Empathy in Accessibility

In his talk ‘Empathy in Accessibility’, Craig talks us through building empathy for users with impairments, making sure we are aware of how to design services that don’t disable people.

He gives us examples of things that have tripped him up in the past as well as suggesting tools we can use to help us test our designs.

Transcript

1. @abbott567 Empathy in Accessibility
2. Empathy in Accessibility @abbott567 13.3K 246 6.9k 8,531 Craig Abbott @abbott567 Senior Interaction Designer at @DWPDigital. Lover of cats and code. David Attenborough is my hero. Newcastle upon Tyne
3. I don’t have a disability… yet @abbott567
4. @abbott567 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-facts-and-figures/disability-facts-and-figures The prevalence of disability rises with age
5. @abbott567 6% of children https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-facts-and-figures/disability-facts-and-figures The prevalence of disability rises with age
6. @abbott567 6% of children 16% of working age adults https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-facts-and-figures/disability-facts-and-figures The prevalence of disability rises with age
7. @abbott567 6% of children 16% of working age adults 45% of adults over State Pension age https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-facts-and-figures/disability-facts-and-figures The prevalence of disability rises with age
8. People living with a disability are far more common than you might have realised @abbott567
9. 11.9 million adults in the UK are living with a disability @abbott567 http://www.craigabbott.co.uk/accessibility-is-not-an-edge-case Roughly 1 in 5 people or 20%
10. In 2017, only 22% of adults living with a disability said they had never used the internet @abbott567 http://www.craigabbott.co.uk/accessibility-is-not-an-edge-case About 2.6 million people
11. 9.3 million people in the UK alone are living with a disability and browsing the internet @abbott567 http://www.craigabbott.co.uk/accessibility-is-not-an-edge-case
12. When we think of a disability, we often think ‘wheelchair’. But there are so many that are less obvious. And this can make us ignorant. @abbo
13. @abbott567
14. @abbott567 But, disabilities and impairments are not the same.
15. @abbott567 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Symbol_of_Access#Modified_ISA
16. @abbott567 http://accessibleicon.org/
17. Impairment vs Disability @abbott567
18. Impairment: An impairment is medical. It’s the condition or symptoms that person experiences. eg: low vision or blindness @abbott567
19. Disability When a person finds it difficult to perform everyday tasks to a level that is considered normal for most people. @abbott567
20. An impairment doesn’t always mean a person considers themselves disabled. !important @abbott567
21. Imagine you are a wheelchair user, and you want to get a book from the library… @abbott567 Example 1
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27. People are not always disabled by their impairments, they are disabled by poorly designed environments @abbott567
28. An environment might not always be a physical space. It can be digital. An app, website or online service. @abbott567
29. @abbott567 Imagine you’re colour blind and you want to check how well a team is playing before placing a bet… Example 2
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34. @abbott567 https://michelf.ca/projects/sim-daltonism/
35. @abbott567 http://www.funkify.org/
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37. Accessibility should be designed from the start, not an afterthought. @abbott567
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40. Even if we are thinking about accessibility, implementing it without talking to any users will be disastrous. @abbott567
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43. Designers don’t usually make things inaccessible on purpose. It’s just a lack of awareness or foresight. @abbott567
44. @abbott567 Photo credit: Katy Arnold, Home Office Digital
45. Sometimes we try to make things better and we make things worse. @abbott567
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49. @abbott567 if (month === ‘september’) { month = 9; }
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52. @abbott567 <input type=“text” /> <input type=“number” />
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54. https://accessibility.blog.gov.uk/2018/05/15/what-we-learned-from-getting-our-autocomplete-tested-for-accessibility/ It’s important to test your product with people who use assistive technology.
55. Getting people onboard is hard @abbott567
56. By law, all public sector websites and apps will need to be accessible by 2021. @abbott567
57. Try empathy building exercises with your team. @abbott567
58. Lip reading is hard @abbott567
59. @abbott567 http://actiondeafness.org.uk/product/deaf-awareness-posters/
60. @abbott567 @malcolmcanvin Chair Share
61. @abbott567 @beesarahlee Talent Salad
62. @abbott567 @jamesgordon1 Colourful I love you
63. @abbott567 https://vinesimspecs.com/
64. @abbott567 Retinitis pigmentosa (tunnel vision) Macular Degeneration
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66. @abbott567 https://abtt.co/hod-a11y-posters
67. @abbott567 https://abtt.co/hod-a11y-posters
68. @abbott567 http://www.craigabbott.co.uk/error-messages-are-not-funny
69. @abbott567 http://www.craigabbott.co.uk/error-messages-are-not-funny
70. @abbott567 https://wave.webaim.org/
71. Tools can be a good to build empathy and find obvious errors, but they can never replace usability testing. @abbott567
72. If we design things with accessibility in mind, it makes things better for EVERYBODY! @abbott567
73. @abbott567 @mrstevenproctor - Content design. What it is and what it isn’t.
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77. @abbott567 http://www.aegisub.org/
78. At the very least, include a transcript of the video. This can just be a text file or a HTML page that somebody can read. @abbott567
79. Learn how to use your device’s own screenreader. @abbott567
80. @abbott567 https://abtt.co/screen-reader-shortcuts
81. @abbott567 https://abtt.co/screen-reader-shortcuts
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87. Nobody expects you to get accessibility perfect. But from now on, be more aware and have a little more empathy for those that need it. @abbott567
88. That’s all folks @abbott567 UK Disability facts and figures: http://www.craigabbott.co.uk/accessibility-is-not-an-edge-case Sim Daltonism: https://michelf.ca/projects/sim-daltonism/ Funkify: http://www.funkify.org/ Action Deafness posters: http://actiondeafness.org.uk/product/deaf-awareness-posters/ Vine simulation glasses: https://vinesimspecs.com/ Wave accessibility tool: https://wave.webaim.org/ Home Office posters: https://abtt.co/hod-a11y-posters Accessible error messages: http://www.craigabbott.co.uk/error-messages-are-not-funny AegiSub subtitles: http://www.aegisub.org/ Screenreader shortcuts: https://abtt.co/screen-reader-shortcuts