Summary
Many organizations struggle with justifying and prioritizing accessibility. One of the primary reasons is because they’re thinking about accessibility all wrong. Instead of a checklist, a list of legal requirements, or a set of shackles holding designers and developers back, it’s time to start thinking of accessibility as what it is: an opportunity to innovate! In this presentation, Fable will draw from our expertise helping organizations like yours start the accessibility journey, to change the way you think about disability, assistive technology, and accessibility. We will demonstrate that accessible products are more flexible, customizable, and useful for all users. We’ll also show you how accessibility is directly tied to the creation of many of the most exciting and innovative technologies of the last 50 years, and how it’s changed the entire world for everyone. This presentation will inspire you with the information and ideas you need to accelerate your accessibility journey.
Key Insights
-
•
Accessibility features like dark mode, captions, and voice control began as tools for specific disabilities but now benefit nearly everyone.
-
•
Disability is a fluid experience that includes permanent, situational, temporary, and age-related changes impacting usability.
-
•
Accessibility does not mean simplifying or limiting features but providing flexible designs with customizable options.
-
•
Complex designs can be made accessible with thoughtful collaboration and inclusion of people with disabilities.
-
•
Involving users with disabilities early across research, ideation, prototyping, and development produces better products.
-
•
Distributed accessibility responsibilities among all teams prevent bottlenecks and embed accessibility culture across organizations.
-
•
Cognitive disabilities pose unique research challenges due to variability and privacy concerns but are critical to include.
-
•
Inclusive design anticipates future needs by considering age-related or temporary impairments users will acquire over time.
-
•
Accessibility checklists should guide innovation and problem-solving, not restrict design creativity or act as legal shackles.
-
•
Diverse teams that include people with disabilities naturally produce more inclusive and customizable products.
Notable Quotes
"Everyone already uses accessibility features."
"Disability isn’t just a small percentage; one in five people live with a disability, and it’s an identity we all take on at some point."
"Accessibility requires flexible designs, not limited designs."
"Accessibility is not a shackle; it’s a way to expand our minds and innovate."
"I have never found a product that can’t be made accessible."
"Diverse teams build diverse products."
"If you centralize accessibility knowledge in your organization, it can become a blocker."
"The best way is to distribute the accessibility work so it becomes light work for everyone."
"We move beyond checklist thinking to focus on real needs of real people."
"Thinking about accessibility is really thinking about creating technology that works for all people all the time."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Many leaders didn’t know how to engage with research beyond usability and experimentation."
Mac SmithMeasuring Up: Using Product Research for Organizational Impact
March 12, 2021
"Authentic leadership can be characterized as genuine, self-aware, and transparent."
Etienne FangThe Power of Care: From Human-Centered Research to Humanity-Centered Leadership
March 10, 2021
"The golden trapezoid of user research combines quantitative behavioral and attitudinal data with field studies for best insights."
Christian RohrerInsight Types That Influence Enterprise Decision Makers
May 13, 2015
"Inviting people outside your silo to join projects can lead to better outcomes and personal growth."
Nick CochranGrowing in Enterprise Design through Making Connections
June 3, 2019
"One thing all the industries we interviewed have in common is a reliance on PDFs and printing."
Sharon BautistaTime to Make the Donuts: How User Research Helped Bridge Disparate Teams
January 8, 2024
"As a Black woman, I can't bring my whole self to work, but I hope one day we will."
Jackie Velasquez-RossTalent Acquisition and Our Responsibility
June 16, 2020
"The mayor and CEO were concerned that if the city stepped in on early childhood education, they'd own it forever."
Sarah AuslanderIncremental Steps to Drive Radical Innovation in Policy Design
November 18, 2022
"We had to be very careful about accuracy because we're in FinTech and compliance is critical."
Savannah CarlinDon't botch the bot: Designing interactions for AI
June 4, 2024
"If a problem keeps coming up, it’s usually the execution of the idea that’s failing, not the concept."
Erin WeigelUX Lessons from running more than 1,200 A/B Tests
July 10, 2024
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
What strategies motivate cross-functional teams to input their research findings into a centralized repository?
What are the core UX research tools essential for managing participant recruitment and study logistics in large companies?
How do I determine the shelf life or expiry date of different types of research insights?