051: Accessible Design = Better Design with Derek Featherstone

Derek Featherstone teaches us how designing for people with disabilities is really just better design for everybody. He shows us how people with disabilities aren’t different from us, they just use different tools to accomplish the same things. He encourages us to apply empathy to grow our skills in learning how to design for accessibility. He also reveals how taking small steps to incorporate something new into our design process could change everything.

  • Origin Story (5:53)
  • What Were Your “Aha” Moments? (12:02)
  • Why Do We Tend to Forget About Disabled Users? (17:15)
  • Tools Disabled Folks Use to Navigate (20:47)
  • Accessibility, Greater Than Aesthetics (31:37)
  • Has Designing for Accessibility Ever Made Things Worse for Majority of “Able” Users? (36:14)
  • Story of Biggest Triumph in Designing for Inclusivity + Accessibility (42:36)
  • What’s a Roadmap for Learning this Stuff? (44:56)
  • Contact Info (47:35)

Check out the detailed show notes and Eli Jorgensen’s astonishing superhero artwork at userdefenders.com/051

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Om Podcasten

Being a great UX designer begins and ends with being a great human. We can't pour an empty cup into another. We can’t lead others where we are not. This UX podcast helps UX’ers become the best, most powerful designers (and humans) they can be. Yes, you'll discover how-to’s, but much more importantly you'll discover why-to’s. Every episode is sure to inspire and equip you on how to better fight for your users and business, and dare I say change the world (even if only for one human at a time) in a much deeper and more tangible way than you ever thought possible.