UIUN Accessibility Summit Workshop 

UIUN Accessibility Summit Workshop 

Just recently, I participated in a workshop that focused on teaching young designers more about accessibility principles and how they relate to different populations. As part of the workshop, we were each assigned a target population to cover and were instructed to relate that population to a local voting website. For example, there were populations like ADHD, Anxiety, PTSD, Baby Boomers, etc. My population was Gen Z/First Time Voters.  

We then split off and researched our populations and what kind of accessibility requirements they needed. For my population, I found that the website would need to include various principles, but here I’ll highlight the most important ones. Firstly, I found that the interface would need clear instructions and step-by-step guidance. Although Gen Z is very competent with technology, since it’s their first time voting, they might not be as familiar with the language or steps compared to more seasoned voters. Additionally, I figured the interface should clearly validate correct inputs, while providing descriptive error messages for incorrect inputs. First time voters are likely to make a lot of errors filling out the form, and by specifically telling them how to remedy those errors, it will make the user process less frustrating. Lastly, I wanted to negotiate that the web interface should be accessible and optimized for mobile devices. Gen Z uses their phones constantly, and by allowing the voting interface to be accessible from a smartphone, it’s possible that we could get a larger turnout of first-time voters. 

After doing research, we each conducted a presentation on our population and our findings. From there, we began negotiations on what the interface should include. Overall, the negotiations weren’t too fierce as we all found a lot of common trends among our populations.  

As the negotiation continued, we had to narrow the scope of what we were allowed to pass for the interface and had to slowly cut things out. This was an interesting practice as it made us cut some of the less important amendments we proposed and make changes to the existing ones. After the negotiations ended, the two main things that I fought for that ended up getting passed were:  

 “Menus should be organized in a hierarchical manner, allowing a user to see what ‘s included in a section, but still simplifying the main menus in addition to bread crumb page. Ensure contact information/FAQ resources section” 

“Forms allow for backtracking when there are multiple pages to a form. Resubmission requests are also accepted. Forms should have a progress indicator that automatically save” 

 The menu portion was important as it followed my guidelines for a simple and easy to navigate interface. Additionally, providing an FAQ/Resources section was important as it would allow first time voters to reach out and receive help completing the required forms. 

The forms section was important because although it didn't encapsulate my error handling, I felt that the backtracking and resubmission would also help first time voters. The progress indicator portion was also important because Gen Z tends to have a lower attention span and being able to see where they are on a means they are more likely to complete it.  

I found that individuals with anxiety have a lot of the same needs as first-time voters: easy to navigate, FAQ/Resources section, clear error messaging. I think this is in part because there is a significant overlap between the two. In my research, I found that “an estimated 29% of Gen Z claim their prone to anxiety”. Being able to see the similarities between two adjacent but different groups was really interesting. 

Overall, this was a really enlightening process for me, and there were two main takeaways I got from the activity. Firstly, there are a lot of different groups that might possibly use a website, and it takes a lot of creativity to brainstorm what needs they may have, and which of the needs are the most important, especially if you yourself aren’t a member of that population. I think this goes to show why UX Designers and UX Researchers are so important, without these individuals there would be populations that would struggle to use an interface or couldn’t use it entirely. Secondly, it’s hard to account for everyone. When deadlines approach, budgets shrink, or requirements conflict with each other, you don’t always have the time/resources to make your website perfect for every population. This is why negotiating certain requirements and seeing where requirements overlap is so important. The main amendments we ended up passing during our negotiations weren’t hyper-specific features for a single population, but rather overarching principles that help those with specific needs, as well as your average user. This is something I’ll keep in mind as I continue my career and continue to advocate for different groups.