Translating Accessibility Research into Accessibility Practice

A Google TechTalk, presented by Jonathan Lazar, 2018-06-27 Abstract: There is a growing community of researchers in accessibility, doing ground-breaking work on ICT access for people with disabilities. Yet this research often does not result in more accessible interfaces for the general population of users with disabilities. There is a growing awareness that we have been successful in creating accessible solutions for people with disabilities, but we have not been successful in getting them implemented in real-world systems! This presentation will present a number of potential approaches for increasing the accessibility of real-world systems and digital content. These ideas include 1) behavioral economic approaches to accessibility (opt-out instead of opt-in), 2) requiring notification of accessibility status in app stores, 3) teaching more about ICT accessibility at all levels of education, 4) leveraging the purchasing power of large tech companies, university systems, and state governments for improved ICT accessibility, and 5) social pressure and cultural integration. More about the speaker: http://orion.towson.edu/~jlazar/