Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
Navigating accessibility and climate
Summary
The fourth in a series of discussions centered around Climate UX. The adverse effects of climate disproportionately affect the most vulnerable, but what does this mean in the context of UX? How does accessibility affect climate? What lessons can we draw from the accessibility movement to enhance our efforts in scaling climate action? Join our conversation to hear perspectives from those who have worked at this intersection. Panelists: Ned Gartside, Tzviya Siegman, Zoe Lopez-Latorre; Moderated by: Mike Gifford
Key Insights
-
•
Accessibility principles like simplification and user choice inform sustainable web design successfully.
-
•
Sustainability in digital design is multi-dimensional and cannot be judged by page size alone.
-
•
Video, while data-heavy, can be an energy-efficient and inclusive form of user communication.
-
•
User empowerment can include toggles offering choices between higher and lower carbon footprint options.
-
•
Government digital services exemplify leadership in integrating accessibility and sustainability standards.
-
•
Sustainability adoption succeeds when linked to business outcomes like conversion or user experience.
-
•
There is a shortage of sustainability-trained professionals, but the field is rapidly evolving with new educational resources.
-
•
Digital sustainability responsibilities need to be clearly assigned using maturity models and cross-organizational collaboration.
-
•
Digital impact compounds across millions of users, making even small efficiency gains significant at scale.
-
•
The climate crisis urgency requires applying lessons from accessibility work: combined grassroots efforts and organizational leadership.
Notable Quotes
"Accessibility is a better sell than sustainability when engaging clients."
"We need to have a planet before we can have dignity, and sustainability and accessibility are tied basic human rights."
"There is no direct correlation between data size and energy consumed; many factors interplay."
"User choice can include opting for a higher carbon or lower carbon version of the same content."
"73% of users are willing to choose a more sustainable browsing option even if image quality decreases."
"Sometimes the best solution for users isn't digital - for example, farmers often prefer face-to-face interactions."
"Sustainability can accelerate adoption when it aligns with business impact, like improving conversions."
"You need the whole organization involved, from engineering to marketing to legal, to make sustainability work."
"There are risks that sustainability tools become gatekeepers or quasi-standards themselves, which we must avoid."
"The digital sector’s compounded impact on carbon footprint exceeds industries like airlines when aggregated across millions."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Design always means change; if it amplifies what’s already working, that itself is change."
Bob Baxley Sara Asche Anderson Sharon Bautista Frank Duran Jamie Kaspszak Abbey Smalley Sylas SouzaTheme 4: Discussion
January 8, 2024
"Design ops impacts both how we make products and the workplace we create for designers and researchers."
Saara Kamppari-MillerTheme Three Intro
October 4, 2023
"Moving from thoughts to things is one of the key tools in UX influence."
Ovetta SampsonTurning UX Passion into Real Product Influence
June 7, 2023
"The user identity is a digital construct that commodifies humans for their data."
Tricia WangFrom Users to Shapers of AI: The Future of Research
March 25, 2024
"Stories don’t work by extraction, people tell them and you listen."
Kwabena Opoku Leonie Annor-Owiredu Sam LadnerMethodological toolkit for unique research impact
March 11, 2026
"Nobody asked for this damn thing, nobody funded it, but we just made it."
Juhan SoninDesign Now! The Agenda for Action
September 4, 2025
"Engineers don’t want to mess with CSS; they want to write business logic."
Nalini P. KotamrajuAn Organizational Story: Salesforce Lightning Design System
June 9, 2016
"We started analytics at the beginning so we could benchmark and compare old and new site performance."
Mackenzie Cockram Sara Branco Cunha Ian FranklinIntegrating Qualitative and Quantitative Research from Discovery to Live
December 16, 2022
"Don’t try to tag all historical work at once — tag as you go to avoid re-platforming nightmares."
Jon White Erin MayUnsticking Research for Better Information Flow
March 11, 2026
