FodnessMemo15

User Centered Design

> User Centered Design is the process by which software is created for the needs of the end users by using actual end users as testers. The idea is to have testers from all possible categories of users, so that the needs of everyone who will be using the software are met, and so the software is intuitive to use. User Centered Design will be a core category in my research because it is a methodology that was either not used when designing software for the disabled, or it was underutilized. Policies don't mandate its use, and corporate adoption is limited at best. Policies and design strategies will be evaluated for whether or not they adhere to User Centered Design principles, and if not, why not.

Active vs. Passive Enforcement

> Active enforcement would be something like a fine for breaking a law, whereas passive enforcement is a modification to the architecture of a space or system to make breaking the law impossible (or at least very difficult). I will evaluate various technologies for active or passive enforcement mechanisms to determine how regulation and accessibility are implemented. For example, I will look at software that is used to write HTML code (such as Adobe Dreamweaver and Microsoft FrontPage) to determine whether the software automatically inserts or requires code to be written so that the resulting website is accessible to individuals with disabilities (passive enforcement), or if the software leaves this work up to the user (active enforcement). I will also examine technologies like YouTube, to see if there are mechanisms by which videos can be automatically subtitled using voice recognition software (passive enforcement), or whether adding subtitles is up to the creator of the video (active enforcement).