Rosenverse

Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.

Log in Create free account

100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.

Getting started with accessibility research

Thursday, February 20, 2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Share the love for this talk
Getting started with accessibility research
Speakers: Elana Chapman , Li Wen Huang , Divyen Sanganee and Annabel Weiner
Link:

Summary

In partnership with Fable, watch this panel discussion aimed at UX researchers on how to get started with accessibility research. Featuring industry experts from Discover, LEGO, and Ally Financial, this session demystifies what accessibility research entails, and demonstrates how inclusive design isn’t possible without the participation of people with disabilities. Together, we identify the common barriers, strategies for modifying research methodologies for accessibility, and ways to gain internal buy-in for accessibility research within your organization. Moderator: Elana Chapman Panelists: Divyen Sanganee, Li Wen Huang, Annabel Weiner

Key Insights

  • Accessibility research does not require prior expertise; focus on assistive technologies used rather than disability medical definitions.

  • Wizard of Oz testing can simulate screen reader experience on prototypes to gather early feedback before code is developed.

  • Engaging with internal employee resource groups and external disability communities builds trust and facilitates participant recruitment.

  • Participatory design elevates users with disabilities as co-designers and experts in assistive technology use.

  • Leadership sponsorship and educational videos showing real assistive tech use help build organizational buy-in.

  • ROI data shows investing time early in accessibility research saves significant engineering fixing time post-launch.

  • Decoupling user needs from medical disability labels helps navigate privacy and recruitment challenges.

  • Accessibility audits ensure compliance but usability research drives genuine user experience improvements; both are essential.

  • Temporary and situational disabilities plus aging populations vastly broaden the accessibility ecosystem beyond permanent disabilities.

  • Shifting mindset from empathy to understanding and barrier removal empowers better inclusive design without paternalism.

Notable Quotes

"You don’t need to be an expert in accessibility before doing user research with people with disabilities."

"People with disabilities are very appreciative and willing to help us learn because they understand we may not understand their challenges."

"Wizard of Oz testing involves someone pretending to be a screen reader by reading content and roles out loud."

"Participants are usually very forgiving if you’re not a perfect screen reader as long as you explain what you’re doing."

"Accessibility is really just improving the usability for everyone, not just for people with disabilities."

"For every hour a UX designer invests in accessibility pre-launch, they save up to four hours in engineering post-launch."

"If you’re not doing anything about accessibility, you’re discriminating against your future self."

"It’s less about empathy and more about building an understanding of barriers and user needs."

"Assistive technology is a tool; we need to make sure we enable that tool to do its job."

"Accessibility audits check the box for compliance; usability testing ensures a good user experience."

Ask the Rosenbot
Crystal Philcox
The Many Faces of Operations
2017 • DesignOps Summit 2017
Gold
Dana Chisnell
The Sensemaking Business
2026 • Advancing Research 2026
Gold
Beth Chappell
Leading through ambiguity: Supporting a design team relearning their craft
2026 • Designing with AI 2026
Conference
Marjorie Stainback
Transforming Strategic Research Capacity through Democratization
2019 • DesignOps Summit 2019
Gold
Bria Alexander
Day 2 Welcome
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2024
Gold
Peter Merholz
The Mysterious Case of the Missing UX Career Path
2022 • DesignOps Community
Milan Guenther
The $212 billion ‘so what?’: unlocking impact in development cooperation
2025 • Advancing Service Design 2025
Gold
Mary-Lynne Williams
Exit Interview #4: From Product Design Leadership to Sound Healing
2026 • Rosenfeld Community
Sheri Byrne-Haber
The Importance of Accessible Design Systems
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold
Sydney Lawson
Anatomy of a Strong User Panel
2026 • Advancing Research 2026
Gold
Tony Turner
Capturing Deep Insights
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Sam Proulx
To Boldly Go: The New Frontiers of Accessibility
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
John Taschek
Making People the X-Factor in the Enterprise
2018 • Enterprise Experience 2018
Gold
Prayag Narula
How to Empower Your Designers to Do Good Research – And Why You Want To
2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Gold
Lisa Welchman
Cleaning Up Our Mess: Digital Governance for Designers
2018 • Enterprise Experience 2018
Gold
George Abraham
Design Systems To-Go: Reimagining Developer Handoff, and Introducing App Builder (Part 2)
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold

More Videos

Kevin Bethune

"The market is a cultural mosaic diversifying faster than many teams can anticipate."

Kevin Bethune

Gatekeepers and Servant Leadership

January 30, 2020

Alfred Kahn

"Design is often seen as the wireframe people, a subsidiary of product rather than a strategic partner."

Alfred Kahn

A Seat at the Table: Making Your Team a Strategic Partner

November 29, 2023

Elena Naids

"Early on, getting stakeholders to attend syncs felt like pulling teeth, but later it became their favorite meeting."

Elena Naids Liza McRuer

The Power of Difficult Conversations: A Case Study on How We Introduced Design Ops in the Federal Government Space

October 2, 2023

Amanda Kaleta-Kott

"These steps aren’t just research tactics – they could be life savers when employed well."

Amanda Kaleta-Kott Lea Martin, PhD

The Joys and Dilemmas of Conducting UX Research with Older Adults

March 11, 2022

Fredrik Matheson

"It’s better to be honest about it: it’s actually very hard. It’s not impossible, but it’s hard and it takes a long time."

Fredrik Matheson

First-time users, longtime strategies: Why Parkinson’s Law is making you less effective at work – and how to design a fix.

June 8, 2016

Sam Proulx

"Mobile provides more detailed analytics that help developers iterate accessibility improvements."

Sam Proulx

Mobile Accessibility: Why Moving Accessibility Beyond the Desktop is Critical in a Mobile-first World

September 8, 2022

Peter Levin

"Robust action means making early moves to preserve flexibility and open up opportunity, not trying to forecast 50 steps ahead."

Peter Levin

Solve a Problem Here, Transform a Strategy There: Research as an Occasion for Expanding Organizational Possibility

March 25, 2024

Janelle Estes

"The UX team is never the keeper of all knowledge of the customer; the whole company owns the experience."

Janelle Estes

UX Research Trends

January 28, 2021

Deanna Zandt

"You can never be sick enough to help the sickest people."

Deanna Zandt

The Unspoken Complexity of “Self-Care” with Deanna Zandt

July 21, 2022