19: A Stark Difference in Design
Hey! Welcome to this week’s Stark Difference in Design. Last week’s Edition No. 18 had a 49% open rate (nice! Inching to 50% 🔥). The most popular link was The Truth About Algorithms video. 💌
Tidbits
+ A big win for accessibility in the Dominos (pizza) court case
We leave it to the district court, after discovery, to decide in the first instance whether Domino’s website and app provide the blind with effective communication and full and equal enjoyment of its products and services as the ADA mandates.
This week the 9th circuit court ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to websites and mobile applications. Add “Accessibility check” to the top of your to-do list, teams. Stark is available for Adobe XD and Sketch.
No excuses. Let us know if we can help in any way!
+ Make your app accessible
And here’s a good place to get started. After attending WWDC, Majid Jabrayilov put together a great primer on making your app accessible for everyone using his own project as an example—from the necessities like VoiceOver and Traits, to snippets of code you can use, his breakdown takes the best out of his experience from the event so we all benefit.
+ The Business Case for Accessibility
We’ve experienced this conversation in our own professional lives and we’ve discussed it many times when speaking with all of you. We know this question of the business case for injecting accessible and inclusive design into the company and in turn products is something that comes up more often than one can stomach. Not because it shouldn’t be discussed, but because it still needs to be argued for.
We know that for many company’s, the morals and value-set behind it isn’t enough. The good thing is, our job as designer’s is to service the business and we do that by solving the problem. There is a business case attached, and now, you have something to deliver to your executives.
The article tackles the rationale to address accessibility (and in turn inclusivity). It includes tangible and intangible benefits, and the risks of not addressing accessibility adequately.
Put it simply from a business standpoint?
It costs nothing to include accessible and inclusive design at the start of your design process.
You not only increase your market reach (increased market = $$$), you make the experience better for everyone (the people who would have paid you in the beginning if you delivered value).
Lawsuits are expensive. It costs much more to fix this later on than it would to include this as a sprint at the beginning. And now, with the 9th circuit ruling, compliancy is mandatory.
We could go on and on. Maybe we will in a blog post…
For bookworms
+ Designing the Invisible
Responding to the challenges of and providing holisitic, creative and innovative solutions to increasingly complex contemporary societies, service design now represents an integrative and advanced culture of design. All over the world new design studios are defining their practice as service design while long established design and innovation consultancies are increasingly embracing service design as a key capacity within their offering.
Though we’re not big fans of how the book discusses ‘Service Design’ as a new and emerging field, the interviews, case studies, and general information break down one of the most critical aspects to your company’s product and the invisible design that will determine whether or not a customer will return.
From the Stark team
+ What the standard for design should be
We as designers have the opportunity to invoke change. Our job is not the cure-all. Our hands are not 8 inches deep into the chest of a human being trying to save their lives. We’re designing the tools those doctors use, though. And when we decide to work on products that impact people, we also take on the burden of making their worlds our own—if only briefly. We determine what the experience is like for them and whether or not they will come away happier; if they will feel accepted, be healthier, be able to hear more clearly, see color for the first time, and so much more.
+ What are the best and most up-to-date resources on asking for gender / age / accessibility needs?
Originally posted on Twitter by Joel Califa, head on over to our chat on Spectrum to share your thoughts and resources.
+ Do you (along with your team members) use Stark?
We’d love to chat with you!
+ Stark is coming to Figma! 🎉🛠
Liked this newsletter? Let us know. And we’re always talking shop on Twitter @getstarkco or in our community chat.
–Team Stark