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Re: UX design query for a11y and screen reader user

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From: Tim Harshbarger
Date: Oct 17, 2019 6:25AM

Sean,

You will probably want to start with finding out what artifacts/deliverables
the teams receive when they create a UI design and what kinds of
artifacts/deliverables they create during their design process.

For example, you will want to find out if they have branding requirements or
use a design library or have to follow specific design guidance. If they do,
you will want to become familiar with those things and figure out what the
accessibility ramifications of those requirements are on design. For
example, if the branding requires a specific color palette do all those
colors meet color contrast requirements for something like SC 1.4.3? If
not, which color combinations are problematic?

When the teams create their designs, what artifacts/deliverables do they
create and how? A broad range of tools can be used during design and some
artifacts/deliverables may not be directly accessible to you. However, I
have found that if the artifact/deliverable isn't accessible that they are
sometimes created in a process that is--for example, team members might meet
to discuss and create the design or to review it.

Spend time reading books about designing UI's--particularly if they are
books that your designers recommend or have read themselves.

If your role in the process is as an accessibility SME, view your role also
as being their teacher. In the beginning, you ask a lot of accessibility
questions which you also end up answering--but your goal is to reach a point
with the team where they anticipate all your questions and already have
answers.

If at some point you need sighted assistance to review a design, try to get
that sighted assistance from whoever is designing the UI. While that helps
you do your job, it is also a great opportunity to educate that person on
the types of things you are looking for and how they can spot those issues
earlier.

If you are not the person testing the app for accessibility later in the
process, be sure to get a copy of any test results and use that to improve
the design process in the future.

If you are the person testing the app's accessibility later, be very careful
about tester's bias. When you have worked along side a team building an
app, it can become tempting to overlook some accessibility issues and try to
justify it a number of ways--however, you won't be doing the team any favors
by doing that and you definitely won't be helping the end users.

Good luck with working on design. It can be quite an enjoyable process to
participate in--especially as you watch the team become more aware of how
accessibility fits into design.

Thanks!
Tim