Research that doesn't include disabled participants doesn't cover its users. Disabled people make up roughly a fifth of the population, use assistive technology that materially changes how a product behaves, and find issues that non-disabled testers consistently miss. Yet typical recruitment screens them out: panels skew non-disabled, sessions run in inflexible blocks, and remote research tools are often inaccessible to the people they're meant to study.
Specialist partners like Fable and organisations like Knowbility exist to bridge this gap, connecting teams with communities of assistive technology users who are paid fairly for their expertise. Co-design goes further: it treats disabled people's lived experience as professional knowledge and brings them into the room where decisions are made.
Recruit disabled participants from the relevant communities, not as a last-minute 'accessibility test'. Pay people properly. Run sessions on accessible tools. Accommodate preferred communication methods and schedule around fatigue. Report findings back to participants.
UX Scotland is a friendly international conference for anyone working in UX, UCD, HCD, Service Design or other digital specialisms.
This session challenges the misconception that accessible design demands extra resources. Stéphanie Krus demonstrates straightforward, cost-free methods to embed digital inclusion into design work without requiring specialized tools or extensive training.