Gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to plan and conduct inclusive user research and usability testing with people with disability. This practical course explores respectful communication, inclusive planning, and hands-on testing — helping you create research processes that are accessible, ethical, and informed by lived experience.

What you’ll learn

People: building confidence

  • Use inclusive language and accessible formats
  • Recognise and reduce bias in research and testing
  • Understand assistive technologies and their impact

Process: planning and running

  • Recruit the right participants
  • Plan and run usability sessions with people with disability
  • Distinguish accessibility barriers from usability issues
  • Manage logistics such as consent, incentives, scheduling, and troubleshooting

Practice: applying skills

  • Run mock usability testing with real participants
  • Respond to challenges during sessions
  • Analyse and report inclusively

Who this course is for

  • UX researchers
  • Service designers
  • UX/UI designers
  • QA testers
  • Digital professionals involved in research, testing, or delivery

Knowledge level

No prior accessibility knowledge is required.

Technology requirements

We use online tools such as FigJam to work together during this course. You won’t need to install or create an account to use these tools.

Delivery options

Instructor-led training for organisations

  • Duration: 3 x 2-hour sessions, over 3 weeks
  • Cost: $10,000 AUD (+ GST)
  • Attendees: Up to 20

Contact us to book training

Course outline

Session 1: Working with people with disabilities

Learn how to communicate respectfully and confidently with people with disability. This session covers inclusive language, accessible communication, and practical tips for building rapport in research settings.

  • Why include people with disabilities?
  • People and assistive technologies
  • Inclusive language
  • Activity: Interacting with different people
  • Getting it wrong
  • Removing bias

Session 2: End-to-end process for inclusive research<

Explore the full research process—recruitment, consent, incentives, scheduling, tech setup, and troubleshooting common issues during sessions. You’ll gain practical tools and guidance to ensure sessions run smoothly and inclusively.

  • Why include people with different disabilities in your research/testing?
  • When to include people with disabilities?
  • When to include people with disabilities in user testing?
  • Scenarios: Who to include?
  • Logistics checklist
  • Inclusive script writing
  • Inclusive sessions
  • Analysing and reporting inclusively

Session 3: Hands-on testing with people with disability

Move beyond theory by meeting real people with disability and learning directly from their lived experience. You’ll take part in mock usability testing sessions and get hands-on practice applying what you’ve learned in a supportive environment.

  • Brief overview of the session
  • Introductions to all of the participants
  • Mini testing session 1
  • Mini testing session 2
  • Mini testing session 3
  • Short wrap up in the main room