Presentation by David Sloan and Sarah Horton, given at WebVisions 2015 in Barcelona, 3 July. How can a mature approach to designing for human diversity help lead to a better user experience for everyone?

1. Accessibility as a Driver for User Experience
David Sloan and Sarah Horton
WebVisions Barcelona 2015

2. Over a six-year period, the CEM [Customer Experience
Methodology] generated measurable improvements in key
metrics as high as 200%, in one recently reported project.
Typically the improvements fall within the range of 40% to
150%. Key metrics measured depend on the client, but in
the past have included revenue, cost savings, conversion
rate, customer or user acquisition rate, and retention cost.
—Mark Hurst
The Customer Experience Methodology, uxfor.us/creativegoodmethod

3. Poll: What other arguments do
you use for investment and
support in doing UX?

4. Poll: How often are you
successful?

5. Perceptions around accessibility
influence empathy

6. Example of accessibility audit
spreadsheet

7. Fax of Department of Justice letter to
niversity

8. Public shaming, private shaming,
legal action. What other arguments
can be made?

9. Sample Usability Attributes
• Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish tasks
• Efficiency: How quickly can users perform learned
tasks?
• Memorability: How easily can users reestablish
proficiency?
• Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe,
and how easily can they recover?
• Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design?
Usability 101: Introduction to Usability, uxfor.us/NNusability101

10. Sample Accessibility Attributes
• 3.2.4 Consistent Identification: Components that have
the same functionality within a set of Web pages are
identified consistently.
• 3.3.2 Labels or instructions: Labels or instructions are
provided when content requires user input.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, uxfor.us/accessguides

11. Design
with
constraint
s: Mobile
apps

12. By concentrating solely on the bulge at
the center of the bell curve we are more
likely to confirm what we already know
than learn something new and surprising.
—Tim Brown
Change By Design

13. Bell Curve

15. Example of accessibility audit
spreadsheet

16. Accessibility barriers

18. Principles of Universal Design
• Equitable Use
• Flexibility in Use
• Simple and Intuitive Use
• Perceptible Information
• Tolerance for Error
• Low Physical Effort
• Size and Space for Approach and Use
North Carolina State University, uxfor.us/universal-design

19. Building empathy through
understanding
empat.io/arend

20. Learning accessible design
patterns

21. The right column is a bad location for critical information

22. Boston South Station lobby

23. Commitment through specification of
policies and standards

24. “We have an organizational mandate
that UX won’t hand anything to
engineering that cannot be made
accessible.”
—UX lead at health information
provider

25. Accessible Design Maturity Continuum
An Accessible Design Maturity Continuum, uxfor.us/mature-it

26. Accessibility is a creative challenge,
not a challenge to creativity
Manifesto for Accessible User Experience, accessibleux.org

27. Thank you!
@sloandr
@gradualclearing