Creative Connector: Disabled Creatives and Responsive Digital Accessibility
Creating a digital presence is crucial for artists, but disabled artists face barriers due to inaccessible apps and websites. Creative Connector is an accessible and responsive social directory web app designed to help disabled artists grow their online presence and community. As the UX designer, I collaborated with a lean cross-functional team to create and ship this app.
Product
Responsive web app
Design system
Social directory
Tech Stack
Figma
Airtable
Miro
WordPress
Google Suite
Slack
Tech Team
UX/UI Designer (me!)
UX Researcher
Product Manager
Developer
Accessibility Expert
Client
Creative Users Projects is a nonprofit disability arts organization
Results and co-creation
Our lean, cross-functional team successfully shipped the beta product in April 2023.
This app was co-created with the disabled arts community and went beyond WCAG and AODA. We conducted four rounds of accessible usability testing with representation from seven different disabilities and three assistive tech types. Additionally, we consulted the larger community through town halls to gain a broader context.
The users:
Disabled, mad and d/Deaf artists, creatives and arts workers based in Canada. We made sure that we tested users with varied disablities and assistive tech.
The problems:
1. Disabled artists tended to be more creatively isolated and financially marginalized than their non-disabled peers.
2. For artists, digital presence and promotion are very financially and creatively significant. However, 97% of websites and apps don't pass basic accessibility checks, further marginalizing disabled artists.
Our goals:
1. Create a best-in-class accessible, responsive directory web app that effectively increases the visibility of Connectors among their peers, fueling art creation and collaboration.
2. Make it easier for disabled artists to access more opportunities in the art world.
Constraints:
1. As a non-profit, there weren’t a lot of resources to use to validate our ideas and build the app.
2. Our decision to adhere to an accessible design led to some pushback.
User Research Phase One: Conceptual
Method:
In user testing sessions conducted with 13 disabled artists, creatives and arts workers, we sought to gather feedback and insights to inform the direction of the app.
Testing techniques
Focus groups
In-depth Interviews
Contextual Inquiry
Based on user perspective and needs gathered earlier, we presented users with three directions for our app:
Option 1:
Problem focus: It is difficult to find jobs and funding for disabled artists.
Possible solution: Start with a job/opportunity board.
Option 2:
Problem focus: Hirers and funders tend to choose the same disabled artists who are already well known, since they don’t know about the larger disabled arts scene.
Possible solution: Make an artist directory focused on the user journey of those looking to hire and fund artists.
Option 3:
Problem focus: Disabled artists tend to feel that the arts aren’t for them if they aren’t connected to the larger disability arts scene.
Possible solution: Make an artist directory focused on the user journey of artists and creatives those looking for community.
Conclusion:
Based on user testing results, we developed Option 3. While Options 1 and 2 were acknowledged as valuable, they were deemed more suitable as additional components to be considered for future versions of the app.
The MVP solution
Robust filtering and search options
Art practices first: our research showed users’ interpreted seeing art practices first as signalling that Creative Connector is a space for artists first and foremost.
“Is this a place to get work? Seeing services first makes me think this is like LinkedIn - I hoped this was for the community instead.”
Services (but lower in the hierarchy): Many disabled artists offer art services: ex. ASL, captioning, accessibility consulting. However, since it’s about artistry first, this category was given a lower hierarchical spot.
Communities: Users wanted to find others that share their identities.
“I want to find Deaf choreographers - I’ve never met another one!”
Control and autonomy: Users can use their search terms only or concurrently with Creative Connector’s filters.
Choice, control and cognitive load in profile creation
‘Share more’: At checkbox filtering sections of profile, users are invited to add their own words to describe themselves and just like the rest of the profile, filling in checkboxes is optional.
“This feels like a census checkbox list, I want to be able to describe myself on my terms.”
No profile section is required: making it completely optional as to how users choose to identify themselves.
Change profile at any time: Users can leave at any point in the profile creation process and easily save their changes
Profile creation is multi-step: This reduced cognitive load for users in the profile creation flow.
Private until made public: Users can choose to make it public or private at any time, but private is the default.
Prioritizing community-building:
Centering and co-creating with the community: Regular consulting with disabled artist groups about community issues and usability sessions.
Fostering connection, community and belonging: Disabled artists can find others and be found through a larger digital presence. Creating a Slack channel so users can chat (as there wasn’t revenue to add chat capability for the MVP).
Best-in-class accessibility:
Meeting and exceeding WCAG and AODA guidelines:
Responsive, accessible and development-friendly design system
Design system with styles, components, states and images: In order to make sure that Creative Connector is consistent, accessible and responsive for all devices.
Responsive Beta Prototype
All the prototype screens are responsive, below are different pages in their mobile and desktop versions. Tablet versions were created by altering the margins of the desktop design.
Next steps
Due to time and budget constraints, several potential features must wait for future iterations of the app. These include implementing a job/funding board, creating a user journey for arts organizations, partnering with other non-profit organizations to help with their digital accessibility, aiding artists in grant applications and profile enhancement, incorporating social log-ins, ASL videos, and adding a dark mode.
I hope our efforts will have a ripple effect, inspiring better digital accessibility practices beyond Creative Connector.
Takeaways
To improve future projects, I intend to make decisive design system choices early on, facilitating consistency from the outset. Additionally, I plan to utilize auto-layout more extensively and create additional components to streamline the design process for both myself and the developer.
I learned to have more comprehensive discussions with developers about the designs. This helped address any potential tech challenges related to implementing crucial accessibility features.
Lastly, I would like to use interactive prototypes earlier in the process to effectively show desired interactions and visualize the appearance of designs across various devices for all stakeholders.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Lindsay Fisher and the Creative Users Projects board for their trust in me. Special thanks to Stacey Morten, our exceptional UX Researcher. Alex Tait wore so many hats, but I am most grateful for her invaluable guidance in Accessible UX. Thanks to developers Alex Ghattas, Allison Tarr, Eloisa Guerrera, and Chris Mendis for making this product real. I appreciate the UX mentoring from Julianna Rowsell. Lastly, thanks to all user testing participants for their assistance in creating an impactful product for disabled artists.