Following the final session of UX Scotland 2013 I was confronted with two hungry speakers, Andrew Zusman and Avi Itzkovich, who were searching for the best fish and chips they could find. Whilst we wandered towards our destination we started chatting about what we did, how we did it and how we described what we do to others.
In the course of doing so I must have mentioned that the job title that most resonated with me was information architect, which was odd given I was dyslexic! Little did I know that this throw away comment would pique the interest of Andrew, who’d just delivered a brilliant talk on accessibility and universal design. He asked if we could keep in touch and if he could learn more about how having dyslexia was both an enabler and an impediment to what I do in a professional capacity on a daily basis.
Over the following months Andrew and I exchanged emails. These consisted of him asking incredibly pertinent but difficult questions to answer and me struggling to compose a meaningful response. Thankfully Andrew had spread his net wide and was able pull together a broad range of first and second hand research to inform his talk.
So it was no surprise to receive an email from him a few months further down the line saying; “I’ve done it!” The email contained a link to the slides Andrew had prepared for a series of presentations he’d be giving. Reading through them I knew his sessions were going to be brilliant. So it’s no surprise to see his slides from the talk as one of the featured decks on SlideShare.
If you’re interested in accessibility and universal design then I’d highly recommend you learn more about Andrew and his presentations by checking out the following links:
Designing for Dyslexics
Universal Design
The Sound of One Hand Typing
Over the coming weeks I’ll be signposting more resources we’ve found informative and inspiring starting with Avi’s work on Smart Objects and the Internet of Things.
