with useful headings that help people know where to go. And you could make sure the navigation includes easy ways to get to the things people are searching for.
And if you need to use a carousel please make it accessible for everyone! That means making sure:
- everything gets announced correctly by a screen reader
- it works with a keyboard
- the navigation has high color contrast
- there are ways to skip over it
- it doesn’t auto rotate
If you have thoughts about carousels feel free to share in the comments!
Here are some resources if you want to learn more:
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A Step-By-Step Guide To Building Accessible Carousels by Sonja Weckenmann, WAS (article) - https://lnkd.in/erp2Yd74
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Carousels by Brad Frost (post) - https://lnkd.in/e_dCnJt8
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Should I Use A Carousel by Jared Smith (site) - https://lnkd.in/e9U4QPtV
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Why carousels don't work by Anton Stén (article) - https://lnkd.in/eadS-23r
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Why Image Carousels Are Almost Always A Bad Idea by Jon MacDonald (article) - https://lnkd.in/eBbKQK8r
#Accessibility #A11y #AccessibilityMatters #UserExperience
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Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.
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