Considering accessibility

Jun 6, 2014

Accessibility-72andSunny-SuzyMae-Strategy copyWe met working at 72andSunny, a fast-growing advertising agency making the coolest work in culture today.  Ken Lin, Max Miner, Roberto Salas, John Angelopulos and I needed to make a website more than accessible to people with impairments– hearing, visual, or physical disabilities.  It had to push the boundaries of what accessibility could do, be compatible with common hardware, serving the needs of people with disabilities who use screen readers, magnifiers, and closed-caption tools.

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Going straight for experience, we blindfolded ourselves to understand what using a cell phone feels like with no vision, quickly discovering the most obvious difference.   Without the benefit of sight, navigating a touchscreen interface with a screen reader is much easier than using keyboard.

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In your hand, the tactile sensation of a finger dragging across a flat surface, signaled by ascending and descending tones, is simple to understand and memorize, compared to manually searching through code.  Screen readers that use keyboards require lots of listening, patience, and practice to decipher even the most basic websites.

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A friend from Chicago, Andy Slater, joined us on a Hangout to share his experiences using technology.  Legally blind, Andy has retinitis pigmentosa, which makes his eyes extremely sensitive to light, but allows a limited range of vision.  Trying out blindfolded tasks on a cell phone is much easier than needing to use screen readers 100% of your time online.

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Andy’s insight helped us understand what designers consistently miss when creating websites for a general population.  Sidebars can obscure information when a screen is magnified, so consider notifications about content.  Make accessibility tools easy to trigger on and off, especially on cell phones.    Even small, obvious things like the need for hearing-only games make a difference.

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Building simplicity and elegance into the website’s means rethinking the standard code that screen readers access.  Use short, descriptive lists, instead of long pieces of text.  Add search options.  Recognize screen readers and activate accessibility mode immediately.  Senior UX designer Max Miner used his in-depth experience in accessible sites to lay down a strong, highly functional architecture that kept every design on point.

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Creatively, the site came together with a powerful creative message from Max, Roberto, John, and Ken, supported by creative directors Chi and Gui, plus strategy director Bryan Smith, creators of the innovative Art, Copy, & Code site for Google.

Working as a strategist on this team goes down in history as a project that keeps me proud to work in advertising.  Combining expert information, qualitative research, and first-hand experience to help develop a digital product that’s well crafted, beautiful, and functional, plus highly accessible was a win.

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These deep research projects that I love so much help me realize, no matter how much we know, or think we know, there’s always more to improve upon and learn.

xo,
suzymae

 

Dancing about architecture

May 5, 2014

I’m incredibly proud to write for deviantART’s interactive, beautifully designed depthRADIUS community.  Especially as my initial article’s on a topic close to my creative heart– collage.  Writing about art is walking a spiderweb-thin fine line between impulsive, childlike joy and serious critical thought.  

Amalia Pica's 54th Venice Biennale: ILLUMInations, 2011

Amalia Pica’s 54th Venice Biennale: ILLUMInations, 2011

See, every child is an artist.  Every kid can draw.  Creating a personal world without fear is standard behavior.  Anything can inspire, and no child is held to a specific format. Except for when growing up starts, and the rules begin.  

Stefan Sagmeister's The Happy Show, 2012

Stefan Sagmeister’s The Happy Show, 2012

As humans, we need structure, rules, social norms and education.  Chaos doesn’t look good on us.  But as society evolves and evolves over and over to an industrialized state: eating salads out of plastic bags, sleeping with our cell phones, staying up all night on electric light– we start to lose that connection to universal rhythms that children access so easily.  

Jason Evans' Pictures for looking at, Paris Photo Exhibition 2013

Jason Evans’ Pictures for looking at, Paris Photo Exhibition 2013

So, we shut off our minds and dive into our art.  Creating in a void of expectations is a determined goal, a practice now, instead of instinct.   But we can’t help it when real world rules seep in to our works.  When we acknowledge the need to tell a story in three acts, or apply standards of composition and depth, or make a conscious statement about our society… And this is a good thing.  It’s a balance.  It’s interpretation.  It’s communication.  It’s grown-up art.  

Museum of the Moving Image, prosthetic legs from the film Black Swan, 2011

Museum of the Moving Image, prosthetic legs from the film Black Swan, 2011

As a deviantART member, this is the mindset I took on when writing for depthRADIUS.  Linking my personal inspiration with real world happenings.  Allowing the kid in me to explore the process of creation with an adult’s critical thinking skills.  

Frank Pollard's Agency Observation (ongoing series)

Frank Pollard’s Agency Observation (ongoing series)

To repeat a well-known phrase with mysterious origins:

Writing about art is like dancing about architecture.  (Some people will think you’re crazy, but it’s really fun.)

xo,
suzymae

Cat Show

May 5, 2014

I went to a cat show & took photographs.  Why?  Because I love cats.  Cat shows are places where cat lovers go.

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You’ll encounter aisles and aisles of cats in cages, loving owners grooming and teasing them to furry perfection.  Demonstrations and examinations of certain beautiful kitty individuals happen at different stations throughout the large convention center.

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Cat lovers are interesting people, to be sure.  Me, my friend, and a thousand others here for the fur.  Young women, old men, middle-aged ladies of all shapes and clothing styles.  One bro.  I saw one bro.

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Among the cages, scratching posts, and cat-themed apron dresses for sale, the cats took their showcase in stride.  Good-natured by selection, adorable by trade, the cats tolerated us humans and our commercialized worship.

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Ancient times had rituals, blessings, preferred household member status.  Today, we drag them to Santa Monica and put leis on them for Tiki Theme.  Is it cruel?  Is it ridiculous?  Is it fun?

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Cat Show Suzy Mae_8Looking into the eyes of each cat, I figured it was part of their domesticated deal.  As Rudyard Kipling put it:  “I am not a friend, and I am not a servant.  I am the Cat who walks by himself, and I wish to come into your Cave.”

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Dedicated to all my cat homiez, those fallen and those still scratching. #maepsy #banshē #catflag #bellybutton #moe$$$ #vladimir

xo,
suzymae