Ralston Fitler

Work About Me LinkedIn

Overview

We support and prioritize the people who are least represented in and outside of the rainbow umbrella. Queer Global is an organization that puts people of color, disability, size, education, and of locational and financial oppression first.

By providing resources and information, and through embracing the transparency of shared community, Queer Global is a place for you to get the resources and support you need to thrive.

We are a curated community of listeners and doers, who pride ourselves in sorting through the noise so you don’t have to.

Challenges

  1. Creating a safe network
  2. Make a straightforward on-boarding process
  3. Have a unique way for users to connect.
  4. Making a website that is accessible for any user (ADA compilant)

Accessible Language

Why accessible language?

  1. For people with cognitive disabilities, learning disabilities, and everyone can benefit from accessible language.
  2. Up to 10 percent of people have difficulty reading, including those with above-average intelligence.
  3. Using accessible language makes it easier for you to convey your ideas and for your audience to understand them.
  4. Making a website that is accessible for any user (ADA compilant)

WCAG & ADA Compliant

They seperate their accessible language into 3 levels- A, AA, and AAA. Complying with A and AA is most common, however important to keep AAA in mind

  • Language of Page (Level A):The language used by each page on your website can be automatically determined by software such as assistive technologies. This is usually accomplished with the HTML lang attribute.
  • Language of Parts (Level AA): In the event that a page uses multiple languages, the language of each passage or phrase can be automatically determined by software such as assistive technologies. For example, a page may be primarily written in English, but include a quotation in French. Again, this is usually accomplished with the HTML lang attribute.
  • Unusual Words (Level AAA): Your website’s text may contain idioms, jargon, and other words whose meaning is not readily apparent to all users. In this case, these unusual words must be identified through a glossary or mouseover text that provides their definition.
  • Abbreviations (Level AAA): Similarly, any potentially unfamiliar abbreviation should be identified within the text itself or via a provided glossary or dictionary.
  • Reading Level (Level AAA): Some text may require more than a lower secondary education reading level (middle school in the U.S.). In this case, the website either provides a simpler version of the text, or supplemental content such as summaries and illustrations that help to explain the text.
  • Pronunciation (Level AAA): Heteronyms (words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently) are common in English. Consider the difference between lead (manage) and lead (the metallic element), or between bass (the instrument) and bass(the fish). The use of words with multiple pronunciations should include information that describes the correct pronunciation. This is to help assistive technologies such as screen readers correctly pronounce all words in a text.

Interviews

Overview

I made a google form in order to gather data about the user. This helped me learn more about our target audience. I picked a couple of simple questions to start it off:

I then introduced questions that allowed the user to explain their knowledge and experience with the LGBTQIA+. I went further and added questions about how accessible is information and events about or for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Information Obtained

Once we had about 80 participants, my team would weed down and figure out our target audience. We selected 7 participants and I conducted an interview via google meet. The main pain points for our primary users revolved around the lack of knowledge and resources for LGBTQIA+ community.

Discoveries from interviews

Wireframing

When it came to prototyping, we had to make a wireframe to illustrate how the app was going to look based on our persona. This app had to cater to the persona's needs and wants.

Wireframe

Once we had about 80 participants, my team would weed down and figure out our target audience. We selected 7 participants and I conducted an interview via google meet. The main pain points for our primary users revolved around the lack of knowledge and resources for LGBTQIA+ community.

Keeping all this in mind while wireframing helped our group to empathize with the user and remember this app isn't for us, but it is for our users.

Prototyping

High Fidelity

We started by defining the visual language of the app to create a design system to work from. Overall we wanted a design that was casual and geared towards a colorful/bright environment. I had the other team members work on the visual elements while I worked on creating the high-fidelity prototype including the layout and interactions.

Finished Project

Takeaway

Research is important. Good research is even more important. It is extremely beneficial to get as much information from interviews as possible as you never know what details will prove to be crucial down the road. I learned from this project that when we had those "How should this look" or "How should this function" our research was able to help aid me in answering those questions. The amount of research is reflexed in the design, we wanted to make a very unique experience without making the user learn how to use our website.

This was the first time I was able to dive into WCAG & ADA Compliance, and I will take all this into my future designs. I feel that many websites and apps neglect users with visual or mental impairments.

Ralston Fitler 2024