Inclusive and accessible co-creation

Rain Breaw Michaels

@rainbreaw

About me

Rain Breaw Michaels, CPWA

Drupal Core topic maintainer for accessibility

Interaction Designer, Google *

@rainbreaw

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* The point of view, ideas, and research expressed here are my own. I am not presenting on behalf of my employer. Any reference to Google products or materials are in the context of mainstream technology and not my role.

What is this really about?

Meet Rain’s mom

My mom is blind and impacted by chronic pain and illness that makes it very difficult to do anything.

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She is also someone who depends on the internet for her quality of life.

She is your user.

Activities and participation can be

made easier or more difficult as a result of environmental factors, such as technology, support and relationships, services, policies, or the beliefs of others.

CDC Disability & Health Promotion

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• Is your group truly diverse
• across age groups
• across socio-economic groups
• across identities and cultures
• Have you made it possible for people with differing abilities to participate?

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High level considerations

When thinking about bringing people together, consider:

You may not know

And you shouldn’t have to know

Consider whether or not your space — physical or digital — is welcoming across all of these factors, regardless of whether or not you know the specific makeup of your group.

Physical access

• Can the tools you are using be accessed by a screen reader? Keyboard-only? Voice-access?
• Can you offer an alternative way to provide input, such as uploading photos of drawings or recording voice snippets rather than participating in shared workspaces?

Tooling

What tools are you using to collaborate?

• Is there enough room for someone with a wheelchair, cane, or dog to navigate safely and comfortably?
• Can everyone reach everything in your codesign space?
• Is there enough space for people who need extra room or some privacy to have that to prevent sensory overload?

Physical spaces

Can everyone get to everything in the physical space?

Information access

• Verbalize information presented through body language (nodding, thumbs up, smiling)
• Distribute material ahead of time so that individuals who need extra time can take it
• Ensure that all images include alt text, even in decks, docs, and emails

Content available

Is the content available for multiple senses?

• Help participants set up screens ahead of time so that they can see each other while also accessing materials and assistive technology
• Help participants position cameras and lightning ahead of time so that others can see them
• Consider that some rely on lip-reading and body language to understand nuance

Participant visibility

Do all participants have the opportunity to see each other?

• Use easy to understand language rather than abstract concepts or metaphors
• Short paragraphs
• Headers and semantic markup to help skimming or finding what is needed in the moment
• Clear typography with good line-heights

Content formatting

Is your content easy to read, skim, and understand?

Sensory

considerations

• Is it possible to dim the lighting, or make it brighter?
• If there is a noise that persists in the location, or on someone’s video call, is there a way to turn it off or mute it if it proves disruptive for a participant?
• Is anything flickering or moving a lot?

Ambiance

Sounds and lighting

• When we bring people back together, think about ways that you can position the room and screens in order to involve individuals who are better supported by the remote environment that we have experienced for the last year plus

Flexibility

When in person again, enable remote participation

Complex

communication

• Build in extra time
• Understand that a person with complex communication needs may be working exceptionally hard to get their ideas across, so it is important to have everyone wait patiently and listen
• Avoid defaulting to another person to translate, as this will invariably silence the individual

Patience

Individuals with complex communication needs work hard!

Remember:

you may not know

Are you unsure?

Ask

Ask all of your participants, equally without singling anyone out, if the format will work for them.

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Describe the planned format, and ask if anyone has recommendations that might make participation better for everyone.

Finding

participants

How?

Finding people to include

~1 in 5 people have cognitive disabilities, many hidden. You have resources.

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Community groups around you are looking for opportunities to be involved.

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But: take care not to take advantage of people.

Consent

Make sure the participants want to participate

With cognitive disabilities, we might make the mistake of defaulting to a supporter.

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Work with the individual to ensure that they:

• Understand the risks and benefits
• Want to participate
• Feel comfortable

Questions?

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