Design of an accessibility course

Summary:

For this project, I set out to design an accessibility course for designers who are new to the field and need to learn the fundamentals of creating accessible designs. My goal was to create an imaginary project that not only covers the basics but also provides practical tools and strategies that designers can use to create more inclusive and accessible designs. Through this project, I aimed to demonstrate my understanding of the importance of accessibility in design and my ability to communicate complex concepts in a clear and concise manner.

Back

How might we adapt an inclusive mindset while designing a digital product?

Who the course is aimed at, among our members?

It is aimed for both wannabes and pros. The learners have to have prior knowledge of the design thinking process as it is something they would use throughout the course. The course is aimed to be story-based learning with a hands-on activity throughout the stories. With the learning objective in mind, a point of view (POV) would be identified, the lens through which the learner will experience the story events. Those story events are scenarios from a person with a disability experiencing a digital product or service. The task of the learner is to take away those problems and throughout the course try to find solutions with the help of accessibility experts who teaches them the inclusive design mindset through lively examples and guidelines. If the learner is successful, already at the course, they solve a design problem around inclusive design. An example could be hearing a person with visual impairment experiencing a website, and through the design thinking process help them to design a more inclusive experience. Keeping cognitive overload in mind, they’d get the content based on the design thinking phase they are on. The phase would give a summary on the design thinking process in general, learners to remember and make the links between design thinking and creating any types of project this way.

One important thing about inclusive design, is that it’s not only a set of guidelines, it’s a way of thinking. It starts in every day life, do you have a habit of second way communicate in case someone doesn’t understand for whatever reason? Do you capitalise #YourHashtags? Do you always ask the preferred form of contact options? Inclusion isn’t always perfect, it can’t be always perfect but if it’s in the back of your mind, you’re on the good track.

Accessibility is about people with disabilities being able to use a design. Inclusive design takes the process a step further to ensure a digital product in question serves everyone who uses that product. Inclusive design is a mindset. Accessibility is one outcome of that mindset.

Why people should take the course?

According to Newcomb's theory of social attraction, there is a stigma for people different from us, which comes from human nature. Based on this theory, ‘birds of a feather flock together: we instinctively feel safer with those who share similar values, attitudes, race, looks etc. It is the responsibility of the people in society to change this stigma and work forward to a more inclusive community. The inclusive design reflects that stigma by aiming to remove the barriers that create undue effort and separation. It enables everyone to participate equally, confidently and independently in everyday activities. Whether we design or develop products or work in a completely different area, it is our shared responsibility to have the mindset of people who might be different to us.

What are the key skills/lessons people would learn on the course?

What are types of disabilities, and which technological challenges do they face on an every day basis? Story-based examples
How can we implement inclusive design in all phases of the design thinking process from user research until user testing? Hints from inclusive design experts / designer on solving a an accessible design task
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) explained short in a practical way (e.g. how the voiceover interacts with a website / mobile application, colour theory: colour contrasts and usage of colours, font sizes etc.)
- Importance in web development
- Importance in a governmental job
How do we write effective alt-text? What is the difference between alt-text and image description? How do they differ and who benefits from both?
How can we educate stakeholders on the importance of people use technology differently?

How would you teach those key skills/lessons?

Example of showcasing a “Theoretical grounding” element can be a click and reveal

Detail one video you would shoot - how long would it be roughly, what would it look like visually, what would be covered in the video?

Do you have an expert in mind to teach it? If so, why did you choose them?

As the approach I’d follow is story-based learning which is based on the mix of narrative around accessibility and creative Instructional design principles, I’d use two types of experts. The first type of expert would be researcher, innovators and/or educators working in the field of accessibility. The second type of expert, would people experiencing deficiencies in user experience / service design in every day scenarios (e.g. interacting with a non-accessible e-commerce website) telling their stories.

Accessibility experts:

All people living with all kinds of disabilities in an exclusive society (according to UN 1 billion people), it is so necessary to hear their stories from every day scenarios for disability awareness.

Subject matter experts:

Judy Brewer, who directs the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). W3C's work to improve accessibility of the web for people with disabilities and older users includes ensuring that W3C standards.

Annie Jean-Baptiste, who is a business disruptor who balances the business and human case for inclusion. She's the co-founder of Product Inclusion & Equity and the author of Building for Everyone, the first book about building inclusive products across the intersections of 12 dimensions of diversity.

Sarah Horton, focuses on ways to improve quality of life through good design. She is a member of the research team working on the Teaching Accessibility in the Digital Skill Set study at the Centre for Research in Inclusion, Southampton Education School. Sarah is an independent consultant, helping organisations create “born accessible” technology.