Reading: Accessibility for Everyone, by Laura Kalbag. Chapters 1 and 2: “Considering Accessibility” and “Disabilities and Impairments.”
Viewing: “Convenience for You is Independence for Me,” Todd Stablefeld. https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2017/110/
I'm coding a website for my capstone project so I found this reading to be very helpful and informative because I plan on designing with accessibility in mind. I also wasn't aware of the distinction between universal and accessible design, I though they were the same concept but "Accessible design considers the needs of people with disabilities...universal design considers the needs of a diverse human population". When designing a new website my first thought is creating something unique or dynamic, but sometimes it's more important to consider how diverse you want your audience to be. The chapter then offers many ways of incorporating universal design, some examples were: screen readers, eye trackers, speech recognition, screen magnifiers, etc. The second chapter does a really good job at defining what it means to have a disability and then begins to talk about the five main areas of disability that affect the use of of the web:
Visual impairments: includes color blindness and eyesight loss
Auditory impairments: hearing loss
Motor impairments
Cognitive impairments
Vestibular disorders and seizures
Environmental factors can also add to the difficulties that people with disabilities already face when using the web. Some of the factors mentioned include device screen size, resolution or orientation, as well as language barriers and internet connection.
The video “Convenience for You is Independence for Me,” Todd Stablefeld offers a transcript option for people who have visual or auditory impairments which I thought fit very well with the reading. I think the best way to learn about accessibility, disabilities and universal design is by listening to people who have disabilities. Todd mentions that all he wants is independence, and many designs/ technology make that difficult. He talks about things that someone without a disability wouldn't even think about. One example was Siri, although it used text-to speech recognition, it still required pressing a button. Many could assume that isn't an issue, but it excluded many users like Todd.