Monday, October 30th 4-7pm ET
On October 30th, the Digital Accessible Futures Lab hosted a hybrid class visit with Will Purves (Director of Planning & Program Development), Alex Gossage (Executive Director), and Izzie Bullock (Employment Program Manager) from the Disability Network Washtenaw Monroe Livingston (DNWML) —what Will described as the “the nerve center in disability action in southeast Michigan”—in Remi Yergeau’s class ENGLISH 216/DIGITAL 258: Disability Studies on University of Michigan’s central campus.
Will, Alex, and Izzie joined us to talk about what the Disability Network is, what they do, and to share some perspectives on disability and accessibility in the context of design. All three identify as people with disabilities, and they emphasized the DNWML’s mandate to be led and run in large part by disabled people. Panelists drew on their experiences not only with the DNWML but also working in school administration, teaching, game design, and working directly with both high school and college students on accommodations and increasing access. Will, Alex, and Izzie discussed consulting work they’ve done over the years on specific kinds of design projects with community groups, businesses, and universities, and consulted with students about the design projects they’re working on this semester in ENGLISH 216/DIGITAL 258: Disability Studies.
This conversation emphasized the importance of “designing with disability in mind,” and Will, Alex, and Izzie talked about the importance of conceptualizing accessibility broadly. Access is a complex web—there’s no single correct answer or approach, but there are better directions than others. They also emphasized the importance of thinking about access as something that needs to be sustained and ongoing—it’s not a one time thing or something that can be solved by a single workshop, training, app, or element of the built environment.