I realize that I am terrible at self-promotion at times but I have a very good reason to step up my self-promotion for a change. I WROTE A BOOK! OK, now that that's out of my system, Matt Heusser and I co-wrote a book. That's the much more honest answer but hey, my name is on the cover, so I'm claiming that credit ;). Matt and I spent more than a year working on this project that has become "Software Testing Strategies" and its subtitle is "A Testing Guide for the 2020s". We have endeavored to create a book that is timely and, we hope, timeless. Additionally, we did our best to bring so ..read more

 This is truly not an article I wanted to write, but my hope is my experience may help some people out there. To put it simply, I have been applying for a variety of jobs because, well, that's what you do when you are between jobs. I have, for the past several months, been working with an organization performing training for a cohort of learners. That started at the beginning of June, and it has recently been completed. With the classes finished, I am now the same "free agent" I was in May. Thus, it should come as no surprise that I am applying for the jobs that are being posted and t ..read more

  Today has been a whirlwind. I was up this morning before 5:00 a.m. to teach the penultimate class of my contract (sorry, I just love working that word into things ;) ) but suffice it to say the class is still happening while PNSQC is happening. That has made me a little tired and thus a little less blogging today. Add to that the fact I was called in to do a substitute talk in the afternoon (glad to do it but that was not on my dance card today) and I'm really wondering how we are at the last talk of the day and formal conference. regardless, we are here and I'm excited to hear our la ..read more

Ah yes, another date with the legendary Señor Performo :).  Leandro is always fun to hear present and I particularly liked the premise of his talk as I frequently find myself dealing with cognitive biases, both in the way of locating them when others use them but also to admonish myself when I do (and yes, I do fall prey to them from time to time).  I've been in the process of teaching a class for the past few months related to software test automation, specifically learning about how to use a tool like Playwright with an automated testing framework. To that end, we have a caps ..read more

I had the opportunity and privilege to introduce Selena Delesie on the program today. It was fun to reminisce a bit because Selena and I were both in the same Foundations class for Black Box Software Testing all the way back in 2010. We also both served on the Board of Directors for AST, so we had a lot of memories and fun/challenging things to deal with over the years. Thus, it was a pleasure to introduce Selena as our first Keynote speaker. Also, part of her talk was discussed on a recent The Testing Show podcast, so if you want a sample, you can listen to that :). The tool that Selena and ..read more

  It's that time of year once again. I'm excited to be at PNSQC and in a new location. We are at the University Place Hotel and Conference Center, which is part of Portland State University. This is the first time PNSQC has been here but not the first time I've been here. A few years back, in 2018, they had run out of rooms at the primary hotel, so I had to find someplace else to stay.  I happened upon University Place, and while it was a walk from the previous venue at the Portland World Trade Center, it was a comfortable hotel, and I liked my stay. As we were looking for differen ..read more

While often overlooked, cognitive disabilities are perhaps one of the most common yet least seen of the disability families we have discussed. Cognitive disabilities are varied and present some challenges that can affect how navigate and interact with online content.  word cloud for cognitive disabilities: words include cognitive, disability, area, attention, experience, fatigue, Hemingway, memory, situation, stress, user Cognitive disabilities cover a broad range of conditions. Memory, attention, comprehension, and problem-solving are all affected, and for some people, all of ..read more

 When we think about accessibility and people with disabilities, mobility is the area that we are most familiar with and the most obvious of disabilities. We also refer to these as physical or motor disabilities. Most of the accessibility options that we see in public and in infrastructure are specifically for mobility disability. This is also the disability family we are most familiar with and can most readily see.  Word cloud related to mobility and motor disabilities. There are many aspects that create unique challenges when it comes to mobility disability. On one hand ..read more

 I was hopeful yesterday when I was making my post on the dimensions of accessibility that I'd be able to cover all four of the main areas in one blog post. I could have if I wanted to make a post that was exceptionally long but that's not my point in doing this. Instead, I realized that it made sense to break the main areas up and look at them independently and consider the realities that each area faces, both in the way of chronic/persistent conditions, as well as those that are transient/situational. If you are enjoying this series, thanks for coming along for the ride, there are lots ..read more

There are many ways in which we have made great strides in focusing on accessibility. The tools we have at our disposal to both allow for information to be accessible and the tools that are available to help us develop for, test for, and advocate for accessibility are growing all the time. It's an area that can be as deep and wide as you want to make it. Word cloud for Visual Accessibility issues. Keywords used: Content, device, eye, images, accessibility, user, visual accessibility, contrast, fact, issue. One factor that gets overlooked, however, is. that accessibility is not a one s ..read more