📓 Rob Whiting’s Post

WordPress ACCESSIBILITY TIPS. Easy and effective ways to build a new site or update and existing one. A firm foundation facilitates future usability and accessibility. Concerned about your current website? Get a quick review. https://lnkd.in/gfS7girq . Lynn Wehrman Digital Accessibility by WeCo. #Dyxlesia #Education #Vision #UX #DigitalExperience #UXDesigner #Inclusion #Diversity #Disability #DigitalUsabilityTesters

WordPress ACCESSIBILITY TIPS. Easy and effective ways to build a new site or update and existing one. A firm foundation facilitates future usability and accessibility. Concerned about your current website? Get a quick review. https://lnkd.in/gfS7girq . Lynn Wehrman Digital Accessibility by WeCo. #Dyxlesia #Education #Vision #UX #DigitalExperience #UXDesigner #Inclusion #Diversity #Disability #DigitalUsabilityTesters

Is Your Accessibility Audit Truly Inclusive? Why Real User Engagement Matters? In the realm of accessibility engineering, it's not uncommon to see businesses investing in audits to ensure their digital platforms are accessible to all. But here's the critical question: are these audits truly inclusive? Far too often, accessibility audits are conducted without the invaluable input of real users with disabilities. While audits by experts certainly have their place, they can't replace the lived experiences and insights of individuals who navigate the digital world with various disabilities every day. The stark reality is that without the involvement of real users with disabilities throughout the planning, design, development, and testing stages, businesses run the risk of missing critical accessibility issues. It's the difference between ticking boxes on a checklist and truly understanding the user experience. Inclusive accessibility audits aren't just about compliance – they're about creating digital experiences that are genuinely accessible and usable for everyone. By actively involving real users with disabilities, businesses gain invaluable feedback, identify barriers that may have otherwise gone unnoticed, and ultimately, create better products and services for all users. So, ask yourself: do you conduct your accessibility audits with real users with disabilities? If not, it's time to rethink your approach and embrace true inclusivity in your accessibility initiatives. #A11y #Accessibility #AccessibilityForAll #Design #UX #Development #Testing #AccessibilityMatters #InclusiveAudits #UserEngagement #Inclusion #Qualitest

Ever stopped to think about the forms on your website or app? Who can fill them out, and more importantly, who can't? 🤔 In the digital realm, inclusivity isn't just a buzzword—it's a necessity. By embracing inclusive form design, we're not just ticking a compliance box; we're opening our digital doors to everyone, regardless of their abilities. 🚪❤️ Here's how we can ensure our forms are accessible to all users: 1️⃣ Label Everything Clearly - Make sure each field is clearly labeled, and consider including visual indicators for those with cognitive disabilities. Text labels should be associated programmatically to their respective form fields for screen readers. 🏷️👁️ 2️⃣ Provide Error Guidance - When errors are made, provide specific, easy-to-understand guidance to help users correct their input. This is crucial for users with cognitive disabilities who might find vague messages frustrating. ❌➡️✅ 3️⃣ Use Fieldsets for Related Information - Group related fields together with fieldsets and legends. This is especially helpful for users with assistive technologies, making navigation and comprehension smoother. 🖇️🛤️ 4️⃣ Ensure Keyboard Navigation - All form elements should be navigable using a keyboard. This is a lifeline for users who cannot use a mouse due to physical disabilities. ⌨️🔄 5️⃣ Include Alternative Input Methods - Voice input, selection wheels, and other alternatives can make form completion feasible for users with various disabilities. 🎤🔁 6️⃣ Test with Real Users - Finally, and most importantly, test your forms with a diverse group of users, including those with disabilities. Their firsthand experience is invaluable in identifying barriers we might overlook. 🧪👥 Inclusive design is not a one-time task but a journey. By making our forms accessible, we're not just improving usability; we're affirming that everyone has a right to participate fully in the digital age. 💪🌍 I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences on inclusive form design. How do you ensure your designs are accessible to everyone? #InclusiveDesign #Accessibility #UXDesign #DigitalInclusion #UserExperience

Are you looking for a way to navigate the complexities of conducting research with people with accessibility needs? We still have a couple of places left for the next Inclusive Research workshops. Friday 7 June, 9am-12.30pm AEST UTC+10 (suitable for USA time zone) - Co-facilitators: Adam Cooper and Brigitta Norton. Tickets in Comments. Image description: blue icon of an unfolded map. #TraumaInformedCare #Accessibility #A11y #Inclusion #Research #ResearchOperations #UX #UXResearch #HCD #ServiceDesign #CivicDesign #TraumaInformed #DEI #EDI #CoDesign #ParticipatoryResearch #InclusiveDesign #Disability

WCAG is the most globally used and commonly understood set of accessibility guidelines used by organisations to ensure the accessibility of websites, apps and other digital comms for people with disabilities. It's the yardstick by which the accessibility of digital products is usually measured. However, while it is brilliant in many areas, there are many elements of accessibility and the needs of people with disabilities that the current version of WCAG (2.2) doesn't adequately cover. While WCAG 3.0 will expand into some of these in the future, how do you bring that future into the work you're doing right now, especially when regulations require you to address the needs of people that WCAG overlooked? Our September webinar will help you do that. We'll cover what's really important about the accessibility of text, guidelines to cover the accessibility needs of people who are neurodiverse, and how user testing can uncover the needs of people with disabilities for your specific product. This webinar will open your mind to what you can do now to make your work inclusive to all. The webinar will be held on Zoom and have live captions. Sign up for the free webinar here https://lnkd.in/eXzAwDpw #WCAG #ProdMgmt #UX #Neurodiversity #DigitalInclusion

It’s a given that conducting #UXResearch inclusive of participants with a variety of disabilities is vital to building inclusive technology, especially during iterative prototype phases. However, there’s a glaring problem we don't discuss enough: You need an accessible prototype to run user testing, but most prototypes used for testing are inaccessible. I wrote about this conundrum and proposed 5 workarounds to overcome the current barriers. Thanks to Smashing Magazine for the opportunity to publish my thoughts on this! https://lnkd.in/euUP67gr #Accessibility #UX #InclusionMatters

I haven’t even finished reading this and it’s already the most current well researched and comprehensive assessment of both Figma prototypes and alternative options for usability testing I’ve seen. Thank you Michele A. Williams, PhD!! This is a must read, save & reference! #accessibility #design #UXDesign #UXResearch

Great article but I’m not 100% in agreement as it can depend on what is already known with regards to users with specific needs or preferences, particularly when it comes to UX patterns and design practices. Qualitative research is more suited to stimulate design ideas rather than evaluate decisions, as trying to extrapolate large audiences from the opinions of a few is problematic and runs the risk of turning into as much of a box ticking exercise much in the way auditing can. When it comes to design research and auditing we can have very short memories which maybe why we think we always need to test everything with everyone, and in doing so loose any chance of statistical significance in our UX findings. I like the point about surveys which would work particularly well with multivariate testing, but you also need to segment that data by need and preference or it runs the risk of only informing a mainstream perspective, which is why a segmentation tool like ab11y.com adds value as it segments the audience by need without diagnosis, and avoids issues with privacy and GDPR. As long as the survey captures both functional and emotional data it is a really useful way of ensuring inclusive design optimisation is part of the product’s ongoing evolution. Maybe the issue is that the questions we ask are not specific enough? Maybe we don’t know about how users with X need(s) who have Y preferences interact with pattern Z. Then you build a prototype that enables you to answer that question. This means not every prototype needs to be accessible to everyone, including not being relevant to mainstream audiences if we have no specific research questions, or if we are not benchmarking comparative experience against them. Not sure about the conflation of WCAG testing prototypes or with inclusively user prototypes, especially using automated tools, as you might think that pars of the prototype or equivalent system are inaccessible, but then you are jumping to conclusions about people’s skills, capabilities and coping strategies. Maybe instead not assume that all designers are non-disabled? Maybe if you want a product to be useable by screen readers hire a blind designer or design researcher who can help with understanding the different behaviours and strategies possible using different technologies. This would help build capability in the design team too. I’d change one of the statements to: The real ability to ensure an accessible and inclusive system is not by evaluating a final product at the end of a project; it’s by assessing user needs at the start and then evaluating any outstanding unknowns as part of the iterative prototypes along the way, then gathering data that can be segmented by need to ensure continual optimisation. For shift left to work I believe the key is to build on a knowledge base rather than treat user research data and inclusive design knowledge as a disposable commodity.

Inclusivity in design: Dive into Apple's accessibility guidelines and features with the blog post written by Yağmur Ayan from our Design Team! 🌐✨ Explore how Apple is revolutionizing digital accessibility for all. 📱👀 Click here to learn more: 👉🏻 https://lnkd.in/dWsRKEhB #AccessibilityInTech #InclusiveDesign #UX