Global Conversation
This past February World Information Architecture Day 2014 took place in 24 cities, 15 countries, 6 continents. These stimulating events bring together an international community of world-class Information Architecture minds including academics, practioners, technologists, and business leaders for a global conversation. In 2015 there will be more cities, more countries, more events.
Not A Surprise
I attended World Information Architecture Day 2014 in Pasadena. We were given real world problems to solve for some community based projects and broke into groups to come up with solutions. The group I was in thought up ways for the Los Angeles Metro to increase ridership. When I brought up accessibility within my group I found that very few people knew about it. This is not a surprise.
Search Where The Light Is
I started doing outreach here in Silicon Beach on Jun 2, 2012 when I started the Los Angeles Accessibility and Inclusive Design meetup group. I immediately started going to User Experience meetings and talking to everyone. There is a wise saying: start searching where the light is. In Los Angeles the light is in User Experience with thousands of members and hundreds of active participants in two major meet ups and other groups.
Persistence
At my first User Experience (UX) meeting I introduced myself to someone and she told me that she did user experience research and I told her that I do accessibility. The next thing I knew she had translocated herself to the opposite side of the room. I’m persistent. I kept at it. I announced my meetup events and other accessibility events such as Accessibiity Camp Los Angeles, the CSUN conference, anything I could use to get the message out that accessibility was important and needed and wanted by many people.
Awareness
By the middle of 2013, the beginning of my second year of outreach, I would introduce myself to people at UX meetings and there would be a pause. Then slowly the person would say: “Oh, you’re that accessibility guy.” This was a big increase in recognition. From translocation to recognition in one year. Branding helped: @AccessibleJoe. I kept working the rooms. Some Global Accessibility Awareness Days have happened. They were a big factor in raising awareness. Thanks Joe Devon and Jennison Asuncion.
A Big Deal
Due at least in part to my outreach work the need for accessibility is being recognized by a mainstream organization. This is a big deal. The Executive Director of World Information Architecture Day 2015, Lara Fedoroff, has asked me to serve as the World Information Architecture Day Accessibility Director. Whitney Quesenbery is also helping. Lara wants to build accessibility into the events from the beginning. This means creating accessible web sites, paying attention to physical needs at the venues, getting accessibility information to event planners, and embedding accessibility experts into each team in each city.
Offer to Help
The offer to help make World Information Architecture Day 2015 accessible in all the meanings of the word will take teamwork. I’ve contacted a few accessibility experts here in Los Angeles and asked them to help with some preliminary user experience research being conducted by Elisabeth Bentley. I’ll eventually be reaching out to the world wide tribe of accessibility folks before this is over.
