Derek Featherstone

Documenting accessibility is a journey, not a destination. No one checklist or tool exists to solve every accessibility issue that comes up, I truly wish there was one. Teams are on a journey and what we need changes based on where we’re at. → Googling accessibility provides an overwhelming list of checklists and tools designed to help but without context, it’s impossible to sift through what’s valuable. → Products and teams go through a process from discovery to implementation and different team members are responsible for different things. Miscommunication can lead to big gaps or duplication of effort. → WCAG Guidelines are vast and many issues that may come up are combinations of multiple requirements making it hard to prioritize. Our team has had luck focusing on where we are in the process and having specific goals for each phase. I appreciate thought leaders within the accessibility community for creating resources to help find the right tool at the right time. 🤓 Audit. Most efforts start with reviewing the current state of the product or design system. An audit helps your team define scope and provides a structure to document how close or far you are from your accessibility goal. Anna Cook, M.S. is a wealth of knowledge and provides a great overview of how to audit an existing design system. https://lnkd.in/gPZZkrGE 🛠️ Build. Once you're actually designing things, it's time to collaborate on documenting and annotating accessibility within the design assets themselves. Sil Bormüller 👋🏻, always such a resource, recently posted an amazing list of plugins to help designers with requirements during handoff. https://lnkd.in/gquASVtt 🚦 Support. After components are built, documentation needs change again. Once you have accessible components, additional guidelines within your design system need to support things like reading order, inclusive content, and technical implementation within layouts and templates. I enjoyed the most recent Design Systems Diaries with Johannes Lehner and Karen Hawkins, CPACC which touches on strategies for shifting your accessibility approach at different product stages. https://lnkd.in/gAG8aqU7 💎 Success means supporting your team and providing guidance for what they should be focusing on depending on where you’re at. → Do people know what they're responsible for? Make sure designers, engineers, and product team members know which parts of the process are their responsibility. → Is the team sharing the same goals and tooling? Support your team with clear requirements and the right tools that help folks deliver consistently. → Do folks have access to training to level up? Provide your team with resources to help different functions align on shared language and skill development. #accessibility #a11y #designsystems

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Most conversations I see in digital accessibility focus on conformance to WCAG's success criteria — so much so that sometimes it feels like we should start saying "WCASC" instead. But the G is there for a reason. The Guidelines in WCAG aren't testable, but they're there as a guide to help you design and build inclusive, usable, and useful digital products. In WCAG 2: Guidelines and Guardrails (https://lnkd.in/eJJFTYe9) Eric Eggert explained how success criteria are the guardrails to stop you getting in trouble, and the guidelines are there to point you in the right direction. In our most recent State of Digital Accessibility podcast (https://lnkd.in/eQFgkb6J), Mark Miller and I discussed the relationship between accessibility, usability and user experience. I highlighted how the 13 guidelines of WCAG are a powerful tool to help product teams design and build accessible — and usable — digital products. They're the "above and beyond" people are looking for when realizing that conformance with WCAG's SCs is just the start. So let's celebrate their existence and make more use of them! Here are the 13 guidelines of WCAG 2.2: 1.1 Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language. 1.2 Provide alternatives for time-based media. 1.3 Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure. 1.4 Make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background. 2.1 Make all functionality available from a keyboard. 2.2 Provide users enough time to read and use content. 2.3 Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures or physical reactions. 2.4 Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are. 2.5 Make it easier for users to operate functionality through various inputs beyond keyboard. 3.1 Make text content readable and understandable. 3.2 Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable ways. 3.3 Help users avoid and correct mistakes. 4.1 Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies.

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Does your software team speak the same language? Aligning on what basic UI elements are called is a great starting point. It doesn’t even matter what name your team chooses as long as everyone agrees on it. Names should hint at purpose. #productdesign #designsystems

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👉 Good contrast is important for all content creators, not just designers. In this guide, I break down the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) contrast requirements in plain language, showing you how easy they are to meet! 👉 Read the article: https://lnkd.in/eAaHFgXQ #Accessibility #ContentDesign #UX

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Is WCAG already on your agenda? Last week we hosted a roundtable and a workshop to give product leaders a better understanding of the compliance process, where to start, who to involve and how to set up your audit system. 👇 The 5 key takeaways 👇 To help, we've create an audit template to give you a head start. Leave your name in the comments if you'd like to receive it and I'll send it to you!

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Today might just be the day to brush up on some of your visual design skills. Check out these mini-guides for UX designers - available today in a bundle of all 4 mini-guides. https://lnkd.in/gG9K64nz #visualDesign #UXdesign

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Just announced! This month's UX Salon Halifax meetup is all about... User Experience of course. That's it. Back to the basics. Ever wonder why some things just work so.... nice? Or why some other experiences are so frustrating? We can answer that. :) See you in two weeks! #uxsalonhalifax #halifaxux #userexperience #halifaxtech #uxdesign #uxresearch

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Craft is work done with intuitive expertise - learned deeply by conscious practice through mentorship. Craft is expensive. The mimicry and pattern replication of AI will upend digital craft much like the Industrial Revolution did for physical craftspeople (only faster). It will likely be CFOs who crush craft like origami as they optimize balance sheets. If you love your craft, find a complex niche whose business model is based on value creation not eyeball acquisition. Government especially needs you.

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Stéphanie shares lots of great resources for designers -- and if you don't follow her, you should. She does a beautiful job of using plain language and incorporating enough imagery to explain concepts so that it's easy to understand. This particular article is great for designers that are trying to incorporate accessibility into their design work. #Accessibility #a11y #UX #UserExperience #DigitalDesign #ProductDesign #UXResearch #DesignResearch #UserResearch #VisualDesign #InteractionDesign #FrontEndDev

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⏱ “Just in time accessibility docs” I think I’ve been doing it all wrong. As we build out our design system, we’ve been continuing to add lengthy accessibility documentation to each of our components, check. But is it actually helpful? → W3C Guidelines are verbose and many of the guidelines become redundant once the component has been built. → Text based documentation can be hard to visualize without examples or access to assistive technology. → While components may test accessible in isolation, new issues come up when components are used in context. 👏 Some folks who are doing it right that we're trying to learn from at Exygy → Carbon design system from IBM provides context specific tips for both designers and developers. The guidelines they provide act as quick implementation checklists. https://lnkd.in/gbmeJe5F → GOLD Design System by Design System AU is really unique in the way that it provides accessibility previews of components. I really dig how they simulate keyboard navigation and color blindness! https://lnkd.in/gDBgUiyN → USWDS from GSA goes above and beyond any system that I have seen by providing accessibility testing documentation that can be used when doing QA of components in the wild. ...whoa https://lnkd.in/gYP2ptrR 💎 A couple of things our team has taken away from these amazing resources that might be helpful to others: → Focus component documentation on the most "actionable" implementation details for both designers and engineers. → Reserve verbose technical setup requirements for the initial component acceptance criteria. → Experiment with ways to easily preview accessibility options and outputs. → If possible, document how someone could test issues that could come up during ongoing product feature development and QA. 🧙‍♂️ This post was in part inspired by a talk from Dan Mall at the last Figma Config when he referenced "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" to describe the "notes in the margins that help Harry improve his potion skills" as a way to describe better "just in time" design system documentation. If you do actually need the verbose stuff for component acceptance criteria you can always get it here: → W3C Authoring practices guide https://lnkd.in/g_MUENbn #accessibility #designsystems #documentation #ui #uidesign

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Yesterday evening I went to an amazing accessibility event by #a11yTO - Accessibility Toronto. It had an amazing panel of speakers with Heather Hepburn Niki Ramesh Wendy Reid and was hosted by Juan Olarte. They all had amazing insights on ingraining Accessibility in an organisation. 1. Finding alies that realise and advocate for the importance of Accessibility 2. Start with a small win, maybe something with a known, wide audience e.g close captions in Videos as some studies say 70% of Gen z use subtitles or closed captions. Have good captions and it's a win for Gen Z and the hearing impaired 3. Test with users with additional needs use Fable, approach charities, filter for them in usertesting.com.. 4. The goal: "Born Accessible" Building a product/service/feature with everyone knowing it'll only be delivered if it passed the accessibility test for : magnification friendly, screenreader friendly, keyboard friendly, Considering them every step of the way 5. Skyscanner is sending new joiners through an Empathy lab,completing "simple" tasks with impairment simulating tools, so everyone ,regardless of function has felt the pain of using an inaccessible product. I want to give that a try myself. What is your tip for realizing the value of Accessibility in your organisation?

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Interesting article from the Shutterstock blog on the topic of color accessibility. Helpful reminders abound. https://lnkd.in/evC2SfhH #design #designthinking #designbuild #designstrategy #product #producctdesign #productmanagement #productstrategy #designprinciples #innovation #designers #digitaltransformation #ux #uxdesign #uiux #uidesign #designinnovation #application #software #softwaredesign #usability #userresearch #research #usercentereddesign #productleadership #uxwriting #designsystems #empathy #interfacedesign #usabilitytesting #userexperience #productdesign #accessibility #ui #ai #genai 

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understanding is an outcome of (good) design As a manager, the most consistent challenge I see with early-career designers is the belief that with enough research, with enough information, with enough bench-marking, whatever, there will be a clear path forward. So they get stuck when they have limited information, when the path remains unclear. The default instinct is to continue gathering information, because it's really uncomfortable to "start design" feeling like you don't have the full picture. (required disclaimer that research is good, important, and necessary, I identify as a researcher myself) But it is so often the act of making itself--making not-quite-right things and even making outright wrong things--that provides the most direct path to clarity, to understanding the right next step. Design is the act of creating as a thought process, as research, as a tool for discussion, alignment, and direction. (another disclaimer: this requires a safe environment to do this and strong feedback loops) I go back to my oft-referenced example of the game Wordle. When you are starting out, all you know are the constraints: 5 letters, 6 chances to guess. There are literally thousands of possibilities. The ONLY thing you can do is start with a word, often a strategic one, and then use the contextual cues to limit the possibilities and make a better, more informed choice for the next guess. *brought to you by a thought I had at around 3am last night, because brains are gonna brain.

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When I first started working in accessibility, it was hard to find resources about designing for neurodiversity. But that’s changed, and now there’s lots of great information available! All of us experience the internet (and the world) in different ways, and it’s really important to think about that range of experiences when we’re creating things. I’m sharing a few things today that will help you make things that work for people whose brains might not experience the internet the same way yours does. Resources and info: Accessible design for cognitive considerations by Jennifer S. (article) - https://lnkd.in/e7d-yTKN ADHD-friendly communication by Ettie Bailey-King (article, temporarily free) - https://lnkd.in/etBxFZXw A web of anxiety: accessibility for people with anxiety and panic disorders by David Swallow (article) - https://lnkd.in/ehJv_P9E Designing content for people with dyscalculia or low numeracy by Jane McFadyen (podcast, 20 minutes, transcript available) - https://lnkd.in/e2e8ntpB Designing for cognitive accessibility: Where to begin by Glenda Sims (article) - https://lnkd.in/eZnNfjQq Designing for Neurodiversity by Treyce Meredith (video, 20 minutes) - https://lnkd.in/eFGvPDnC Dizzy Users Close Browsers: Balancing Creativity & Accessibility by Piccia Neri (video, 41 minutes) - https://lnkd.in/ekUVN677 My war on animation by s.e. smith (article) - https://lnkd.in/dFWGBMGm Neuroinclusive Content Design by Laurie Cameron-Back (video, 50 minutes, need to log in or register to access) - https://lnkd.in/evmht7CT And this huge (wonderful) list of cognitive accessibility resources from Stéphanie Walter - https://lnkd.in/eTC4Uv9i If you have a good resource for neurodiversity then please share it in the comments! (And thanks to Sonya L. for the conversation that led to this post!) #Accessibility #A11y #AccessibilityMatters #UserExperience #Neurodiversity #CognitiveAccessibility 

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If you, like me, have been lamenting lately that Nothing Works Anymore, this ux trend report is a great read. ‘We’re shipping new products before they’re even ready. Look at the AI hardware fiasco in 2024, or at all the half-baked AI features in our enterprise products—broken promises everywhere. Products don’t have to be ready for prime time because, over the last decade, we convinced ourselves we got to “fail fast,” “test and learn,” and “lean-UX” our way out of tight timelines.’ #ux #design #techtrends https://trends.uxdesign.cc

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Please, please, please stop centre aligning you text. Please stop. IMHO this spread before responsive design was ‘a thing’ and software was trying to fit into a ‘mobile friendly’ layout. It became part of ‘mobile first’. Centre aligned text is less readable. Sometimes severely unreadable. It’s not clever, it’s clunky and sometimes downright ugly. #Accessibility #A11y #UI #DesignSystems #ContentStrategy #UX

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