Our Accessibility and Connectivity area
When we design products or services for people, we want them to be useful and the perceived utility is hardly conditioned by its accessibility for all the users: any user, anywhere, anytime. We all face the disability in many contexts and circumstances (temporary or definitive disability, language barriers, lack of functional abilities, unavailability of appropriate technology, etc.), accessibility must be peoplecentred.
Physical world accessibility is about ensuring that the features and conditions of physical places match the abilities of people visiting them to ensure optimal access for all. Digital accessibility is about the right of everyone to use the digital products (websites, apps, documents) in an efficient, easy and satisfactory way. While physical accessibility is often managed by HR or facilities teams, digital accessibility is typically overseen by UX and product teams covering cognitive, physical and sensorial requirements. The interaction between these two areas is not as frequent as needed, even though they can often be part of the same user journey. So, if we are to fully meet the needs of all users, we need to consider the vast range of users’ abilities and characteristics. In addition, as a transversal area it is key to talk about cognitive accessibility that refers to have ‘things’ that are easy to understand. Cognitive Accessibility may be defined as the environment understanding. This implies to have good ways of indicating spaces and directions, to provide information in an easy-to-read way, to have Design for All, to include support resources in communication and to think about personalization issues.
Nowadays, around a 1/5 of the worldwide population find functional limitations and struggle to access to the same services and products in equal conditions of participation.
We need to incorporate accessibility, inclusion and connectivity principles in everyday design so that products and services get ready for everyone, keeping in mind the accessibility guidelines with the physical and the digital world.
We would like to become passionate about building solutions that make our university accessible to everyone.
Accessibility and inclusion principles support the achievement of all the SDGs in a horizonal way. Education and employment must be inclusive to ensure that “nobody is left behind”. Economic and social equity is also conditioned by accessibility and inclusion policies. Infrastructures, cities and natural environments must comply with accessibility legislation and standards so that the whole population can enjoy them and contribute to its sustainability. Accessibility must be sustainable and social sustainability depends on the guarantee of inclusive opportunities for everyone independently of functional ability.
How can students participate in our community? Here is a tentative list of some of our activities:
- To help in the creation of communication materials and tools (leaflets, campaigns, posters) to raise awareness of the importance of accessibility and connectivity. We could do it by focusing in one area each semester: vision, hearing, mobility, learning, employment, mobility, healthcare …
- To help in the identification of barriers (physical and digital). We could design a game to achieve the final map (of our barriers) to gain clarity on where the gaps in our university are concerning accessibility and how to overcome them
- Seminars about specific areas of accessibility and connectivity from a technical point of view that faces social challenges (from 1-hour short seminars to 1 week)
- Build a map of our current academic modules on which accessibility -any kind- is taught within the UPM
- Visits to special places to increase awareness: CEAPAT, ATENPACE, Hospital de Parapléjicos de Toledo, ONCE, Cruz Roja Española, ….
If you are new to this topic, a good start might be to read the first chapter of this book written by Miguel Ángel Valero:
We should think on Accessibility as a road, it is crucial that every step is accessible. This way of thinking is called ‘Accessibility Chain‘:
- To think on all the steps needed for using something
- To make accessible all of them
- Accessibility should be a continuous process
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