Accomodations and CDE

Hello all, welcome back to our course on digital accessibility and today we'll discuss about reasonable accommodations and a concept called CDE. So let's just dive into it. So I think we have already discussed or seen this image earlier in the course and we would just like to revisit this image just to understand what is uh the meaning of the word accommodation in terms of accessibility. So um so just imagine a scenario where uh you know there are three diverse kind of people here in this case having varied heights and they want to access a match a football match. They want to see it all and uh both all three of them are given assisted technology to help them which is exactly the same for all three of them. It is definitely exclusion because the youngest one or the shortest one despite having that solution readily available to him or her is still not able to access. So it is still uh inequality then uh if there is some reasonable accommodation uh you may which means that we are providing a special kind of an inter intervention for a special use case. It is called uh accommodation or a reasonable accommodation which enables most of the people to access um the match right? So all of them are able to now see and depending on their needs we are giving them different kind of products. These is this is called accommodation and of course a radically different idea would include all of them and would mean equality. But in this in the today's session we would like to discuss uh reasonable accommodation options and um despite the fact that these are specially uh made products or special interventions done for for special um users. Um and the fact that because these are special this is not a blanket solution. It actually is an equal solution, right? It is not a uh it is not the same, right? It doesn't make them feel the same. But many of times access is the priority and uh u people with uh special abilities are okay to use uh such reasonable accommodation so that at least they are able to access. In some of the use cases, in some of the scenarios, you may need to use reasonable accommodation or cater or enlist or use technologies which actually fall under the concept of reasonable accommodation. And they're not really universal solutions or inclusive solutions like this one, but they definitely help in access and enables access for people who have special needs. So today we will discuss particularly about accommodations. So accommodation as per a definition uh are modifications or adjustments made for an individual. This is the important most important aspect uh of the definition of accommodation. It is not an inclusive solution. It is not um a universal solution. It is an adjustment made for an individual's need and uh on an as needed basis and it just allows them to get access uh to the information to the building to the whatever it is that they're seeking access to uh in in that moment. Right? So maybe uh when they come back to get access for the same thing they will have to reask about it. And many of times uh you know for example in particularly if we talk about um access to educational material in inclusive universities and all of those things they may require extra some uh specific braille handouts or ex all of those things then it is a reasonable accommodation uh which they have to ask for some of the times right uh and it may require extra work that is also True. So um in order to accommodate or provide uh the user with such uh material with such uh accommodating technologies the institution or the company or the uh owner of the application or the website they have to ensure that okay so and so person is able to access uh using such a plug-in or using such um uh technology, right? So this requires extra work for extra work for some number of people and thus because it requires extra work for some specific users uh it may not be a very economically viable solution sometimes but uh we have also seen that in many cases it is also the case that the company or the intention mission of the project itself or the building itself or the event itself is to make sure that the person is able to attend is the person is able to access the information no matter what. So they are okay with that extra work or that extra added costs, right? And that also that kind of gesture is also required sometimes particularly uh knowing the fact that uh persons with particularly disability are uh lagging behind in a lot of uh scenarios and use cases. So this can be a reasonable example of uh reasonable accommodation. So for example, if you're building your architect has not incorporated a ramp uh in the architecture itself, uh then this is something which is like a removable ramp which uh the building has decided to uh add on. It can be removed and added on an as needed basis. Of course, it incurred some additional cost. Of course, it incurs extra work every time it is needed. every time it is added, every time it is removed, but it does allow uh people with wheelchair to access the building which much with with much ease. So let us take an example and try to understand it uh much further. So which of the following is an example of inclusive design that might eliminate or reduce the need for accommodations for students with a disability? and which ones are accommodation. So selecting fieldwork sites that are uh wheelchair accessible. So we are talking about a course planning for example from a faculty's perspective. So for example imagine that you are supposed to teach a course and uh you have planned a field trip. You have some u handouts. you have some educational resources and material, slides, etc. part of the um part of the course, how do you make it accessible to different kind of um um students, right? So, uh for example, if you are selecting field uh work uh areas which are wheelchair accessible, providing a noteaker. So a noteaker is again uh an interactive multimodal um technology which is which helps um a person with visual impairment to u take notes as well as u um you know access braille version of accessible documents making your class notes and outline available electronically. So whether you want to share uh your reading material and class notes and outline electronically available what is the how do you do that or how whether you are doing it or not whether that counts as an inclusive design or an accommodation is something which we are trying to look at a flexible attendance policy would that be a reasonable accommodation or inclusive design example requesting open captioned videos. Um so whether something like this is an accommodation or an inclusive design that is the question. So the first one for example yes selecting the fieldwork sites that are wheelchair accessible can eliminate the need for alternative assignments or lastm minute modifications for some students with mobility impairments. So yes this is an inclusive design example and it will reduce the need for accommodation or lastm minute accommodations. Providing a notetaker is actually something you can do at on an individual basis on an as needed basis. So it is actually uh an accommodation itself and it's not an inclusive design or a universal solution. Making your class notes and u outlines available electronically is actually an inclusive uh concept and it will provide greater access to your course materials make it easier for everyone to access and not just who are blind. Uh it will make uh the uh documents accessible using a screen reader uh for the students with blindness um or you know adapt other adaptive technologies which read text to texttospech output software. A flexible attendance policy also may not be uh an example of inclusive design and this might be an appropriate accommodation uh for a student with a health impairment. However, an attendance policy that is too flexible for too many people may become misused or problematic. So, at least as a faculty, I don't believe in this. Requesting open captioned videos. Uh yes, open captioning is essentially the same as subtitling. It requires no special equipment. Many students can benefit from open captioning. Uh including students with hearing impairments, learning disabilities and those for whom English is not their first language. So it is a inclusive design solution and not an accommodation. So accommodations how they can help um more further is like create they create an inclusive environment for all um though so what we're trying to say is though having inclusive solutions for all is the best use case sometimes eliminating barriers for an individual upon request is also needed. it. So then that is called an accommodation but it is also needed sometimes. So um yes it is it is something that we as designers and developers who are working towards accessibility should understand about. Understanding accommodations can help us include accessibility from the beginning of the design process and insights into need for accommodation help in creation of assistive technologies as well. Uh so let us talk about some more examples of uh accommodations in digital accessibility. So for vision impairment uh requesting that a website is compatible uh with screen readers like Jaws or NVDA or asking for high contrast modes for hearing impairment. Asking for captioning transcript for videos or audio content is also an accommodation if it is already not embedded in the website. Right? So ideally it should be embedded in the website as per the deblag guidelines which we had a discussion about in the previous session. But if they are not there and if the person is asking and yet you provide it then it is an accommodation for cognitive or neurological disabilities. requesting simplified layouts or adjustable font sizes or the ability to turn off animations because it can be jarring uh uh you know for the persons with neurological disabilities for mobility impairment requesting large touch targets on mobile apps fillable PDFs for easier use. Uh so it is um something again which can add value and allow them to access um or fill the PDFs with uh with much ease for learning and attention requesting a plain text version of a email newsletter to avoid complex formatting. Right? So let us try to understand again verbally what is the difference between accessibility and accommodation. So accessibility is the proactive process of designing and developing digital content and products. So they are usable by as many people as possible without the need for special assistance. Right? This is the foundational goal and is achieved by following standards like W gag that we have already discussed in one of the sessions. Accommodation is a reactive step-by-step process. It's not a proactive. So once the user asks about that okay I need some assistant to assistance to access this material to access this website uh this particular table this particular form. I'm not able to access or I'm not able to understand. Then um you do a step-by-step process of making specific changes or adjustments to meet the needs of that individual or provide them with extra plugins or extra handouts or some other thing when the baseline accessibility is not sufficient. Right? It is often provided after a user encounters a barrier and requests for help. So I think this is very important. This is very important that uh accommodations are provided when requested for right then it is called an accommodation. Accessibility is something we have to proactively make sure that it is there. And if our systems are accessible probably there's no need to accommodate any uh special and that is what it is there in the accessibility definition that there is no need for any special assistance if the system is accessible. So I think uh I hope this concept of accommodation is quite uh clear. The processes the techniques would be similar to how you would make the system accessible in the first place. So again in order to even provide accommodations you can go back to your W CAG guidelines and check uh how to provide uh what are the techniques to uh make a PDF accessible uh with bigger fields all of those things. Uh so the techniques uh the code scripts all are already there in the list of techniques uh list of failures all of those things and uh when people come up and ask for accommodation I think that is also for a lot of people the first step into uh making their systems accessibility or even realizing that yes there are people who want to access the system but they are unable to because of access issues. So possibly you might have also encountered in your uh with your products with your systems that that is the case. But if you have entered the domain of accessibility uh please ensure that any new product that you design is following uh and in are in compliance with all WAG standards so that there's no need for accommodation in the future. Hopefully we are aiming for that future. So let us now move on to another very interesting concept which is called countering design exclusions. So let us move to uh the next concept uh in this session which is called CDE or countering design exclusion and it is it is kind of a process framework and uh it can help us in identifying exclusionary patterns and reacting to them so that our designs are more inclusive in nature. So while it is useful to know who and how many people can use the product that information is not provide you with enough guidance on how to include more people right so it is like a okay I know my system is able to be accessed by persons who are blind uh for example uh and so and so but pro possibly you don't know whether u your system you how you can actually include people with further um barriers or further disabilities. Right? So rather conversely it is sometimes very interesting to ask that for how many people it is not inclusive. So who are those people and how many people cannot use my product asking that question and why they cannot do so right trying to understand the reason for exclusion as well. So this highlights the aspects of the products that need to be improved. So this kind of an approach uh while inclusive design approach uh you know can help you if you are you know starting a new project if you want uh to work on um you know it's it's some some new problem but for example you have already built something you are aware of u you know so and so aspects of accessibility but still you are not sure whether your system is completely accessible to a diverse set of audience. Then judging uh trying to understand who cannot use your product in the best or intended way possible can help you expand the user base uh to begin with and make the uh system more accessible and more available for uh a wider set of audiences. So this perspective is referred to as a CDE process. So it's like countering design exclusions. So what does it say? It says that identifying the capability demands placed upon the user by the feature of the product. So what we're trying to assess is like I think uh in one of the previous sessions around week one or two we have discussed uh something called an ability bias right so it is it is seen that when um designers or teams of developers and designers they are coming out they're designing some product they tend to um you know place some benchmark ability uh lists of their intended audience that okay my user so and so persona and is able to do XYZ is able to do XYZ. So we are always talking about what they are able to do and accordingly we design that is called an abbleist way of thinking and it's called an ability bias. Right? So similarly if we try to consciously analyze our system and assess that okay what are the capability demands that a system um you know requests or require to be even used in the first place. Then in that case in that analysis we will be able to uh kind of judge that okay if that capability is not functioning then the those those people will get excluded automatically. So just for an instance so if um there's an application which uh requires uh x task to be done which requires a certain visual feedback which requires a certain uh dexterity to maneuver and you know click some buttons in order to get uh converted. There has to be some language. Uh the information is communicated um with the you are expecting that the person the user is capable of understanding that particular language and deciphering uh the information mentioned on the um on the screen. Right? So it is basically you know what I want my user to know the language. I want my user to have dexterity. I want my user to have vision. I want my user to have hearing skills. And of course, I want my user to be cognitively sound, right? in order to you know perceive all of this information understand its semantic value and then press some button. So even if it is like a basic even if it is like a basic uh um you know interface which has a you know right red button it says press the button right that is it. It is as simple but it is still what it is demanding is that you are able to see where the button is. You are able to navigate your finger to it. You are able to lift your thumb and again you know kind of press it. You are able to read the words press the and button. You are able to understand what is the meaning of the word press. What is the meaning of the word the what is the meaning of the word button? Then semantically associating it in your mind and then reacting able to react to the instruction and press the button. So all of these are capability demands placed by this interface. And similarly the moment we do it for our uh interface we suddenly are face to face with all the capability demands that we are placing on our user and then you can try to analyze and understand okay if so much is required just to press a button. What about my website which has so much information, so many buttons, so many tabs, there's a lot of things going on. Uh so then what all it is is required and then you basically establish that the users who cannot use the product irrespective of the cause of their functional impairment. Right? So why we are saying this is I think again if we go back to uh one of the other frameworks where we spoke about disability spectrum right so it may be a situational cause it may be a permanent cause or it may be a temporary cause but they in that moment they are not able to interact with your system. So for example, if this interface uh is um you know not a digital interface, if it is placed in a factory and it is pitch dark, I will not be able to locate this button and will not be able to press it. Uh if there is no visual um you know this thing. So then irrespective of the cause of their impairment that is why we are uh you know putting it here. So you then after this you kind of list out what who are the users who cannot use it despite um uh with respect to the function the cause of the functional impairment and then redesign the product to lessen the demand. Right? So then what you do is then you redesign it to lessen the demand. So if uh I'm assuming that visually uh the person is able to locate the button if I can extrude it in some way so that there is also tactual feedback then I am opening it to tactile also if there is some audio cue if there is some LED lighting around it. So even if it is pitch dark my user can locate the button and press it. So similarly uh then uh if the language you know can can keep changing you know uh if we can include more languages all of those aspects we can try to do so that this list of demands is less as less as possible. So a wider range of users can potentially be included and no one is excluded unnecessarily. So we have to try to see that unnecessarily some user is not getting excluded. That is the most important aspect. So let us take an example of this kind of a TV remote. I'm sure all of you have it at home. Right? So in this case what is the what are the demands that this u uh the this remote places on its users right? So one is of course deciphering the meaning of all of these buttons right which one is for what and all of that and uh then to be able to navigate the keypad to navigate. So all of these are like number buttons. Then there is this power button. Then there are like whole set of buttons which don't know what to do about. So then basically and then there is a a set of buttons which are most frequently frequently used which are probably here. Right? These are the four five buttons which are most commonly used. Then there are these unnecessary buttons. So, so somebody redesigned it that say okay let's see maybe this is the most important part so let's add it other than that um sound I want okay that can be a separate not just like here merged here so I'm not able to identify where the sound is because volume is important I keep changing it so basically the uh the team prioritize what are the features which are most commonly used and then the settings etc all of this is hidden in one button. So because we don't hardly use all of these features ever right but there is an option to access them if needed but to reduce the clutter of you know um identifying the ones which I want to keep using again and again I think the decluttering the entire um uh the navigation this design came into picture I'm sure this also everyone has seen Similarly uh we can take example of a very popular website called IRCTC. I'm sure all of you have also seen this website. I'm sorry I have don't have a very high resolution version of it. uh because this this is an older version and uh there are not many pictures of this older version on the internet anymore and uh but I remember booking tickets on this uh interface and this is just like a very weird very cluttered interface and the kind of demands it puts on the user the cognitive demands and the dexterity demands so I'll just talk about dexterity for example so this is the train numbers these are all different trains s from point A to point B probably they are sorted as per their departure times etc that's fine but they're like very closely put in an excel sheet kind of a format but the most difficult thing would always be like this so here only they have AC1 a uh sorry two sleep sleeper three AC2 It's written like this 2 A 1 A and the text itself is the link right and you have to press it uh in this small like c you have to move the cursor. So these are four different buttons basically here it is two different buttons. This is 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 So basically you have to locate and press one of these buttons and which are very closely kind of rel placed next to each other really close very small size. So it requires a very high dexterity with the mouse in order to uh press this button. uh forget about uh doing it on a tablet where it's a touchscreen, right? And then there is a lot of cognitive load with a lot of information. There's a lot of ad all of these things uh used to be there but then they redesigned it into a much much cleaner system and now all of these AC3 and AC3 it's like a drop-down you select and the selection is usually based on your default which you always kind of book. So if you always book a sleeper ticket, it will mostly show show you sleeper or AC3 if that is your common choice. It will mostly show you that. Then it asks you to press this button to check availability and fetches realtime data. And then it kind of expands and shows you here otherwise it's not even shown. So I think it's much it is a much cleaner. All of these uh filters are very nicely placed. The origin and the destination is nicely placed. The journey date, number of passengers, all of those things are there. And it also have these uh emoticons. So emoticons are a great way to um bypass the language barrier, right? So everyone can understand the meaning of a moon emoteicon versus a sun emoticon that it means day and night or something like that or uh you know the timing is here or the duration is here when the clock right so I think this is a much cleaner interface and I'm sure you would agree and a lot of demands have been reduced in this interface. So in summary uh today we had a discussion about reasonable accommodation some examples around it difference between accessibility and reasonable accommodation. Then we moved on to a design process called countering design exclusions and uh we had a discussion around that with some tangible interfaces as well as digital interfaces and as we'll keep using these uh methods um to make systems accessible possibly we'll uh learn more about it we'll be able to relate more to it. So thank you for joining us in this session today. Uh and we'll hope to see you again in the next session.