Thought people might be interested

[oyceter]

Listened to a cool podcast from 99% Invisible yesterday on designing architecture for Deaf people (link has audio podcast and transcript) that I really liked. Unsurprisingly, one of the conclusions is that when you design for accessibility, people who don't necessarily have disabilities can and often do benefit as well. (I hate the argument that if you design for accessibility or such, it hurts everyone else! Bah.)

Comments

[daedala]

That was very cool; thank you!

[sanguinity]

:: (I hate the argument that if you design for accessibility or such, it hurts everyone else! Bah.) ::

...?? I guess I first came at accessibility from safety and ergo, so I've never heard anybody make that argument before. Sure, sometimes the act of creating accessibility is an inconvenience to people who didn't need it themselves, but I have to assume that these same people feel inconvenienced whenever they're required to think of other people...

[oyceter]

Yeah... I think I hear it from a fair amount of web designers. "We can't use shiny new technology because it's not accessible! People with disabilities are ruining things for the rest of us!"

Which... eyeroll. Also, was so happy to find that the podcast came with a transcript. As someone who doesn't load images, sound, or video when work browsing, I find things like subtitles and alt text very useful!

[jesse_the_k]

Word! Mobile users love accessible sites!

Also, the podcast was outstanding. Makes me want to go tour the buildings.

I particularly love the explanation of how people signing in ASL (or whatever) share the responsibility of obstacle avoidance and way-finding. I've experienced that myself, and it changes how one defines the edges of "personal space."

[oyceter]

Yes, I really loved the dance metaphor as someone who social dances!

[kore]

As someone who doesn't load images, sound, or video when work browsing, I find things like subtitles and alt text very useful!

I ALWAYS prefer transcripts and subtitles to just listening to/watching something, and I have been told just recently that may be related to my newly diagnosed ADHD! WHO KNEW.


//googles Wow, apparently the fights over whether ADHD is a disability or a learning disability are nasty. Yikes.

[oyceter]

Yeah, I always prefer to have transcripts and subtitles as well, just because my picking things up via audio can be iffy if I've only encountered the word written and not pronounced. Also, it helps my language learning, esp. for Chinese.

[sasha_feather]

Great article, thanks for posting it!

[firecat]

Thanks for posting!

[rachelmanija]

Thanks, that was really interesting.

[sqbr]

That was interesting! And it works the other way too: labour saving clever design inadvertently helps disabled people. A friend of mine with back issues was telling me the other day about these foot operated power switches she came across at an environmental centre. They're designed to encourage able bodied people to turn off devices more, but would be a huge boon for her.

[oyceter]

Yes, exactly! And people notice things like sidewalk cutouts and ramps when they are dragging suitcases around the city to public transportation!

[trouble]

I have only been learning about Deafspace recently and it makes me so happy.

[lady_ganesh]

Oooh, shiny!

[kore]

This is way cool! I bet vito_excalibur would like it.

[(Anonymous)]

That reminds me, I have a whole essay I wrote on this that I need to do something with.

[dichroic]

Sorry, that was me.