Many would agree that accessibility is a worthy design goal for products and services that could be used by people with disabilities, and by accommodating the needs of such users one usually improves the user experience for all users. But not all product managers are so enlightened. Or they don’t think they have a budget for accessibility. Or they aren’t obligated to meet accessibility requirements, so they don’t try. How do you incorporate accessibility into your UX work when the product owners aren’t asking for it or may resist spending resources on accessible design? This panel will discuss strategies for dealing with such challenges. The panelists will offer tips drawn from their consulting experiences, and will solicit ideas from the audience, for incorporating accessibility into projects that don’t know they need it or are openly resistant to the notion.

1. Promoting Accessibility on Projects
With No Accessibility Aspirations
A Panel Discussion
UXPA 2015

2. The Panelists
• Honorable Mention (panelist who could not attend):
– Elle Waters, Director of Strategy, Simply Accessible,
@nethermind
• Panelists:
– Dana Douglas, Senior User Experience Specialist, UserWorks,
@userworks
– Cory Lebson, Principal, Lebsontech User Experience Consulting,
@corylebson
– Jennifer Sutton, Independent Consultant,
@jsutt
• Moderator:
– Dick Horst, President, UserWorks,
@userworks

3. A Few Relevant References
"Which ‘Everyone’ Do You Mean?" Derek Featherstone, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Rz-
6fKacQ&feature=youtu.be&t=18m46s
“Q&A Testing for Accessibility Before Development Begins,” Tim Lohman,
http://www.accessiq.org/news/news/2015/05/qa-testing-for-accessibility-before-development-
begins
“WebAIM’s Hierarchy for Motivating Accessibility Change,” Jared Smith,
http://webaim.org/blog/motivating-accessibility-change/
“Accessibility Lipstick on a Usability Pig,” Jared Smith,
http://webaim.org/blog/accessibility-lipstick-on-a-usability-pig/
“Accessibility Wins,” curated by Marcy Sutton, http://a11ywins.tumblr.com/
“Integrating Accessibility: Planning Content for Everyone,” Eileen Webb,
http://webmeadow.com/blog/archives/201505/integrating-accessibility-planning-content-everyone
“Accessibility as innovation,” Whitney Quesenbery,
http://www.slideshare.net/whitneyq/accessibility-as-innovation