FodnessMemo20

1) Educational Institutions

- How is designing for accessibility handled at this institution? > Is designing for accessibility part of the curriculum? > Is it a required course? > Is it a required component of all courses? > Are students expected to know how to design for accessibility by the time they graduate? > Is designing for accessibility a core component of the curriculum?

- What is your perception of how designing for accessibility is handled in the business world? > Is there a conflict between designing for accessibility and producing a low-cost product? > Is this conflict justified? > How could IT / CS education be modified to reduce this conflict? > Is designing for accessibility important? > What is your sense of the importance of designing for accessibility in the business world?

2) Software companies that design software

- What steps have you taken to design your software for accessibility? > Provisions for the blind? > Deaf? > Colorblind? > Speech recognition? > Compatibility with software programs that aid the disabled? > Does your testing process include individuals with disabilities? > At what point are individuals with disabilities integrated into the process, if at all? > Any feedback from individuals with disabilities after the software hits market as to their positive or negative experiences? > Are you covered by any laws or regulations, either internal or external, regarding designing for accessibility?

- Challenges with management > If steps are not taken to design for accessibility, is this an engineering or management decision? > Is the conflict between designing for accessibility and producing a low-cost product justified? > Whose responsibility should it be to code for accessibility? OS-level, software-level, third party-level, individual level?

3) Software companies that design software that designs software

- Same questions as above, plus:

- Do you design your software to write accessible code? > Is the code that your software produces accessible by default? > Do you provide errors or warnings if users override accessibility standards or do not incorporate them? > Are you covered by any laws or regulations regarding producing software that produces accessible code? > If the software does not produce accessible code, whose decision was it to make it that way? Management / engineering / nobody thought of it?

4) Software companies that could make improvements to make accessibility automated (like YouTube)

- How does your software deal with disability? > Does your software automatically deal with disability in an automated fashion, such as using voice recognition to automatically subtitle videos? > Is designing for accessibility left to the user? If so, are instructions given on how to design for accessibility? > Have you received positive or negative feedback from users with disabilities regarding the use of your software? > Do you consider designing for accessibility to be a priority? Do the engineers / management?

5) Individuals with disabilities

- How is cyberspace constructed for you? > What disability do you have? > Is it constructed as a disability outside of an IT context also? > What difficulties or challenges do you have using IT? > What IT works particularly well?

- Level of accessibility > What level is the accessibility software operating at? OS-level, software level, third party level, individual level? > Do you think that the accessibility technologies are designed well, or should be improved? > Do you think that the accessibility technologies should be implemented at a higher level?