Accessibility & User Experience

Accessibility &User Experience:

You Can’t HaveOne Without the

Who Am I?

What is UX?

The extent to which people (with

disabilities*) are able to

understand and use a product.

What is Accessibility?

How a person feels about and

interacts with a product

What does a UX practioner do?

What does an Accessibility advocate do?

Through research, advocacy and empathy, create

products that meet user expectations and needs

Great Perspectives (And Challenges)...Reframing Accessibility for the Web (Anne Gibson) http://

alistapart.com/article/reframing-accessibility-for-the-web

“We can reframe accessibility in terms of what we provide, not what other people lack.”

“We seem to live in a world where the able-bodied among us are considered normal, and everyone else must strive to attain that level.”- I Am Not Broken: The Language of Disability, Bookworm Blueshttp://www.bookwormblues.net/2014/09/10/i-am-not-broken-the-language-of-disability/

AccessibilityA Brief

Overview

Some (Mis)Perceptions of AccessibilityAccessibility = just blindness

It’s just not a big enough % of our audience

“All of our users need to be able-bodied”

“Accessibility is just for government compliance”

“You can’t expect an experience to work the same for everybody.”

“It’s too difficult to make an application/web experience accessible”

Disabilities...by the Numbers

People (all ages) with a

disability in the US:

12.1% (2012)

Those 21-64: 10.4%

DisabilitiesMore Than

JustBlindness

Vision Disabilities

Blindness

Poor Vision

Color Blindness

About 6.2% of people 15 and older experienced some level of difficulty with seeing, hearing, or

having their speech understood (2010 Census Bureau)

World HeadquartersCincinnati, Ohio

Hearing Disabilities

Hard of Hearing

About 6.2% of people 15 and older experienced some level of difficulty with seeing, hearing, or

having their speech understood (2010 Census Bureau)

Motor Disabilities

Cerebral palsy

Muscular dystrophy

Arthritis

About 12.6% of people 15 and older had limitations associated with ambulatory activities of the

lower body including difficulty walking, climbing stairs, or using a wheelchair, cane, crutches, or

walker (2010 Census Bureau)

Cognitive and Other Disabilities

Attention Deficit

Dyslexia

Seizures

About 6.3% of people 15 and older experienced difficulty with some kind of cognitive, mental, or

emotional functioning. (2010 Census Bureau)

Environmental

Rooftop Displays

Poor Lighting

Multiple Interfaces

UX TechniquesAnd Accessibility

Archetypes/Personas

Example Users: Building Automation World

Poor Vision ColorBlindness Blindness

Hard of Hearing Deaf

Arthritis Motor SkillLimitations

Seizures

AttentionDeficit Dyslexia

Poor or Too Much

Lighting

Facility Operator?Service Technician?Security Guard?Security Operator?Case Investigator?Facility Manager?Director?CEO?Nurse?Teacher?

Seizures

Poor or Too Much

Lighting

Seizures

Poor or Too Much

Lighting

Seizures

Poor or Too Much

Lighting

Seizures

Poor or Too Much

Lighting

Seizures

Poor or Too Much

Lighting

UX Techniques

And Accessibility

UsabilityTesting

Usability Testing with Disabled Users

In-Person

Remote

Recruiting?

AccessibilityTools

Don’t FightThe OS &Browsers

Accessibility Tools

Contrast checkers

WCAG 2.0 Guidelines

Section 508 Checklist

WebAIM – www.webaim.org

“People are people. They come in many shapes and forms and abilities. Computer interfaces are input

and output hardware. They help people communicate with software. Websites are software that help people accomplish their goals, regardless

of the hardware and software combination, regardless of the shapes and forms of their people.

That is accessibility.”Anne Gibson

Reframing Accessibility for the Web (A List Apart)

Cheers!

Steve Grobschmidt

The Art of Web Accessibility (

www.theaccessibility.com)

Twitter: @sgrobschmidt

Email: steve@theaccessibility.com

Image SourcesImages are author’s own unless noted below:

http://www.easterseals.com/sepa/our-programs/childrens-services/assistive-technology.html

http://www.ilrcsf.org/about/galleries/photo-gallery/

http://uxmovement.com/content/6-surprising-bad-practices-that-hurt-dyslexic-users/

http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Improve-usability-with-assistive-technology

http://www.interactiveaccessibility.com/services/usability-accessibility-testing

Slides 1 & 5– Got these from a free istockphoto account years ago

Accessibility & User Experience - You Can't Have One Without the Other

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