Lightning Talk

Creating accessibility & inclusion in open source software community

Hello. I am the community manager for the Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation. Our flagship project is Rocky Linux, an open-source enterprise-class Linux operating system. 

My primary role is to drive engagement and grow the Rocky Linux user community.  But how engaging can an operating system software be? 

To accomplish this, I’ve chosen to build bridges by focusing on our language of accessibility and inclusion across all forms of content related to the project. 

For accessibility, I mean at least two things. 

  1. Free. The software is free, the license to use it how you want is free, and so is the community.
  2. Physical access encoded. Our content should be able to be accessed by those with visual and other impairments. This is a work in progress. 

And for inclusion, I mean at least two things.

  1. New-user friendly. Anyone, even without an understanding of Linux, should be able to understand our language and get themselves through the onboarding process. 
  2. Many-demographic friendly. Open source is for everyone. I want our language and engagement choices to reflect a genuine interest in and welcoming space for everyone. 

I believe growing accessibility and inclusion happens two ways. First by taking this conversation into new communities. Women Who Code. Black in Tech. Write the Docs. And secondly by encoding it into our written content. 

Documentation is a huge piece of that content. Our writing day project, that some of you participated in on Sunday, was part of a current initiative to review the entire current documentation tree for grammatical accuracy, as well as gendered, racial, and other outdated language. We appreciate the contributions and momentum that is already happening there. 

Other forms of content being created across the project include our social media presence, as well as announcements, press releases, and long-form content. 

My goal is to keep these two principles of accessibility and inclusion at the front of my mind when curating all of this content across the project. 

I would love to hear your suggestions for more specific ways to be a bridge builder, and incorporate accessibility and inclusion in documentation and other outward-facing content.

Thank you.