One in four Americans has some sort of disability that impacts the way they understand, navigate, or interact with the world, including the digital products and services they use. It’s all too common to speed through or skip designing for “edge” or “corner cases” like these. But taking the fast or easy way out is actually a disservice to everyone, not just those with disabilities.
In this virtual Tech Talk, inclusive designer Alexandra Dean Grossi will show us all why experiences that are accessible and stronger for those with disabilities are better for everyone else too — and how to start creating them. She will share the basics knowledge and tools for inclusive design, including:
- The spectrum of persons with disabilities to help us understand the high-level and specific needs to consider -
- The proper language for talking about disabilities -
- Ways of approaching design for inclusion -
- How we can act as advocates for people with disabilities -
Join us to learn, ask questions, and gain a new perspective on how to make the experiences you create more accessible to all.
Alexandra Dean Grossi is a designer, writer, and Inclusive Design activist. Her work incorporates a multi-dimensional approach to inclusivity and accessibility, utilizes storytelling, emphasizes user empowerment, and seeks real-world solutions through Inclusive Design.
Alexandra is a graduate of Vassar College, where she majored in English and Italian with a minor in Film. She completed her Master of Graphic Design degree from the College of Design at North Carolina State University. Her master’s thesis centered on the design for an improved cochlear implant user interface. This subject is especially meaningful to her since she was born profoundly deaf and wears bilateral cochlear implants.
Alexandra now works as a User Experience Designer for IBM Accessibility and is the Director of Inclusive Design for AIGA Raleigh, the local chapter of AIGA’s national graphic design association. She served on the leadership team of IDATA, a project funded by a $2.5 million NSF grant to make astronomy software accessible to blind and low-vision users. Grossi often gives lectures and serves on panels around disability and Inclusive Design. She writes about disability topics and is active in the disability space on social media. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @agentcoco.
