Beyond Alt Text

Dr. Nicole L'Etoile and Jacob Wood
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BeyondAltText is for the one person in the room who cares about accessibility, and it's here to help you stop being the only one. Hosted by Jacob Wood and Dr. Nicole L'Etoile, CPACC, each episode moves past WCAG checklists and compliance audits into the business strategy, risk, and buy-in that actually get accessibility taken seriously across an organization. It's built for individual contributors and entry-level leaders who are carrying accessibility largely on their own, and want the language and tactics to bring others into the conversation.

Episodes

  1. Oct 15

    ATD Core 4 and More

    Jacob just got back from the ATD Core 4 conference in Indianapolis, and Nicole wants to hear all about it. They talk about what went well and what got missed: a LEGO Serious Play session where finding the pieces by touch turned into a lesson about accessibility, a speaker who asked the room whether he could skip the microphone, and how a stage, a missing ramp and standard-height chairs can quietly leave people out. Then Nicole shares a project where accessibility was saved for the very end, and the two talk about how to move it earlier: clear contract dates, time for a second review, and building accessibly from the start instead of treating it as a final quality check. Full transcript and episode page: https://www.beyondalttextpod.com IN THIS EPISODE 0:00 Intro 0:17 Jacob's trip to ATD Core 4 in Indianapolis 2:43 LEGO Serious Play 4:09 Building without seeing the pieces 6:15 How conference organizers can be proactive 7:02 Just use the microphone 8:27 Share your slides before your session 10:04 The stage, the missing ramp and the chairs 12:38 Accessing Higher Ground and sign language interpreters 15:37 When accessibility gets left to the end of a project 19:02 Moving accessibility earlier: contracts and review dates 21:12 Accessible design is a design choice 22:59 Know your tools and share what you learn 24:28 Wrapping up, and what's next TAKEAWAYS - Use the microphone, every time. Don't ask the room whether it's okay to skip it; people rarely feel safe saying they need it, and live captions depend on it. - Share your slides and materials before your session, not after. - Check the physical space: a ramp to the stage, a clearly marked edge on any riser, and a range of seating, like footrests or adjustable chairs. - Before you book a venue, ask about accessibility and whether they work with local sign language interpreters. - Put accessibility dates in the contract: when testing happens, when revisions are due, and time to retest. - Build accessibly from the start. Alt text and focus order take very little time when you do them as you go. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE - ATD, the Association for Talent Development: https://www.td.org - Accessing Higher Ground conference: https://www.accessinghigherground.org - LEGO Serious Play: https://www.lego.com/en-us/themes/serious-play PEOPLE JACOB MET AT ATD CORE 4 - Moe Ash: https://www.linkedin.com/in/moeash7/ - Betty Dannewitz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ifyouaskbetty/ - Katrina Kennedy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrinakennedytraining/ - Bianca Woods: https://www.linkedin.com/in/biancawoods/ YOUR HOSTS Jacob Wood Website: https://jacobwood.me LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-wood-writer Nicole L'Etoile Website: https://www.letoile-education.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoleletoile/ GET IN TOUCH Have a question, a tip or a story to share? We'd love to hear from you, and we're still looking for a sign-off catchphrase, so send us your ideas. Visit https://www.beyondalttextpod.com This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

  2. Oct 15

    Our Origin Stories

    Welcome to Beyond Alt Text! In our first episode, Jacob Wood and Nicole L'Etoile share how they each found their way to digital accessibility, and why they started this podcast together. Jacob talks about growing up with progressive vision loss, losing the ability to do the things he loved, and getting that control back with assistive technology. That led him to make accessible PDFs for tabletop role-playing games, and later to teach learning designers how to build accessible content. Nicole shares a childhood memory of being left out that has stayed with her, her path from schoolteacher and principal to helping adults learn, and why accessibility work can feel lonely. Jacob closes with the story of a street corner in downtown Portland that changed how he thinks about sharing what he knows. Full transcript and episode page: https://www.beyondalttextpod.com IN THIS EPISODE 0:00 Intro 0:17 Why we started this podcast 0:41 Jacob's story: vision loss and assistive technology 2:56 Making tabletop role-playing games accessible 3:52 From games to learning design 5:13 What are tabletop games? 6:24 Why agency and control matter 9:13 When people don't seem to care 10:16 Standing up for accessibility on a team 11:40 Nicole's story: being left out 12:49 From teacher and principal to adult learning 13:43 Hidden disabilities, and why the work can feel lonely 14:59 A street corner in downtown Portland 17:26 Choosing to include people 19:01 What this podcast is for 20:57 Coming up next: ATD Core 4 TAKEAWAYS - Inaccessible content takes away people's control. During onboarding at Wells Fargo, Jacob needed a team lead to read his training courses aloud and click the buttons for him, and he started the job two weeks behind the rest of his group. - When you create content without thinking about accessibility from the start, you are choosing to exclude the people you aren't thinking about. - Inaccessible content doesn't only cost companies money. It costs people their dignity. - You don't need to be the expert. If you know how to do something someone else doesn't, that's something you can share. - If you're the one person on your team pushing for accessibility, you're not alone. That's who this show is for. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE - NVDA, the free screen reader for Windows: https://www.nvaccess.org - ZoomText, screen magnification software - Articulate Storyline and Rise, e-learning authoring tools YOUR HOSTS Jacob Wood Website: https://jacobwood.me LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-wood-writer Nicole L'Etoile Website: https://www.letoile-education.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoleletoile/ GET IN TOUCH Have a question, a tip or a story to share? We'd love to hear from you. Visit https://www.beyondalttextpod.com This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

  3. Season 1, Episode 3 Trailer

    Beyond Alt Text Introduction

    Visit https://www.beyondalttextpod.com to grab a calendar link so you know exactly when the show goes live. Our first episode airs on October 15, 2026, at 8:00am Eastern.

  • 1 Trailer
    2 Episodes

Trailer

About

BeyondAltText is for the one person in the room who cares about accessibility, and it's here to help you stop being the only one. Hosted by Jacob Wood and Dr. Nicole L'Etoile, CPACC, each episode moves past WCAG checklists and compliance audits into the business strategy, risk, and buy-in that actually get accessibility taken seriously across an organization. It's built for individual contributors and entry-level leaders who are carrying accessibility largely on their own, and want the language and tactics to bring others into the conversation.

Information

  • Creator
    Dr. Nicole L'Etoile and Jacob Wood
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    3
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Beyond Alt Text. All Rights Reserved.
  • Show Website
    Beyond Alt Text