About Accessibility up to 11!
Dani Devesa Derksen-Staats
iOS Developer & Accessibility Advocate
Dani is an iOS engineer and accessibility specialist from Xàbia, in the Marina Alta region of the Valencian Community, Spain, and is based in London. He's having a blast working at Yoto!
He's loved working at Apple (Contractor), Spotify, Skyscanner, and the BBC, where he gained valuable experience making iOS apps more inclusive and fostering organisational cultures that prioritise accessibility.
Sometimes, he lets Xcode take a break and shares his passion for accessibility at conferences.
He is the author of the book "Developing Accessible iOS Apps", and likes to keep himself busy by writing iOS and accessibility tips on social media with the hashtag #365DaysIOSAccessibility.
Publications
Fostering An Accessibility Culture
Building an accessibility culture isn’t easy, and there’s no clear playbook. But Dani offers insights from his own journey, where small, consistent habits made a big difference.
Smashing Magazine
Best practices for building accessible mobile apps
An overview of the mindset, strategies, and tools that will help you create apps that truly work for everyone.
Increment
Developing Accessible iOS Apps
A comprehensive guide to making iOS apps accessible to everyone, covering VoiceOver, Switch Control, Voice Control, good accessibility practices, and more.
Published by Apress
Publications featured in
Fostering An Accessibility Culture"I appreciated many of the points in this article by Daniel Devesa Derksen-Staats (...) Empathy and diversity are essential in tech (...) accessibility is a process, not a one-time goal (...) the focus on culture change over compliance."
- Tamera Middlebrooks, iOS Dev Weekly #712"A compelling argument for this shift, showing his journey and demonstrating how even small, consistent practices can foster a culture where inclusion becomes an inherent part of everyday workflows."
- Create with Swift Weekly Newsletter #58
Talks
Creating Accessible iOS Apps: An Action Plan
Accessibility NYC
Accessibility is a broad topic. And when creating iOS apps, you can feel intimidated by the wide range of features, tools, APIs, and documentation that Apple offers. The first problem we find in the industry is still awareness. But if you are starting to build apps for the platform, the logical first question should be: where do I start with accessibility?
365 days of accessibility
NSSpain X
Global Accessibility Awareness Day's co-founder Jennison Asuncion reminded us: we need to go from one day of awareness, to one year of action. I want to help the iOS community lead that change. We’ll look at three steps: First, make accessibility second nature: it’s part of our job as iOS engineers. Second, demystify accessibility: starting is easier than it looks. Third: explore advanced features: once you master the basics, you can create truly inclusive experiences.
Developing iOS Apps with an Accessibility Mindset
CocoaHeads NL
Accessibility should part of the job for any developer. But as user can have very diverse disabilities it can be challenging to know what features the platform has available for them and how to use them effectively. Dani explores the API's and highlights features like VoiceOver, Switch Control and VoiceControl.
Podcasts
See All
Double Tap
Weekend: Building Accessible Games and Reading Tools
Shaun Preece talks with Dani about building RetroRapid! and Xarra! with accessibility at the center, from multiple ways to play to reading and listening with synchronized text.
Swift Over Coffee
S4E7: Progress over perfection
To celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Mikaela and Paul recorded a special episode live at ARCtic Conference in Oulu, Finland, with a distinguished panel of accessibility champions: Rob Whitaker, Dani Devesa Derksen-Staats and Klemens Strasser. If accessibility seems like an overwhelming subject, don't panic; we show you not just why but also give you tips on how to get started with ensuring your apps are as accessible as possible — and remember the mantra, 'progress over perfection'!
The Digital Accessibility Podcast, with Joe James
Episode 8: Dani Devesa Derksen-Staats - Ex-Spotify
Dani Devesa Derksen-Staats, former iOS Accessibility Engineer at Spotify, The Times, The BBC and SkyScanner Joins Joe to discuss all things Mobile and iOS Accessibility. We discuss his own experience within the field of Mobile and Digital Accessibility and general iOS Development, how all developers and engineers can make a small change to their thinking to make a huge impact, and discussing the mentality of Progress over Perfection and how we need to make mistakes to learn from them and improve.
