Integrating
accessibility
into the
design process
Web Directions South 2008
Ruth Ellison

Who’s Ruth?
Love food & photography
(check out my flickr stream....)
Work in Federal
Government
Embedded UX person
Consultant

In the beginning...

WCAG 1.0

Disability Discrimination Act 1992

3 key themes for
today’s presentation

1. Consider accessibility
and usability right
from the start
2. Involve users
throughout the
process

3. Accessibility is
more than
checklists and
standards...

Accessibility is about
people

Meet Joe
Tom By Randy Son Of Robert from http://www.flickr.com/photos/randysonofrobert/1802593660/
Available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Joe is blind

The project manager
said, “I didn’t think
there was any disabled
people working here.”

The developers were
under tight timeframes
and thought that they
could address the
accessibility stuff later ...

The business team ...
didn’t know what to do

Sounds familiar?

How do we stop this
from happening again?

Consider an
integrated approach
to accessibility
and usability
from the start

Process of design:
Conceptual phase
Research
Design
Develop Iterate
Test

Research

Build an understanding of:
Users
Business
Technology

Who are your users?
Flip‐flops by Joe Shlabotnik from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/305410323/
Available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

What do they do?

How do they do it?

40% of 2006‐2007
compensation claims
related to body
stressing injuries
(ComCare ‐ Australian & ACT Government)
Statistics from ComCare

Business as a key stakeholder

Understanding
technology and its
(accessibility)
constraints challenges

Design

Great design
balances the user’s
needs with the
business’ needs

Collaborative design
Source: http://flickr.com/photos/crimesagainstlogic/356567896/

Context becomes very
important
Source: http://lh3.ggpht.com/_Nmv1H‐BTFH8/SIQ‐X‐
Nfi1I/AAAAAAAABTI/utbRR4n61t8/375289560_54c21e7094_o.jpg

Source: http://bp3.blogger.com/_hxJUY‐Ir6B4/RmciQ3ULYOI/AAAAAAAAATE/LkqdlKphNmA/s1600/California233.jpg

Source: http://cdn‐img.thedailyplate.com/images/fitness/desk‐work‐office‐work.jpg

Context and
accessibility
Do all user interfaces need
to be accessible?

Visual
relationships
Funny Urinal Sign By Bukowsky18 from http://www.flickr.com/photos/24917549@N04/2500426586/
Available under a Creative Commons Attribution‐Non Commercial‐Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

Testing

Sometimes
accessibility testing
almost feels like
rubber stamping

3 types of testing
Automated testing
Manual checks
Testing with people

You’re already familiar
with automated testing
and manual checks...

Testing with
people...
Reveals lots
of interesting
insights

Integrated approach
to user testing
usability &
accessibility at
the same time

Things I learned about
user testing...

Run automated
testing checks
first

Recruiting users

Write good scenarios

Your place or mine?

What’s expected

Reporting the
results

Word of warning...
Be careful not to apply
results from one user
and one test across all
demographics

Key messages to take away

Build relationships and trust

Communicate and
share knowledge

Integrated approach to
accessibility and
usability right
from the start

Involve users right
from the beginning
and throughout the
design process

Questions or need more info?
Ruth Ellison
Email: ruthe@stamfordinteractive.com.au
Phone: 02 6280 7834
Mobile: 0423 763 314
@ruthellison
@ruthellison
Find us at www.stamfordinteractive.com.au
See this presentation at www.slideshare.net/RuthEllison