We’re excited that three of our team, Sarah Pulis, Andrew Arch and Chris Pycroft will shortly be making the trek from the land down under to head to the 33rd CSUN Assistive Technology Conference in San Diego, California.
It’s our third time at CSUN, and while we’re excited about meeting many new (and seeing lots of familiar) faces, not to mention Deque’s accessible karaoke (who knew that picking a song to sing at karaoke would be so hard?!). We also have three presentations lined up over three days of conference.
Using cognitive walkthroughs to better review designs for accessibility
Presenters: Sarah Pulis, Andrew Arch
Time: 3.20pm, Wednesday 21 March
Location: Golden Hill AB, 3rd Floor, Seaport Tower
The cognitive walkthrough method was established over twenty years ago, and is a commonly used usability testing or research method that enables you to walk in the shoes of other users. You can gain first hand experience on how a user completes common tasks, and ask them questions that are based on their perspective.
This presentation will take people through the considerations they need to make when creating their own cognitive walkthroughs, help you understand how to choose your users (to gain the best possible knowledge), and how to consider and factor in accessibility into each step a user takes, or any decision that they make.
User stories for including accessibility in an agile environment
Presenters: Andrew Arch, Sarah Pulis
Time: 9.00am, Thursday 22 March
Location: Torrey Hills AB, 3rd Floor, Seaport Tower
Many people working in the accessibility field are new to working in agile environments. In an agile working environment user stories can be used during development to ensure that the needs and requirements of people with a disability are incorporated at every stage. Stories are used in different ways from standard product specifications, depending on the environment.
This presentation will provide a greater understanding of the benefits of agile approaches to digital product development, and how to incorporate accessibility through user stories, so that it becomes embedded throughout each project and doesn’t become an afterthought.
Mental health and accessibility: Bridging the digital divide
Presenter: Chris Pycroft
Time: 11.00am, Friday 23 March
Location: Hillcrest CD, 3rd Floor, Seaport Tower
Mental health and suicide prevention services are increasingly being delivered in online environment to serve the needs of as many people as possible. It also provides the opportunity for users to access essential information and support when they need to. Not all services however have been delivered with the needs of people with a disability in mind during their development.
This presentation will provide a ‘state of the nation’ on mental health and wellbeing, look at examples (and opportunities) for mental health services to become more inclusive, and efforts currently being undertaken to make sure that services are accessible to all.
Catch our talks afterwards
We will be making all our presentations available online. If you’re interested, you can get in touch with us (and our updates) on twitter through our respective profiles: Andrew Arch (@amja), Sarah Pulis (@sarahtp), Chris Pycroft (@chrispytweets) and Intopia (@intopiadigital). You can also follow all the discussion on the hashtag #CSUNATC18.
We’ll be seeing you soon at CSUN!
