ux & a11y: how a wake-up call "flipped it"
DESCRIPTION
Presentation delivered by Lisa Barnett during Ignite Session at 2012 Usability Professionals Association in Las Vegas, NV. Topic: Leveraging an Accessibility Wake-up Call to Drive UX within an OrganizationTRANSCRIPT
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UX and A11Y: How a wake-up call “Flipped It”
Driving UX with Accessibility
UPA 2012, Las Vegas, NV
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Me, in a nut shell
• UX Consulting and design • Web Accessibility Advocacy and Consulting • UX Architect • C.U.A. and M.F.A. • Focus Areas: Inclusive Design, Accessibility,
Systems Approaches, UX Infrastructure • Instituted a Web Accessibility Program at a
Fortune 100 Health Insurance Company
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The UX Honeycomb
Usability and accessibility are both components of the User Experience Honeycomb* But accessibility is often a “nice to have.”
useful
desirable
findable
valuable
credible
usable
accessible
*attributed to Peter Morville
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Photo: www.wikipedia.org
Inclusive Design Approach Lots of carrots!
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Then came a wake up call
“We need to confirm your site meets our federal accessibility requirements.”
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I’d been handed a stick
Accessibility is now a legal requirement.
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The honeycomb had shifted
usable
useful
desirable
findable
valuable
credible
accessible If you can’t access it, You can’t use it.
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I realized it could flip it
• UX now part of A11y • A11y was a driver • User-centered
standards • Testable as
requirements
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Mapping UX to A11Y
– Equitable use – Flexible in use – Simple and intuitive – Perceivable info – Tolerance for error – Low physical effort – Size and space for
approach and use
– Perceivable – Operable – Understandable – Robust
Inclusive Design Principles: WCAG 2.0 Guidelines:
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Keeping the focus on users
• Technical compliance is not enough • Must test on real users with disabilities, using
assistive technologies • Invite developers to watch disabled users
testing the pages • Take stewardship of accessibility to avoid
code-centered accessibility
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Collaborating and partnering
Potential advocates: • IT • Sales & Marketing • Legal & Compliance • Purchasing
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How big is the problem?
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Now fix it!
•Pressure helped me •Resources were made available •I had authority I’d never had before! •IT was teaching me how to write standards so that they could interpret them
•Partnerships paid off
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Cross-referrals
Photo: www.captmondo.com
While we’re under the hood . . .
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Now, how to build these pages?
•Steep learning curve •All team members required training, especially developers
•UX collaborated closely with IT •Accessible code libraries and code standards were created
•Each consecutive site would be easier and faster to create, and require less testing
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Did we do it right?
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No wake-up call at your company?
• Even if you’re not in a high-stakes game with the government, this approach can still be relevant
• There’s a big wave coming that can help you make your case
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Getting Started
• Socialize “Silver Tsunami” concept – 72 Million Boomers are at or near
retirement age – They have a lot of buying power – Very comfortable online – Don‘t think of themselves as disabled – Opportunity to lay a foundation to
support these users
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Getting Started
• Assess and scope • Get professional help • Talk to people who have done this before • Get involved in the a11y community:
– Twitter: #a11y – Web Axe blog & podcasts: webaxe.blogspot.com – Annual CSUN Conference: www.csun.edu/cod – AccessU: www.environmentsforhumans.com