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
"Psychological safety may not be something you can actively engineer; it emerges from conditions that make learning possible."
Jen BriselliLearning Is The Engine: Designing & Adapting in a World We Can’t Predict
April 16, 2025
"The vast majority of what makes up meaningful human communication is harder for us to access screen to screen."
Laura Gatewood Laine ProkayBeyond Buzzwords: Adding Heart to Effective Slack Communication
September 23, 2024
"For users with physical challenges, hover states can be very difficult, especially for eye, head tracking, or voice control users."
Sam ProulxPrototype Reviews, People With Disabilities, and You
December 8, 2021
"With AI tools, you have to come back and reprompt, it’s not a one-shot operation."
John DonmoyerShipping your code generation experiments to production
June 11, 2025
"Confidence is crucial — nobody wants to lose money or receive a product they can’t use, so unclear or unlabeled controls cause people with disabilities to give up faster."
Sam ProulxOnline Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
November 29, 2023
"The effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is."
Melissa Eggleston Maya Israni Florence Kasule Owen Seely Andrea SchneiderPractical People Skills for Building Trust on Teams and with Partners
December 9, 2021
"If you request the mobile website on desktop it usually works better than requesting the desktop website on mobile."
Sam ProulxMobile Accessibility: Why Moving Accessibility Beyond the Desktop is Critical in a Mobile-first World
November 17, 2022
"One of the amazing things about becoming very successful leaders is eventually becoming obsolete."
Anna Avrekh Dr. John Pagonis Klara Pelcl Sina SchreiberExpert Panel: Leading in and with Research
March 10, 2022
"Large companies demand certainty, but certainty is the opposite of innovation."
Laura KleinUnique challenges of innovation in enterprises
April 23, 2020
