Why we should rethink accessibility as personalization

 Googler Nicola Yap explains why tech designers should. Think of accessibility features as customization that benefits everyone. An earlier version of this article appear on the Keyword blog.

As a technical writer at Google Cloud who has work in this industry for over 20 years, technology has had a huge impact on my life. It l me to a job I love and keeps me connect to coworkers, friends, and family scatter around the world.

But it also helps me accomplish everyday tasks in ways. Many people don’t realize. I have aniridia, a rare eye condition in which the eyes are underdevelop. Among other things, I am sensitive to light, have 20/200 vision that can’t be correct with lenses or surgery, and my eyes twitch involuntarily.

 But I’ve us technology to create my own set of “life hacks.” I adjust the magnification of my view of a Google Doc during a meeting, which doesn’t change learn how knowing the types of products can help you with your marketing strategies anyone else’s view. I zoom in on instructors during virtual dance classes. I regularly use keyboard shortcuts and prefin text snippets to work more productively. I do a lot of planning before trips and save key navigation information on Google Maps. I take photos of menus and labels so I can read them more closely on my phone.

But technologies that help mitigate the kinds of challenges I face don’t just benefit me. They benefit everyone.

 Accessibility features like dark mode, assistant, and live captions benefit everyone and improve their individual experiences when using certain products. They can also help people with permanent, situational, or temporary disabilities.

 The positive effect of disability-friendly design on the broader population is known as the curb cut effect. A curb cut is a ramp built into a sidewalk that slopes down toward a street. Its primary purpose is to provide wheelchair access, but a curb cut helps many sms to data other people, including people who ride bikes, skateboards, or scooters, people who push strollers or pull wheel luggage, and people who walk with canes or crutches. So while it was creat to help people with disabilities, it actually helps many others.

There’s an important lesson to be learn from the curb-cutting effect, one I think about when we build new technologies here at Google: If you’re involv in designing, building, selling, or supporting products and services, I challenge you to think of accessibility as personalization. Many people typically view accessibility as an add feature of a product specifically for someone with a disability. But features like dark mode or clos captions are really a way to personalize your user experience — and these customizations are beneficial to everyone.

We all find ourselves in different contexts where we ne to adjust how we interact with our devices and the people around us. Design that provides a variety of ways to interact with people and our world results in products and services that are more usable by everyone.