I was on a panel Friday night for Refresh Austin that was focused on User Experience and Accessbility. I was the junior guy on the panel in terms of accessbility but I was reminded of something that we all need to remind ourselves of as designers from time to time. Just like good UX design and thinking can benefit all Accessbility most certainly does. Those of us at the bleeding edge at least need to THINK about it in our products even if we can get it all there for everyone.
We see this in the real world all the time right? OXO grips weren't designed for the mass market and to be fashion forward, they were designed so people that were older or had trouble gripping things would have better options. But even if you don't have this problem OXO products are easier to use. Curb cuts were designed to make it easier for folks that had limited mobility and might be in wheelchairs or other motor assisted type of transportation. But curb cuts make it easier to rollerblade, bike, skateboard, pull a wheelie bag or push a stroller.
This is certainly true in software too. One of the best features in my new mouse (a Microsoft Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000--love that name!) is the built in magnification feature that let's me zoom in on the screen. It can help people that may have a hard time reading on small screens but it also helps me demo software too.
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