GIT Going with GitHub

License: CC BY 4.0 | Site | Discussions

A Workshop by Community Access

Welcome. This repository is your complete guide and companion for the two-day GIT Going with GitHub workshop. Every document here is written to be read with or without a screen reader. All steps are keyboard-accessible. You belong here.

About Community Access: Community Access is a community of blind and low vision technology professionals. Visit community-access.org to learn more.

The Central Project: Accessibility Agents

This workshop is built around a real, live open source project: Accessibility Agents - 55 AI agents across 3 teams and 5 platforms for accessible, agentic repository management. It was built by your facilitator and is MIT-licensed.

You will fork it, understand it, contribute to it, and personalize it. By the end of Day 2, your name is in its commit history.

Accessibility Agents does not replace what you learn on Day 1. It amplifies it. The agents only make sense when you already understand the skills they automate. That is why Day 1 comes first - and why every guide in this repository shows you the manual path before it shows you the agent path.

What Is This Event?

During this two-day workshop, you will learn how to confidently navigate and contribute to open source projects on GitHub using:

• A screen reader (NVDA on Windows, JAWS on Windows, or VoiceOver on macOS)
• Keyboard-only navigation - no mouse required
• GitHub Copilot (Day 2) - AI-assisted writing and coding in the browser and in VS Code

By the end of this event, you will have made real contributions to a real repository. Not simulated. Not pretend. Real.

Who Is This For?

This event is designed for:

• People new to GitHub who use assistive technology
• Developers who use screen readers and want to contribute to open source
• Anyone who is curious about accessible development workflows
• Sighted participants are welcome - all content is keyboard-navigable for everyone

You do not need to know how to code to participate and contribute meaningfully. Documentation improvements, issue filing, accessibility bug reports, and code reviews are all valuable contributions.

Two-Day Overview

The Journey Arc

This is not a two-day course with two separate syllabi. It is one arc.

Day 1 - Learn the skill in the browser
  Navigate → Issue → Pull Request → Review → Merge

     ↓  (bridge: press . on any GitHub repo - VS Code opens right in your browser)

github.dev - VS Code on the web, no install needed
  Same keyboard shortcuts · Same screen reader mode · Edit files · Open PRs
  What it cannot do: no terminal, no Copilot agents, no local extensions

     ↓  (you've earned the desktop - now it makes sense)

Day 2 - Deepen with VS Code + Accessibility Agents
  Learn VS Code basics → Copilot inline → Copilot Chat
  @daily-briefing → @issue-tracker → @pr-review → @analytics → ship upstream

Every skill you build on Day 1 maps directly to an Accessibility Agents command on Day 2. The agent is not a shortcut - it is a multiplier. You have to understand what it is doing to know when it is wrong.

By the end of Day 2, you will have:

• A fork of accessibility-agents with your personalized preferences
• At least one merged PR in a real open source project
• Your name in the commit history of community-access/accessibility-agents
• A working set of 55 AI agents across 3 teams that travel with your fork to any repository you apply them to

How to Read These Docs

All documentation lives in the docs/ folder. Read them in order for the full experience, or jump to what you need.

Your Challenges Are Waiting (Start Here!)

You have 30+ challenges pre-assigned to you by your GitHub username.

Go to the Issues tab of this repository and filter by your username. You'll see challenges like:

Chapter 4.1: Create Your First Issue (@YOUR_USERNAME)
Chapter 4.2: Claim a Challenge (@YOUR_USERNAME)
Chapter 6.1: Open Your First Pull Request (@YOUR_USERNAME)
... and 27 more

Each issue is your personal challenge tracker. Inside, you'll find:

• Clear instructions (with links back to this documentation)
• Step-by-step walkthrough for your screen reader
• Bot validation (automatic feedback on your work)
• Proof that you completed it (closed issue = skill unlocked)

Open the Challenge Hub for detailed instructions on every challenge, organized by chapter, with full context and learning moments.

The workflow is simple:

1. Click on a challenge issue assigned to you
2. Click "I'm working on this!" to claim it
3. Follow the instructions in the issue + the Challenge Hub
4. Open a PR that says Closes #<issue_number>
5. The bot validates your work
6. When it passes, merge your PR and your issue auto-closes
7. Move to the next challenge!

You don't need to memorize anything. Every challenge is in the Issues tab, waiting for you. Every step is documented. Every question has a "If You Get Stuck" section.

Facilitators: Challenge Management

Are you running this workshop? See FACILITATOR_CHALLENGES.md for:

• Pre-workshop setup (batch issue generation for your cohort)
• Real-time monitoring and student support
• Understanding and configuring bot validation
• Cleaning up and refreshing between cohorts

The Facilitator guide includes templates, scripts, success metrics, and a final pre-workshop checklist.

HTML Version Available: All markdown documentation is automatically converted to HTML format. After cloning the repository, you can browse the html/ directory for web-formatted versions of every document. See BUILD.md for details.

Audio Series Available: Every chapter and appendix has a companion podcast episode - a conversational two-host overview perfect for previewing concepts or reducing screen reader fatigue. Browse all 44 episodes or subscribe via RSS.

Quick Navigation

Looking for a student-friendly table of contents? See the Course Guide - a single page with day-by-day chapter tables, grouped appendices, all 24 exercises at a glance, and where to get help.

Lessons

Workshop Agendas - For facilitators only (not part of learner sequence)

Appendices - Reference material; open any time during the workshop

Each guide from Lesson 03 onward includes a "Day 2 Amplifier" callout that shows how Accessibility Agents extends that skill across three scopes: your VS Code editor → your repository (travels with every fork) → the cloud (GitHub Agentic Workflows running without VS Code). Learn the manual skill first (Chapter 14), then see how it's automated (Chapter 16).

This Repository's Structure

One repository, everything included. Clone or fork this repo and you have the complete workshop - all curriculum guides, Accessibility Agents agents and slash commands, YAML issue forms, PR template, and a practice contribution target in learning-room/. GitHub Skills modules cannot be bundled here (each participant activates their own copy on their own account), but links are in .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml.

[repo root]/
├── README.md                            ← You are here
├── CONTRIBUTING.md                      ← How to contribute to this repo
├── CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md                   ← Community standards
├── FACILITATOR.md                       ← For workshop organizers only
├── DAY1_AGENDA.md                       ← Day 1 workshop schedule (facilitators only)
├── DAY2_AGENDA.md                       ← Day 2 workshop schedule (facilitators only)
├── .gitignore
├── .github/
│   ├── ISSUE_TEMPLATE/
│   │   ├── config.yml                   ← Links to GitHub Skills; disables blank issues
│   │   ├── accessibility-bug.yml        ← Structured accessibility bug form (YAML)
│   │   └── feature-request.yml         ← Feature/improvement request form (YAML)
│   ├── PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md        ← PR checklist with accessibility section
│   ├── agents/                          ← Accessibility Agents: workshop Copilot Chat agents (55 total across 3 teams)
│   │   ├── daily-briefing.agent.md
│   │   ├── issue-tracker.agent.md
│   │   ├── pr-review.agent.md
│   │   ├── analytics.agent.md
│   │   ├── insiders-a11y-tracker.agent.md
│   │   ├── template-builder.agent.md
│   │   └── preferences.example.md      ← Copy to preferences.md and personalize
│   └── prompts/                         ← 54+ slash commands for Copilot Chat
│       ├── a11y-update.prompt.md
│       ├── create-issue.prompt.md
│       ├── daily-briefing.prompt.md
│       ├── review-pr.prompt.md
│       ├── triage.prompt.md
│       └── ... (23 more - see appendix-v-accessibility-agents-reference.md)
├── learning-room/                       ← Practice target for the contribution sprint
│   ├── README.md
│   └── docs/
│       ├── welcome.md                   ← Has [TODO] sections for you to complete
│       ├── keyboard-shortcuts.md        ← Has intentional accessibility issues to find and fix
│       └── setup-guide.md              ← Has a broken link to find and fix
├── PODCASTS.md                          ← Audio player page (44 episodes, HTML5 audio)
├── podcasts/                            ← Podcast production pipeline
│   ├── build-bundles.js                 ← Generates NotebookLM source bundles
│   ├── generate-site.js                 ← Generates PODCASTS.md and RSS feed from manifest
│   ├── manifest.json                    ← Episode manifest (status, metadata)
│   ├── feed.xml                         ← RSS 2.0 podcast feed
│   ├── README.md                        ← Production guide
│   └── bundles/                         ← 44 generated episode source bundles
└── docs/                               ← Full workshop curriculum (17 lessons + 31 appendices A-Z, AA-AE)
    ├── course-guide.md                           ← Student landing page: day-by-day overview, exercises, help
    ├── 00-pre-workshop-setup.md
    ├── 01-understanding-github-web-structure.md  ← How GitHub is organized (start here)
    ├── 02-navigating-repositories.md  ← Accessibility Agents: @daily-briefing
    ├── 03-the-learning-room.md        ← Read this early: your shared space and PR workflow
    ├── 04-working-with-issues.md      ← Accessibility Agents: @issue-tracker
    ├── 05-vscode-accessibility.md     ← VS Code accessibility: screen reader mode, accessibility signals, interface tour
    ├── 06-working-with-pull-requests.md ← Accessibility Agents: @pr-review
    ├── 07-merge-conflicts.md          ← Accessibility Agents: Copilot conflict prevention
    ├── 08-culture-etiquette.md        ← Accessibility Agents: output responsibility
    ├── 09-labels-milestones-projects.md ← Accessibility Agents: @issue-tracker + labels
    ├── 10-notifications.md            ← Accessibility Agents: @daily-briefing + inbox
    ├── 11-git-source-control.md       ← Git operations in VS Code: clone, branch, commit, merge, stash
    ├── 12-github-pull-requests-extension.md ← GitHub PR extension: view, review, create, merge PRs
    ├── 13-github-copilot.md           ← GitHub Copilot: inline suggestions, Chat, prompting, custom agents
    ├── 14-accessible-code-review.md   ← Reviewer mechanics: diffs, comments, Accessible Diff Viewer - final culminating skill
    ├── 15-issue-templates.md          ← Creating GitHub issue templates
    ├── 16-accessibility-agents.md              ← Accessibility Agents: 55 agents, 3 teams, 5 platforms - automate everything you learned
    ├── appendix-a-glossary.md                    ← A: Every term explained (look up any time)
    ├── appendix-b-screen-reader-cheatsheet.md    ← B: Full shortcut reference, per-screen-reader tables (keep open)
    ├── appendix-c-accessibility-standards.md     ← C: WCAG 2.2, ARIA, PR checklist
    ├── appendix-d-git-authentication.md          ← D: SSH keys, PATs, credential storage
    ├── appendix-e-github-flavored-markdown.md    ← E: Alert blocks, Mermaid, math, footnotes, heading anchors
    ├── appendix-f-github-gists.md                ← F: Code snippets, sharing, embedding
    ├── appendix-g-github-discussions.md          ← G: GitHub Discussions navigation and participation
    ├── appendix-h-releases-tags-insights.md      ← H: Releases, tags, version numbers, pulse, contributors, traffic
    ├── appendix-i-github-projects.md             ← I: GitHub Projects deep dive (boards, tables, roadmaps, automations)
    ├── appendix-j-advanced-search.md             ← J: Search query language reference
    ├── appendix-k-branch-protection-rulesets.md  ← K: Branch rules, rulesets, diagnosing blocked PRs
    ├── appendix-l-github-security-features.md    ← L: Dependabot, secret scanning, code scanning, private advisories
    ├── appendix-m-vscode-accessibility-reference.md ← M: Complete VS Code accessibility technical reference
    ├── appendix-n-github-codespaces.md           ← N: Cloud dev environments, accessibility setup, screen reader usage
    ├── appendix-o-github-mobile.md               ← O: VoiceOver and TalkBack guide for iOS and Android
    ├── appendix-p-github-pages.md                ← P: GitHub Pages deployment guide
    ├── appendix-q-github-actions-workflows.md    ← Q: Automation, CI/CD workflows, and agentic cloud
    ├── appendix-r-github-profile-sponsors-wikis.md ← R: Profile README, GitHub Sponsors, wikis
    ├── appendix-s-github-organizations-templates.md ← S: Organizations, templates, repository settings
    ├── appendix-t-contributing-to-open-source.md ← T: First contribution guide
    ├── appendix-u-resources.md                   ← U: Every link, tool, and reference (lookup anytime)
    ├── appendix-v-accessibility-agents-reference.md       ← V: Accessibility Agents agents, commands, and customization
    ├── appendix-w-github-copilot-reference.md    ← W: Copilot features, chat, MCP servers, agentic ecosystem
    ├── appendix-x-copilot-models.md              ← X: AI model comparison and selection guide
    ├── appendix-y-accessing-workshop-materials.md ← Y: How to get, download, and read these materials
    └── appendix-z-github-skills-catalog.md  ← Z: All 36 GitHub Skills modules with learning paths

> *Note: Appendices were renumbered during a February 2026 review. If you encounter external references to "Appendix D" or later letters, subtract one letter (e.g., the former Appendix D is now [Appendix C](docs/appendix-c-accessibility-standards.md)).*


## Quick Reference

These standalone documents provide additional guidance and resources:

| Document | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| [FAQ](FAQ.md) | Frequently asked questions about the workshop |
| [Quick Reference](QUICK_REFERENCE.md) | Condensed cheat sheet for common tasks |
| [Troubleshooting](TROUBLESHOOTING.md) | Solutions for common setup and workflow issues |
| [Progress Tracker](PROGRESS_TRACKER.md) | Track your learning progress through the workshop |
| [Accessibility Testing](ACCESSIBILITY_TESTING.md) | Accessibility testing procedures and standards |
| [Security](SECURITY.md) | Security policy and vulnerability reporting |
| [GitHub Proposal](GITHUB_PROPOSAL.md) | Original event proposal and curriculum overview (internal reference) |


## Screen Reader Users: Start Here

Before doing anything else, please read [**00 - Pre-Workshop Setup**](docs/00-pre-workshop-setup.md). It will walk you through:

- Configuring your screen reader for GitHub
- Verifying GitHub's modern interface is working (may already be active - instructions include how to check and enable if needed)
- Turning off settings that make screen reader navigation harder
- Verifying everything works before Day 1 begins


## The Goal of This Event

Open source software is built by people. Accessibility bugs in open source affect millions of people who use assistive technology every day. By learning to contribute - even something as small as filing a clear, detailed accessibility issue - you become part of fixing that. That matters.

**You don't have to write a single line of code to make open source more accessible.**

And by the end of Day 2, you will not just be a learner. You will be a product maker - someone who has shipped something real to a project that other people use.


## Questions Before the Event?

- **Discussion Forum:** [Join the conversation](https://github.com/community-access/git-going-with-github/discussions) - ask questions, connect with fellow participants, share ideas
- **File an issue** in this repository if something in these docs is unclear
- **Community:** [GitHub Accessibility Discussions](https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/categories/accessibility)


## License

All workshop documentation is licensed under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) - you are free to share and adapt with attribution.


*Last reviewed: February 2026*
*A [Community Access](https://community-access.org) initiative.*