This document provides an overview of accessibility and inclusive design presented by Claudio Luis Vera. It discusses how disabilities affect a large portion of the population and outlines key concepts like the social model of disability. Barriers to accessibility are examined, along with legal requirements and common mistakes. The importance of inclusive design that considers people of all abilities is emphasized. Assistive technologies that can help remove barriers are also reviewed.

1. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Build apps like you mean it
Ensure that everyone can use your product,
regardless of ability
Claudio Luis Vera - Accessibility Professional, UX Designer, human
Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.
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2. CLAUDIO LUIS VERACLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Royal Caribbean
Cruises, LTD (RCL)
Digital Accessibility
● Websites
● Apps
● Augmented reality
● Kiosks
● Gaming stations
● Digital experiences
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3. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Demographics
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30.3%

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30.3% of Americans over the age of 18
● Have a severe disability
● Have a mild disability
● Does not include those who need
assistance to get through daily
routines
US Census Bureau, 2018
● 93% of disabilities are invisible

6. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 6
58.5% of Americans over the age of 65
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
0–17 years
18–24 years
25–34 years
35–44 years
45–54 years
55–64 years
65–69 years
70–74 years
75 years and older
People with disabilities other

7. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 7
If you build for the 30%, everyone wins
● Automatic doors
● Hands-free fixtures in restrooms
● Curb cuts
● Autocomplete
● Captions on videos
● Voice UI
● Phone screens you can see in
broad daylight
● Dark themes

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Annual disposable
income among
people with
disabilities$490 billion

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Annual discretionary
income among people
with disabilities$21 billion

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Annual discretionary
income among people
with disabilities$21 billion
$3 billion for African Americans
$16 billion for Hispanics

11. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Mismatches and disabilities
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12. CLAUDIO LUIS VERACLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Spectrum of abilities
Quadriplegic
My 92-year-old
mother
Me
Usain Bolt
Superhero
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13. CLAUDIO LUIS VERACLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Our view of disability
Medical model
● Highly visible conditions
● Origins in the Reconstruction,
when benefits were given to
permanently disabled veterans
of the Civil War
Charity model
● People to be pitied who need
assistance
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A more hopeful view
of disability
Social model
● The problem is not the
impairment, it’s the barriers we
create as a society.
● We create and perpetuate our
own disabilities.
Stella Young talk at TED Sydney
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15. CLAUDIO LUIS VERACLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Not every impairment is permanent
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Dirty window Cataracts

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What is a disability?
Disability is not
a personal health condition.
Disability comes from
mismatched human
interactions
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18. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
A world without barriers
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Basic concepts
1. Everyone has the right to
live independently
2. The built world must not
have any barriers
3. The digital world is part of
that built world

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Today
The state of the digital world

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WebAIM
Million
Report
Percentage of
websites that have
detectable barriers
(WCAG 2.x failures)
98.0%

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How the law came about
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July 2, 1964

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July 26, 1990
Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA)

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What does the ADA cover?
Public accommodations Workplace accommodations

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…and digital experiences
Websites
Apps
Kiosks
VR/AR/MR

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October 8, 2010

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21st Century Video
Accessibility Act
(CVAA)
Affects everything with an IP address

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10 Performance Objectives from the CVAA
● Operable without vision
● Operable with low vision and limited or no
hearing
● Operable with little or no color perception
● Operable without hearing
● Operable with limited manual dexterity
● Operable with limited reach and strength
● Operable with a prosthetic device
● Operable without time dependent controls
● Operable without speech
● Operable with limited cognitive skills
Provide at least one mode that is:

30. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Which ~30 use cases
do you need to consider
to be inclusive?
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Vision
● Low vision
● Low vision (without hearing)
● Little or no color perception
● No vision
● Has light sensitivity
● Is in bright surroundings

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Hearing and speech
● Without hearing
● Hard of hearing
● Limited or non-typical speech
● Has heavy accent
● Does not understand English
(or your primary language)

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Mobility and dexterity
● With limited manual dexterity
● Has tremors or shaky hands
● Has one or no hands available
● Uses a prosthetic device
● Uses a cane or a walker
● Uses a manual wheelchair or a walker
● Uses a scooter or motorized
wheelchair
● Needs extra time

34. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 34
Cognitive/pyschological
● Has motion sensitivity or a vestibular
disorder
● Disoriented
● Limited attention span
● Has anxiety
● Is on the autism spectrum
● Limited cognitive skills

35. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 35
Physical
● With limited reach
● Is of unusual size
● Has limited strength
● Is easily fatigued
● Has food allergies

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Gender
● Is trans
● Is gender-non-binary
● Is gender-non-conforming

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What does discrimination look like?
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60 years ago

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Today:
Bias in Artificial
intelligence
Unconscious bias

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Today:
What does discrimination
look like?

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Today:
What does
discrimination look
like?

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Today:
What does
discrimination look
like?

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Today:
What does discrimination
sound like?
Blind people don’t use our app.
These are edge cases.
Accessibility is not MVP.
Accessibility is not in our budget.

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Minimum Viable Product
● Would you ship a product that doesn’t
work for a large segment of your
users?

45. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
What does compliance look like?
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Hierarchy of accessibility
E X P E R I E N C E G O A L
C A N B E M A R K E T E D
I S U S A B L E
H A S W O R K I N G C O N T R O L S
I N C L U D E S A L L C O N T E N T
E X C E L L E N C E
G O O D U S E R E X P E R I E N C E
G R E A T U X
U N D E R S T A N D A B L E
O P E R A B L E
P E R C E I V A B L E

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Digital equality
E X C E L L E N C E
G O O D U S E R
E X P E R I E N C E
G R E A T U X
U N D E R S T A N D A B L E
O P E R A B L E
P E R C E I V A B L E
E X P E R I E N C E G O A L
C A N B E M A R K E T E D
I S U S A B L E
M E E T S W C A G G U I D E L I N E S
B A R E M I N I M U M
E X C E L L E N C E
G O O D U S E R
E X P E R I E N C E
G R E A T U X
U N D E R S T A N D A B L E
O P E R A B L E
P E R C E I V A B L E
A-
D
Abled users Disabled users

48. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
What is WCAG 2.1:
The de facto standard for
web accessibility, made up of a set
of hundreds of guidelines.

49. CLAUDIO LUIS VERAC L A U D I O L U I S V E R A , R O Y A L C A R I B B E A N
WCAG levels
A
Obsolescent standard
that doesn’t meet legal
requirements
AA
Nearly-universal standard
AAA
Advanced requirement
where near-perfect
accessibility is imperative

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Top accessibility mistakes
● Missing alternative “alt” text
● Missing form field labels
● Insufficient color contrast
● Broken tab index
● Hidden focus
● Using styles instead of headings
● Using buttons where links should
go
● Missing “Skip navigation” link
● Social toolbars that don’t skip links

51. CLAUDIO LUIS VERACLAUDIO LUIS VERA 51
Mendez v. Apple
● Filed by Cohen & Mizrahi as one of
372 suits filed in 2018.
● Lists 17 major accessibility issues
that a defendant’s site could have.
● Mendez v. Apple lists four actual
types of issues out of 17.
● Copied by other firms and
accessibility advocates since

52. CLAUDIO LUIS VERACLAUDIO LUIS VERA 52
Low-hanging accessibility issues
From Mendez v. Apple:
1. Missing alternative text
2. Empty links that contain no text
3. Redundant links (?!)
4. Linked images missing alt text

53. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
What does inclusion look like?
53
Or: how do you tap into the $490 billion hidden market?

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First,
do no wrong
Fix your trouble
areas or you’ll be
called out

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Never, ever
do this
Don’t use abled
models as stand-ins
for people with
disabilities.

56. How does this image portray disability?

57. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 57
The active
disabled

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Explorers
with
Disabilities

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Be subtle
Don’t make the disability
the centerpiece

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Update your
data models
Genders aren’t binary
You must be able to update gender
Names need to be changeable
Don’t ask unless it’s critical

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Assistive Technology
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Removing barriers through technology

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Other ways
to interact
Head tilt javascript
frameworks

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Hardware
Amazon Echo
Show and Tell

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Input
Eye gaze
technology

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System
settings
An amazing amount
of assistive
technology is built
into your operating
systems.

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Inclusive
Design
Build experiences
that work for all

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Inclusive
Design
Is not added after
the fact

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Accessible
Gaming
Xbox Adaptive
Controller

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Hardware
3.5 mm jacks on the
back turn the
controller into a hub
for switches

70. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 70
Superbowl
commercial
Xbox Adaptive
Controller

71. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Thank you
Claudio Luis Vera - Accessibility Professional, UX Designer, human
Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.
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72. CLAUDIO LUIS VERACLAUDIO LUIS VERA 72
Resources
Microsoft Inclusive Design Toolkit
Derek Featherstone’s courses on
LinkedIn Learning
IAAP education and certification programs
Level Access blog and webinars
Deque Systems’ publications
Accessibility Design Tips by Marcelo Paiva
ACCESS Florida meetup group
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
Accessibility Testing on a $7 budget -
Medium Article
Deque University