Breaking the Barrier: Understanding Web Accessibility with Gerson Lacdao

Have you ever heard or read the words “web accessibility”?

Most of us use the internet in our everyday lives, but more often than not, the thought of making websites accessible to those who have disabilities aren’t being considered.

In WebAIM’s 2022 report on the accessibility of the top 1,000,000 home pages, they said that “…while the 2022 analysis saw small decreases in the number of detected accessibility errors and WCAG conformance failures, significant work remains to be done to make the web accessible to everyone.”

So today, we take part in the advocacy to spread the word and create awareness. Tune in as we learn from Gerson Lacdao, a former nurse turned web developer.

Gerson Lacdao is a WordPress frontend developer and web accessibility advocate. He works with non-profits and other digital agencies in creating inclusive websites that are compliant with relevant legislations worldwide. In his free time, he teaches WordPress, web accessibility, and best practices in web development.

In this episode, Gerson spreads awareness on web accessibility as he takes us back on his journey, sharing how he reached this point of having such an advocacy.

“Kapag naintindihan mo kasi kung pa’no ‘yong way nila to browse the websites, mas madali mo nang ma-include sa work mo ‘yong accessibility. It’s not just looking at a checklist, but more on empathizing with what they’re going through; how do you make it easy for them, and how do you lessen their frustrations. Mindset din and empathy with the people you’re doing it for.” – Gerson Lacdao

What you’ll learn from this episode:

• Why web accessibility should be more well-known and widely used both in the country and around the world;
• How important it is that you learn to shift your mindset from charging based on the Philippine economy to having a fee based on value; and
• Understand why you should empathize with the market that you’re providing service for in order to really be of help to them

 Topics Covered:

05:06 – Life Before Freelancing: Growing up in Oriental Mindoro in a simple family and studying in Manila for his collegiate years 

08:51 – The Start: Gerson’s early years in freelancing, starting as a writer to then managing WordPress websites and now focusing on web accessibility 

14:03 – Part of the Problem: What web accessibility is all about + what Gerson realized after he took a course on web accessibility 

18:46 – Make It Known: The challenge of spreading the word with regards to why web accessibility should be widely used in the country 

21:26 – No Sleep: Hardships he’s gone through as he did BPO work and freelancing, then freelancing and nursing at the same time 

26:21 – Fee is based on Value: Experiencing objections on the fee of his service and learning how to handle such objections 

28:07 – Before and After: What’s the biggest win Gerson got after joining the Tribe? Aside from John, who else made an impact on how he treats his business today? 

30:01 – From Survival to Living Life: Is it important for freelance starters to have a mentor or someone they look up to? 

31:50 – Need a Break: What a real burnout looks like in Gerson’s space and how he overcomes that + Why people reach that point of burnout 

35:25 – Spreading the Word: Gerson’s inspiration to move forward + Ways on how to let more people know about web accessibility 

36:18 – His Advocacy: Creating a Facebook group called Web Accessibility Philippines + the law to make websites accessible 

43:14 – Connect with Gerson Lacdao

43:30 – Mindset and Empathy: A tip for those who want to take the same path as Gerson’s

49:15 – What is Gerson’s own definition of success?

Key Takeaways:

“My fee is based on the value that I provide; mga gano’ng linyahan.” – Gerson Lacdao

“Biggest win ko ‘yong mindset shift na naturo ni John, kasi since nag-start ako ng freelancing, ang pag-price ko is naka-base sa Philippine economy; hindi ko bina-base sa value nito sa client. So ‘yon talaga ‘yong biggest na nakuha ko sa mga tinuro ni John; my biggest win. Kasi kung hindi ‘yon naturo sa’kin, siguro madali na rin ako ma-burnout ulit ngayon.” – Gerson Lacdao

“Isa sa ulterior motive ko rin sa pagpaparami ng nag-i-incorporate ng accessibility is para marami rin ‘yong magpupush sa mga gumagawa ng tools, ng mga software, kasi partly, it’s their responsibility… The more people na nagpu-push sa mga software companies na ganun, mas napipilitan din sila na gawing accessible ‘yong content na napro-produce ng products nila.” – Gerson Lacdao

Notes / Resources Mentioned:

• John Pagulayan: https://www.facebook.com/john.pagulayan.52
• The Freelance Movement: https://thefreelancemovement.com/
• GSL Web Solutions: https://gslwebsolutions.com/
• The WebAIM Million: https://webaim.org/

 Connect with Gerson Lacdao:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gs13th
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gslacdao/
• Website: https://gslwebsolutions.com/