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.

Navigating accessibility and climate
Wednesday, April 17, 2024 • Climate UX Interest Group
Share the love for this talk
Navigating accessibility and climate
Speakers: Ned Gartside , Mike Gifford , Zoe Lopez-Latorre and Tzviya Siegman
Link:

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."

Ask the Rosenbot
Uday Gajendar
Theme One Intro
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Ovetta Sampson
Managing the Human Engagement Risks of AI
2025 • Designing with AI 2025
Gold
Abby Covert
Stuck? Diagrams Help
2022 • DesignOps Community
Deanna Mitchell
Designing with culture: Unlocking impactful insights for Product and UX
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Clara Kliman-Silver
UX Futures: The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Design
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Sam Proulx
Mobile Accessibility: Why Moving Accessibility Beyond the Desktop is Critical in a Mobile-first World
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Ariel Kennan
Theme 2 Intro
2021 • Civic Design 2021
Gold
Abby Covert
Panel: Collaboration Tools
2017 • DesignOps Summit 2017
Gold
Phil Hesketh
Designing Accessible Research Workflows
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Sarah Gallimore
Inspire Progress with Artifacts from the Future
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Saara Kamppari-Miller
"Prototype" vs "Prototype"--Breaking Down and Rebuilding Our Understanding of What We Do
2019 • DesignOps Summit 2019
Gold
Kate Towsey
ResearchOps AMA with Kate Towsey & Jake Burghardt
2025 • Advancing Research Community
Jen Crim
Culture, DIBS & Recruiting
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Chris Engledowl
A Mixed Method Approach to Validity to Help Build Trust
2023 • QuantQual Interest Group
Prayag Narula
Empowering Designers to do Good Research
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Kritika Yadav
Optimizing AI Conversations: A Case Study on Personalized Shopping Assistance Frameworks
2025 • Designing with AI 2025
Gold

More Videos

Ariba Jahan

"People were taking vacation days just to homeschool or take care of a loved one."

Ariba Jahan

Team Resiliency Through a Pandemic

January 8, 2024

Ariel Kennan

"One of the overwhelming requests has been how to make the case for design."

Ariel Kennan

Theme 2 Intro

December 9, 2021

Sarah Brooks

"We’ve seen reflections from you all through Slack throughout the conference."

Sarah Brooks

Theme Three Intro

November 18, 2022

Jeff Ephraim Bander

"Sometimes it is hard to articulate what you looked at, but eye tracking makes it measurable and objective."

Jeff Ephraim Bander Ariane Rahn Philipp Reiter

Eye Tracking Gamechanger: Why Smartphone Eye Tracking will Revolutionize Your UX Research

March 11, 2022

Eduardo Ortiz

"Impactful communication must be balanced with compassionate storytelling to truly resonate."

Eduardo Ortiz

Theme 3 Intro

March 13, 2025

Mansi Gupta

"Safety is a fundamental human need which is often taken for granted and maybe that’s why it’s forgotten about."

Mansi Gupta

Drawing from Feminist Practice to Make Inclusive Design Operational

September 9, 2022

Frank Duran

"Lead with the ask, lead with the value, so people understand what you’re looking for from the start."

Frank Duran

Partnership Playbook: Lessons Learned in Effective Partnership

January 8, 2024

Farid Sabitov

"Design operations maturity has levels: defined process, scaling practices, and finally automation investment."

Farid Sabitov

Automatization for Large Enterprise Teams

January 8, 2024

Lada Gorlenko

"Ivana will teach you how to scale fast and big from day one through product operations."

Lada Gorlenko

Theme 1: Intro

January 8, 2024