dealing with (ir)responsibility for accessibility in ux
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Dealing with (ir)responsibility for accessibility in UXDavid Sloan @sloandrUX in the City, Oxford, April 1st 2016
What does irresponsibility for accessibility look like?
Example of accessibility audit spreadsheet
The project manager with a vague notion accessibility is really important
The Rumpelstiltskin developer
Image credit: Flickr user Shardayyy https://www.flickr.com/photos/shardayyy/6060374429
The accessibility specialist who speaks, but does anyone listen?
So.How can we best distribute responsibility—and authority—for accessibility?
Responsibility as part of accessibility maturity
Accessible Design Maturity Continuum
An Accessible Design Maturity Continuum, uxfor.us/mature-it
“By concentrating solely on the bulge at the center of the bell curve we are more likely to confirm what we already know than learn something new and surprising.”Tim Brown, Change by Design
Role-based responsibility for accessibility
User research
Visual design
Content strategy
Research and design: responsible for handing off an inclusive design that can be implemented accessibly
Development
QA testing
Development and QA: responsible for delivering a functional solution that is as accessible as possible
Project/product management
Project/product management: responsible for owning accessibility for the project or product
Senior management/C-level
Senior management: responsible for organisational strategy and accountability for accessibility
Dealing with responsibility for accessibility that isn’t well distributed
Tactics• Use accessibility audits to find out reasons for
existence of barriers• Communicate progress internally and externally• Standardise on solutions, and share them• Identify accessibility points of contact, and grow a
network• Use pilot projects to demonstrate value of
integrating accessibility
“When people feel successful taking baby steps they often find themselves want to make big changes, including their environment.” —BJ Fogg
“We have an organizational mandate that UX won’t hand anything to engineering that cannot be made accessible..” —UX lead at health information provider
W3C Accessibility Responsibility Breakdown:
bit.ly/1MYLcbi
Manifesto for Accessible User ExperienceWhen we examine accessibility through the lens of user experience, we see that accessibility is:• A core value, not an item on a checklist• A shared concern, not a delegated task• A creative challenge, not a challenge to creativity• An intrinsic quality, not a bolted-on fix• About people, not technology
accessibleux.org
Thank [email protected]