Advocating for Accessibility in the Workplace, in the Classroom, and on the Web

Technical and professional communication (TPC) teachers and practitioners are increasingly committed to creating and supporting accessibility practices across the TPC landscape. This commitment has led to practices that make our classrooms, workplaces, and online spaces more accessible. However, the ways we access these spaces continue to change due to geopolitical uncertainty, unstable financial markets, and fast-paced technological advancements. These changes can affect what accessibility looks like, how we create it, and how we advocate for it. This paper addresses the changing dynamics of accessibility practices in TPC. We focus on how accessibility can challenge exclusionary spaces and structures and how TPC teachers, students, and practitioners can create and advocate for accessible practices adaptable to the uncertainties of our historical moment. We advocate for increased accessibility in job interviews, web design, multimodal pedagogy, and remote teaching and working, all of which are increasingly shaped by AI technologies. The goals of this discussion are to both critique practices of exclusion and offer pedagogical and practical actions that support advocacy and change.