{"id":29192,"date":"2023-05-12T11:49:35","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T10:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=29192"},"modified":"2023-06-06T10:40:50","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T09:40:50","slug":"why-disabled-people-must-be-at-the-heart-of-accessible-tech-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/blog\/why-disabled-people-must-be-at-the-heart-of-accessible-tech-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Why disabled people must be at the heart of accessible tech design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Google, in consultation with disabled people, has opened a new Accessibility Discovery Centre in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, Sense was invited to pay a visit, so I went along to check it out. I\u2019m a massive advocate for accessible technology, so I was living my best life that day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Christopher<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Accessibility Discovery Centre is a space where engineers, researchers, product teams and partners can build new kinds of accessible technologies to remove more of the barriers that disabled people face every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visit got me thinking about the important role technology has played in my own life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s my screen reader which enables me to read and write this blog, or my cochlear implants that have made such a difference to my hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we talk about accessible technology we aren\u2019t always talking about apps, websites or complicated electronics. Sometimes a solution can be really simple but hugely transformative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If you\u2019re designing something for disabled people, you need to get our input into the process. It\u2019s morally the right thing to do.”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For example, one of the things I saw at the centre was a self-balancing spoon for people with hand tremors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to come up with these simple yet vital solutions, it\u2019s important to involve disabled people in the design and development of technology. Here are three reasons why:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason 1: It\u2019s the right thing to do<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, \u2018Nothing about us without us\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the context of designing technology, this means that if you\u2019re designing something for disabled people, you need to get our input into the process. It\u2019s morally the right thing to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By involving disabled people in co-production, you\u2019re also making sure the solution will meet their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-production like this also helps to create equality, as disabled people work together with tech developers as equal partners. That\u2019s better than simply imposing solutions on disabled people without our input.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Reason 2: Accessibility must be embedded in the process from the start<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, it\u2019s really important to involve disabled people at the start of a project, rather than trying to bolt accessibility on at the end of the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By working with us from the outset, you\u2019ll identify problems and solutions at an early stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When disabled people are at the forefront of the design process, technology has the power to be truly transformative.”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This was one of the things that really struck me about the Accessibility Centre Google has created. Here, you have a purpose-built space where disabled people can come together with engineers and designers, talk through ideas, develop those ideas and then test them to see if they actually work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sounds simple when you put it like that doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason three: We\u2019re the experts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Emma<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We know what works for us, and, possibly more importantly, what doesn\u2019t work for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Sense recently upgraded its website. There are processes that web designers can follow, like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)<\/a>, to make websites are accessible. This is a great start \u2013 but you can\u2019t beat the expertise of disabled people themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Sense, we wanted to make sure our site was as accessible as it could be, so a number of people with different disabilities (including myself) tested a version of the site as it was being developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The developers found it really useful to get our feedback, and to actually hear how a screen-reader interacted with their site. So, while following guidelines is great, you can\u2019t beat the input of the people who will actually be using your product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When disabled people are at the forefront of the design process, technology has the power to be truly transformative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n

Read more about assistive technology<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\n \"Maria,\n <\/figure>\n \n
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\n \n VOCA: how I get on with my communication aid\n <\/a>\n <\/h2>\n\n \n
\n\t\t\tMaria, who is supported by Sense, reviews her Voice Output Communication Aids (VOCA) \u2013 just in time for Christmas.\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A visit to Google’s Accessibility Discovery Centre got me thinking about the important role assistive technology has played in my own life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":30282,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"display_author":[110],"class_list":["post-29192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","display_author-steven-morris"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29192"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=29192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}