#17251
Speaker(s)
- Karen Hawkins, Senior Experience Designer, Publicis.Sapient
Session Details
- Length of Session: 1-hr
- Format: Lecture
- Expertise Level: Beginner
- Type of session: General Conference
Summary
Sadly, there are still no fully accessible online retail experiences that we know of. UNTIL NOW. Publicis.Sapient Toronto has created the world's first fully accessible E-Commerce online storefront. In this presentation, I will describe why and how we created this accessible online store, including our successes and learnings.
Abstract
Many companies have recently begun to try to add accessibility features to their E-Commerce storefronts. Sadly, though, there are still no fully accessibly online retail experiences that we know of. UNTIL NOW. Publicis.Sapient Toronto has created the world's first fully accessible E-Commerce online storefront (as a clickable prototype). Anyone in the world with internet access can use our site to learn about accessible interface design, and to use the code for their own purposes. In this presentation, I will describe why and how we created this accessible online store, including our successes and learnings, and how we helped to institutionalize accessibility across our organization along the way. I will also outline our vision for increased functionality and usability in the coming year.
Keypoints
- Websites are not accessible because their designers navigate the web with a mouse, not a keyboard.
- If designers tested their sites using a keyboard, the empathy they experience would result in a paradigm shift
- All people need is an example of a well designed accessible experience to guide them, and they will use it
Disability Areas
All Areas
Topic Areas
Uncategorized, Web/Media/App Access
Speaker Bio(s)
Karen Hawkins
Karen Hawkins is a Senior User Experience Designer in the P.S Toronto office. Having experience and training in web accessibility design and evaluation, she is hoping to be one of the first internationally certified professionals in web accessibility (through the IAAP). She is aiming to be P.S's first accessibility specialist in the creative domain.
Karen holds an honours Bachelor Degree in Industrial Engineering, having specialized in Human Factors. She sees the world as a tapestry of systems and processes, and has a knack for picking out gaps and outliers. She is passionate about intuitive discovery and navigation, especially when you apply an accessibility lens where discoverability and navigability are vital to the success of an inclusive design.
She's been working in the UX field for the past 7 years, applying concept-to-completion development of automotive, financial, telecom and e-commerce websites, among others.