Rosenverse

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

To Boldly Go: The New Frontiers of Accessibility
Gold
Friday, March 11, 2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Share the love for this talk
To Boldly Go: The New Frontiers of Accessibility
Speakers: Sam Proulx
Link:

Summary

The metaverse, virtual reality, Web 3.0, distributed infrastructure, the Internet of Things, wearable computing, and AI: all these things are going to change the face of accessibility over the next 10 years. In this talk, Samuel Proulx, Fable’s Accessibility Evangelist, will give you an overview of what the current landscape looks like at the frontier of accessibility and assistive technology. Where’s the research taking us? What might be coming down the pike? Sam has watched the accessibility industry adapt and change over the last 30 years. Drawing on the changes he’s experienced, he’ll take a look at the future, through the lens of the past. After this session, you’ll have a deeper understanding of where accessibility has been, and where it might be going.

Key Insights

  • Accessibility began as a niche, third-party add-on viewed as a charitable hack rather than a core design responsibility.

  • Early computing accessibility utilized mainly text-based interfaces, making screen reading simpler compared to modern GUIs.

  • Apple’s VoiceOver on the iPhone 3GS marked a pivotal shift by integrating accessibility directly into the OS, enabling no-sighted-person setup.

  • Third-party screen readers and assistive tech have consolidated over time due to the complexity of GUI accessibility.

  • Gaming accessibility currently mirrors early desktop accessibility with mostly reverse-engineered third-party solutions lacking standard APIs.

  • AR and VR accessibility is in its infancy, with major tech companies actively researching but no dominant solutions yet.

  • Innovations in accessibility often produce features that benefit all users, such as voice control, dark mode, and multi-touch enhancements.

  • Present accessibility challenges include multi-modal info presentation, hands-free interactions, AI bias prevention, and cloud-based app accessibility.

  • The first company to solve AR/VR accessibility stands to gain a long-term market advantage similar to Apple’s early mobile accessibility lead.

  • Involving real users with disabilities directly in research and design leads to more effective and grounded accessibility solutions.

Notable Quotes

"I myself am a full-time screen reader user. I have been a screen reader user all my life, as I am completely blind."

"There isn’t a time I can remember where there wasn’t a computer talking to me."

"Accessibility was just a clever trick that some charitable organization or someone who wanted to give back would do almost for fun."

"The Apple 3GS and the accessibility that was developed by Apple was a massive shift."

"With Apple, I could pick up any phone and triple-click the home button and VoiceOver would come on."

"Accessibility is no longer considered something that someone else should do — it’s a first-party responsibility."

"Whenever someone makes a game accessible today, it’s considered an inspiring hack not a built-in feature."

"We are beginning to see cycles of history repeat themselves in accessibility, especially in gaming and AR/VR."

"When we solve accessibility problems, we create innovations that benefit everyone, not just people with disabilities."

"No company has a dominant advantage in AR/VR accessibility yet, but that will change in the coming years."

Ask the Rosenbot
Brigette Metzler
Research Repositories: A global project by the ResearchOps Community
2020 • Advancing Research Community
Bryce Benton
[Demo] AI-powered UX enhancement: Aligning GitHub documentation with USWDS at Austin Public Library
2024 • Designing with AI 2024
Gold
Susan Simon-Daniels
War Stories LIVE! Susan Simon-Daniels
2020 • Advancing Research 2020
Gold
Stephen Anderson
Puzzled? How to Coordinate Humans for Complex Challenges
2021 • Enterprise Community
Jake Burghardt
Stop wasting research: Unlock more value from research insights
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Ash Brown
Silver Linings: What DesignOps Learned in the Shift to WFH
2020 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold
George Abraham
Design Systems To-Go: Indigo.Design Overview and Exploring the Developer Workflow (Part 3)
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Kevin Bethune
Gatekeepers and Servant Leadership
2020 • DesignOps Community
Joshua Graves
We Need To Talk: Navigating Conversations with Your Boss (Part 1 of 3)
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Uday Gajendar
Theme 1: Introduction
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Francesca Barrientos, PhD
You Need Your Own Definition of Design Maturity
2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Gold
Rachael Dietkus, LCSW
Leading through the long tail of trauma
2022 • Enterprise Community
Jen Cardello
Curating insight: Strategies for integrating knowledge across research functions
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Tim Parmee
Changing Our Design Pressure Points
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold
Rachael Dietkus, LCSW
The power to heal and harm
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Courtney Maya George
Scale Your Organization and Grow Your Designers
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold

More Videos

Nalini Kotamraju

"Conscious uncoupling is about identity — how one thinks of oneself defines oneself and how others define you."

Nalini Kotamraju

Research After UX

March 25, 2024

Dean Broadley

"When crabs shed their shells, they're vulnerable, so they gather in safe groups for protection."

Dean Broadley

Not Black Enough to be White

January 8, 2024

Denise Jacobs

"Racism doesn’t just hurt people like me; you’re hurting yourself by perpetuating beliefs that deny a greater humanity."

Denise Jacobs Nancy Douyon Renee Reid Lisa Welchman

Interactive Keynote: Social Change by Design

January 8, 2024

Kim Fellman Cohen

"Our first problem statement was too big, so we refined it to something more doable and actionable."

Kim Fellman Cohen

Measuring the Designer Experience

October 23, 2019

George Aye

"Power is the ability to change another person’s reality."

George Aye

That Quiet Little Voice: When Design and Ethics Collide

November 16, 2022

Nathan Curtis

"Visual style isn’t just enough to make something feel cohesive."

Nathan Curtis

Beyond the Toolkit: Spreading a System Across People & Products

June 9, 2016

Greg Petroff

"Our researchers talk regularly to the CEO and are closely involved in product decisions, making research highly impactful here."

Greg Petroff

The Compass Mission

March 10, 2021

Chloe Amos-Edkins

"Diverse research teams blend outsider and insider perspectives for authentic cultural translation."

Chloe Amos-Edkins

A Cultural Approach: Research in the Context of Glocalisation

March 27, 2023

Mackenzie Cockram

"We are not collecting vanity analytics, the data is doing real work on informing design."

Mackenzie Cockram Sara Branco Cunha Ian Franklin

Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Research from Discovery to Live

December 16, 2022