Summary
Accessibility is about people with disabilities being able to fully participate as producers, contributors, and consumers of the digital world. And so of course that includes participating in the AI innovation boom. Fable’s Accessibility Strategist Amber Knabl will cover the recent innovations and opportunities we’re seeing that improve digital accessibility, and offer insight on how product teams can do better.
Key Insights
-
•
Designing for one person with a disability often creates solutions that benefit many users, including those with situational or temporary limitations.
-
•
Features like captions, dark mode, voice-to-text, and autocomplete originated as accessibility aids but are now widely used by billions.
-
•
Only 19% of surveyed users find existing AI trustworthy, revealing a significant gap in inclusive AI design and data representation.
-
•
AI-driven technologies such as image description apps and data graph interpreters hold promise for accessibility enhancements.
-
•
Bias in AI datasets often excludes people with disabilities, leading to inaccurate representations and diminished trust.
-
•
Inclusive product development requires co-design from the earliest stages, not only feedback after products are built.
-
•
Fable’s Accessible Usability Scale (OZ) adapts traditional usability metrics to better reflect assistive technology user experiences.
-
•
Engaging people with disabilities throughout the product lifecycle boosts team empathy, creativity, and confidence in fixing accessibility issues.
-
•
AI should be treated as a tool within accessibility practice, not as a standalone solution that replaces human input.
-
•
Recruitment of people with disabilities as testers and contributors is essential to creating trustworthy, inclusive AI and digital products.
Notable Quotes
"If implemented correctly, AI could have impressively positive impacts on inclusion and accessibility."
"I found myself sitting in the street as the traffic light turned green, blocked by a non sentient being incapable of understanding the consequences of its actions."
"Design for one extent to many is Microsoft’s inclusive design motto that guides effective accessibility."
"85% of Netflix users opt for captions, showing how accessibility features benefit everyone, not just those with disabilities."
"People with disabilities must be involved as producers, contributors, and consumers throughout the digital creation process."
"AI is currently automating and amplifying human biases that exist in society today."
"You don’t have to wait until an idea is fully baked to get feedback from assistive technology users."
"It’s way more cost effective to catch accessibility issues during the design phase than after shipping a product."
"Fable’s OZ adapts the System Usability Scale to better measure perceived usability for assistive technology users."
"AI should remain a tool, not a standalone solution, in inclusive product development."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Career managers develop close relationships with designers and advocate for staffing and promotions on their behalf."
Ignacio MartinezFair and Effective Designer Evaluation
September 25, 2024
"You can use experience sampling data to select a small qualitative sample to dive deeper in interviews."
Amelia ColeData-Prompted Interviews
December 17, 2021
"We didn’t want to be navel-gazy; we wanted to understand the value our teammates would find in a role like this."
Kristin SkinnerTheme 1 Intro
September 29, 2021
"Tell a story of design: start with the background, introduce the users, demonstrate how it will work."
Billy CarlsonTips to Utilize Wireframes to Tell an Effective Product Story
June 6, 2023
"Black women should not just consume games; they need to produce and greenlight games to control their narratives."
Yolanda RankinBlack Feminist Epistemology as a Critical Framework for Equitable Design
March 11, 2021
"Trauma among participants and practitioners is an industry problem we can no longer ignore."
Eduardo OrtizTheme 3 Intro
March 13, 2025
"When I talk to stakeholders, I try to understand how they are measured and what success means for their role in the company."
Toby HaugDiscussion
June 9, 2017
"Playbacks are stakeholder-focused meetings that sell the work’s story and drive buy-in, different from critiques focused on craft."
Joseph MeersmanSweating the Pixel: Scaling Quality through Critique
June 10, 2021
"Culture and process come first; they attract people interested in that mindset, not the other way around."
Bob BaxleyLeading with Design Operations Past and Present
December 19, 2019
