Authors Note
Many experiences inspired me to write this book. I started seeing how compounded disparities affected access to resources in my own community after studying abroad in South Africa, where other students questioned the nature of human rights in a way I had never been exposed to before. HuskyADAPT, a club at my university that started out as something I joined for funsoldering circuitry to make accessible toyswas a mental break from calculus and chemistry. This club led me to pursue another opportunity where I researched the experience of people using upper limb prosthetics with Dr. Jennifer Mankoff, co-director of CREATE at the University of Washington, and Dr. Saiph Savage, co-director of the Civic Innovation Lab at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. With them I learned about how much community affects factors that will make experiences workor not.
I wouldnt have sought out any of these experiences if I hadnt discovered the way my moms leg brace had deteriorated part of her body. When I touched the place where the brace supported itself on her leg, it was skin against bone. No body. The device that has enabled my mom to walk all of my lifefrom cooking, going to grocery stores, being the owner of an ice cream store, and later, a cafewas hurting her. I was angry. Why hadnt a better solution been designed? Dont physical therapists and doctors and engineers know this cant be healthy?
My parents hard work gave me the privilege of pursuing an education in engineering and I was eager to learn more about designing prosthetics. I jumped at every opportunity I could get to learn more about accessible design, which is what eventually lead me to inclusive design. My research for this book showed me there is not enough. There is not enough action being taken toward inclusivity, because for our society to become inclusive, it is going to take a change in both mindset and practice.
We wont achieve this by waiting for new guidelines to be implemented. We will achieve this by expanding who we envision the people using our products to be, learning about them, and including them in the design process.
My hope is in reading this book, you will start to question the who and why of things and if the experiences are exclusive, think about what you can do to make an impact. And do it.
Introduction
Everyone has the right to freely participate in the cultural life of a community, to enjoy the arts, and to share in scientific advancements and its benefits.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
What comes to mind when you hear the word exclusive?
The exclusion this book talks about is the kind that bars people from participating in experiences we take for granted every day. This experience can be understanding a pop culture reference, entering a building, or feeling comfortable in the clothes we choose to wear.
A community that pops into mind when thinking about exclusion are people with disabilities. Were starting to better understand the challenges they face, which is why laws making things more accessible, like the Americans with Disabilities Act, have been put in place. Big names such as Beyonc, Nike, and Dominos Pizza have had lawsuits filed against them for not being ADA compliant in their services.
Heres a statistic: The World Health Organization (WHO) says 15 percent of the worlds population has some form of disability. This is over one billion people. Additionally, the WHO says rates of disability are increasing due to population aging and increases in chronic health conditions, among other causes. Many of us already have a disabilityseen or unseenand if we dont, we may develop one as we age.
Heres another statistic: By 2044, the populations we consider as minorities are going to become the majority in the US.
These two statistics show that the people of our world are diverse in many ways, whether it be physical ability or cultural roots. With this much diversity, why arent we already inclusive? It could be because of our individualistic nature, which leads us to design for ourselves. Or it could be because we just dont know how.
People who make anything for other people need to approach their work with an inclusive mindset. This can include building infrastructure, designing physical or digital products, planning opportunities, or developing tools. At each stepfrom coming up with the idea to testing itinclusion should be a consideration; however, inclusion isnt going to be part of any process unless people (a) know about it, and (b) care.
Misconceptions about inclusive creation make people unwilling to pursue it; however, companies have a lot to gain by being more inclusivestarting with having an inclusive mind. A way to do this is by having an inclusive workplace. This naturally feeds into creating more inclusively through each person influencing others and sharing their different views and experiences. Some statistics from Teamable show just how much a company can benefit with more inclusion in its workplace:
2.3 times more money
1.7 times more likely to be leaders of innovation in that industry
70 percent more likely to grow into new markets
Personally, Im not driven by these statistics. What motivates me to do my part in creating a more inclusive society is the hundreds of stories of exclusion affecting us every day.
So...Why Should We Care?
Nelson Mandela said freedom cannot be achieved unless the women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression. I believe this is the same case for all marginalized communities. We, as a society, will be captives to harmful stereotypes and assumptions that lead to destructive action if we do not become more inclusive. In light of the events of 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has exposed how quickly people can become susceptible to xenophobia, and how crucial (and possible) digital accessibility is. The abhorrent injustices highlighted by the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor and the painful country-wide response is the only way people feel like they can be heard. The black community is done with being discriminated against. They are done being seen as lesser, and our exclusive society is what enables this prejudice. We must stop, because it is devastating our communities.
Did you know in China, Muslims are being put into re-education camps? Its been happening for years, but what is anybody doing about it? In India, rural communities are being taken advantage of by powerful people, and young children are forced to go into dangerous mines for micathe powder that makes our makeup sparkle. Why isnt their government involved? And here, in the US, why dont we hear about the police brutality against the LGBTQ+ community, especially against people of color?
