Clarissa Peterson

Accessibility starts with everyday choices. Picking an easily readable sans serif font. Using heading structures in documents. Making sure color contrast is considered in your branding. Being mindful in emails and chats by adding alt text to images, even when it seems unlikely they’ll be needed. These small actions build habits, and those habits shape culture. Over time, they bleed into our human-centered design processes, making accessibility part of how we create. Start small. Start simple. Start today. #DigitalAccessibility #InclusiveDesign #HumanCenteredDesign #AccessibilityMatters

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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Digital Accessibility isn’t a passing fad. It’s becoming a core foundation of modern UX, and there is no better time to get on board. Here are a few universal design trends I’m seeing gain momentum as we move into the new year. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 Designing with established, simple to navigate elements reduces cognitive load and helps people complete tasks faster. When users don’t have to “figure it out”, everyone wins. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 Stronger contrast, clearer fonts, and generous spacing enable people with low-vision, aging eyes, or color blindness to perceive and understand content more easily. This elevates readability for everyone. 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻-𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 Shorter sentences. Descriptive headings. Meaningful link text. These practices improve comprehension for screen reader users and for anyone skimming on their phones. 𝗙𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀 Interfaces that work at 200% zoom, reflow properly based on screen size, and maintain their structure across devices support all users. None of the above items are flashy. None of them require new tech or increased investment when baked in from the start. These are simple choices that create clearer more usable experiences; not just for assistive technology users… for all users. That’s the beauty of universal design. When you build with accessibility in mind, you raise the bar for everyone. #DigitalAccessibility #InclusiveDesign #UniversalDesign #HumanCenteredDesign

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If your personas describe users in isolation, you’re limiting impact. Real work is collaborative, constrained, and increasingly shaped by automated systems. Our design artifacts need to reflect that reality. This piece explores what it means to expand personas beyond the single user, and why relationships between actors matter just as much as the actors themselves. https://lnkd.in/g4dxrrHx #designexcellence #designleadership #userpersona #AIintegration

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Ondřej Pohl, CPWA did a great talk today at WebExpo Conference showcasing issues and how to solve them. Many developers and designers create barriers unknowingly - especially for people enabling larger font-size and using screen readers. Some of my take-aways: 🛑 Don't use floating labels. It is a cognitive barrier and complicated when re-sizing text. 🛑 Don't use icon fonts. 🛑 Don't overuse text, accessibility labels or titles! It can result in triple read out for screen reader users. 🛑 Avoid inline validation in forms! ✔️ Test with users! This is when you get the true feedback.

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Accessibility tip: When exporting Word to PDF, all "Save As" options are not the same. Especially for lists. In an accessible PDF, each item in a bulleted list should have two parts with separate tags. Part 1 = the label (bullet). This should have a Label tag <Lbl>. Part 2 = the item body (text). This should have a List Item Body tag <LBody>. Ideally, if we use Word's built-in List tool, that's the tagging we should find in the exported PDF. Ideally... The accuracy of the tagging also depends on which "Save As" option we choose when exporting. In Word, the File menu offers two "Save As" options. Option 1 = "Save As" Option 2 = "Save as Adobe PDF" Option 2 is for the Adobe PDF Maker. Logically, this might seem like the best choice for exporting to PDF. But not so fast. There is a quirk in PDF Maker. It causes each bullet in a list to be grouped with the item body. In other words, no Label tags! Both the bullet and the item body are under the same LBody tag... Ugh. I don't want to say how many times I manually created Label tags in a PDF before I learned about this quirk. I thought it was just a routine part of PDF cleanup. Luckily, there's an easy fix. Choose the standard "Save As" option instead. Then select File Type = PDF. Presto. Label tags for standard bullets. In the past, people have told me, "Label tags are needed for conformance with the PDF-UA standard. But they don't really affect accessibility. NVDA and JAWS still read the bullet if its merged under the LBody tag. The most important thing is that the rest of the list is correctly tagged." My response: It's about "info and relationships." The Label tag conveys information about the bullet's purpose on the page. Also, Label tags allow screen-reader users to navigate *between* the bullet and item body. This can help people figure out where they're at in long, complex lists and lists with long items. This is one more example of how small steps can add up to big differences for people who use... and create... accessible documents. Image note: The image is described in the body of the post. #accessibility #GAAD #PDF #EdTech #Education

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Pre-Order Is Live! A Practical Guide to Digital Accessibility I’m honored to be one of 12 contributing authors in a new resource for digital teams committed to inclusive design: 📘 Inclusive Design for Accessibility: A practical guide to digital accessibility, UX, and inclusive web and app design Releasing August 7, this book is designed to help you move beyond compliance and into true accessibility. You’ll learn: - Inclusive UX and UI design strategies - How to create accessible content across formats - Accessibility best practices for HTML, CSS, and ARIA - Emerging tech insights for AI, VR, and AR - How to build accessibility into your team culture - and more! In Chapter 7, I cover Developing Accessible Websites, sharing front-end practices that help teams build with intention and WCAG conformance. This book brings together insights from a brilliant group of accessibility professionals: Dale Cruse, Denis Boudreau, Dr. Angela Young, CPACC, Maya Sellon, Julianna Rowsell, Nandita Gupta, CPACC, Jennifer Chadwick. CPACC, CUA, Chris McMeeking, Dr. Keith Newton, Charlie Triplett, and Kai Wong, CPACC, CHES 🌈♾️, and Me! 🛒 Pre-order on Amazon: https://amzn.to/46GO7rV #InclusiveDesign #DigitalAccessibility #UXDesign #WebAccessibility #A11y #DesignForAll #BookPreRelease #Accessibility #A11yBookClub

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2025, yet a staggering 95% of homepages still fail accessibility standards & remain inaccessible to people with disabilities. Time for designers and developers to prioritize #a11y and build truly inclusive digital experiences. https://lnkd.in/g-nQp2F8

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📚Libraries are living proof that design can be both intentional and profoundly human-centered. They welcome everyone, regardless of age, income, ability, or background, through spaces and systems built for accessibility, inclusion, and discovery. Every element, from the quiet hum of a reading room to the intuitive order of the stacks, reflects a thoughtful architecture of knowledge that supports both purposeful searching and serendipitous wandering. Libraries are where Jamaal Digital Davis learned what conscious design really meant, years before Silicon Valley would teach him what it supposedly was. While tech companies were optimizing conversion funnels, he was sitting with families of inmates, asking questions no one else thought to ask: How can a library serve you when your loved one is locked away? What do your children need that no one is giving them? "I think I've always been an inclusive service designer," Jamaal tells me on a Friday afternoon, both of us worn thin from weeks of fighting battles we shouldn't have to fight. "I just didn't know it had a name." This is how the Conscious UX revolution begins. Read more of Jamal’s story in Conscious UX: Leading Human-Centered Design in the Age of AI: https://a.co/d/iNFfJhj #ConsciousUX #ResponsibleAI

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🚨 🎧 New podcast episode is live! This one really hit home and felt incredibly timely for where the UX industry is right now. If you’ve been questioning your next move in UX or wondering what’s possible beyond consulting, this conversation is for you. I sat down with Christine Perfetti, a UX leader I recently reconnected with after 20 years, to talk about something that’s been on a lot of our minds lately: 👉 Should I stay in UX, or is it time to pivot? Christine has been asking herself that same question. After years of running her successful consultancy, she started to feel the pull toward something more meaningful and deeply personal. What came out of that reflection is her passion project: Lift Up Connections, a program designed to help women reimagine their careers and lives through intentional reflection, connection, and community. In this episode, we talk about: ✨ The emotional side of career reinvention ✨ What happens when your self-worth is tied to your work ✨ How Lift Up was born and why it’s resonating with so many women ✨ Balancing consulting with new creative pursuits ✨ Why connection (not just visibility) is everything right now If you’re at a crossroads in your career, or just craving work that feels more aligned with your values, you’re going to love this conversation. 👉 🎧 Listen Now: You can find The UX Consultants Lounge on your preferred podcast platform or visit the podcast website to listen to all the episodes (link in comments). Note: You can easily jump around to different parts of the interview using the chapter links in the player. 👉 ❓ And if you’ve also been rethinking your path, I’d love to hear from you in the comments. What’s been on your mind lately? #ux #uxconsulting #careerchange #lifedesign #connection #designingyourlife #userresearch #liftupconnections #consulting #freelancing #uxfreelancing #uxpodcast #userexperience #businessstrategy #WomenInTech #UXResearch #CareerDevelopment

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📬 This post is taken from today’s edition of our weekly Design Compass newsletter from The Human Centered Design Network. Subscribe at thisishcd.com to get these insights direct to your inbox. 🚨 Design isn’t failing because of bad ideas—it’s failing because of broken systems. Across government and public institutions, designers are generating brilliant insights and building promising prototypes. But without policy-level commitment, most efforts stall out after the pilot phase. 🎙️ In our recent podcast with Victor Udoewa (former Service Design Lead at the CDC), he captured the heart of the issue: “It’s not just about designing a product or service—it’s about building the systems and cultures that allow those solutions to survive.” ✨ Without structural support, design becomes performative. It sparks—but doesn’t sustain. 🧭 Today’s newsletter explored the Design Council Theory of Change, which calls out this exact challenge. It states clearly: “The system supports Design to enable green, social and structural transitions.” Translation? Design shouldn’t just be tolerated—it must be enabled. Funded. Protected. Legislated for. 💪 What does real government support look like? ✅ Protected budgets for design teams ✅ Mandates that embed HCD in programme design and delivery ✅ Senior leaders who can carry the political weight of change ✅ Procurement rules that support iteration—not just rigid specs When these conditions are in place, design becomes part of the institutional logic. 🏛️ In our work with Dublin City Council, the ambition was clear. The vision was bold. But good ideas still stalled—not because they weren’t valuable, but because the system lacked the muscle to carry them forward. So we helped build it. Alongside Marc Stickdorn (Smaply) and Eoin Swift (DCC), we created a Service Architecture Framework that connected design to governance. We ran executive workshops. Aligned vision with delivery. Built bridges across silos. And this September, we’ll be sharing the full story at SDinGov September 2025 - and are so excited. If you've read this far, you might be interested in attending. If so, use 10HCD to get 10% off your tickets to the conference. 🧵 Want more posts like this? 📩 Subscribe to our newsletter Design Compass via thisishcd.com #ThisIsHCD #DesignCompass #ServiceDesign #DesignLeadership #PublicSectorInnovation #HumanCenteredDesign #SystemicDesign #DesignPolicy #DesignOps #SDinGov #DesignCouncil #VictorUdoewa #MarcStickdorn #GerryScullion #OrganisationalChange #DesignThinking #DesignForGood

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"You cannot entertain the world without accessibility." Great article from Media Play News about #Netflix Exec Heather Dowdy discussing the importance of captions, audio description, and other #accessibility features to improve the customer experience.

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Designing with #librarians and #archivists, not just for them. 🤝 In JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services, research revealed two ways stewards work: targeted bulk edits and context-rich bulk cataloguing. That insight led to a full-width editor, all metadata fields visible by default, and item thumbnails that keep context in view. Read how listening and evidence shaped the experience: https://bit.ly/4n7BWZu

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Headings seem simple, until they are not. David Swallow breaks down when headings fail WCAG, why visual structure is not enough, and how misusing headings undermines accessibility and usability. This article challenges common assumptions and is a must-read for designers, developers, and accessibility practitioners. What heading mistakes do you see most often? https://buff.ly/mO7Yj8H #Accessibility #WCAG #WebAccessibility #InclusiveDesign #UX #A11y #DigitalAccessibility

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This article explores how the current administration may delay the DOJ's new rule for Title 2 of the ADA. Currently, a direct final rule is being used to try to end non discrimination requirements like the ADA applying to federally assisted new construction programs. Multiple organizations including the American Council on Education have asked for the implementation of the new web accessibility regulations be paused. We need to advocate against these actions. #accessibility https://lnkd.in/gD442c2s

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