Access InContext: Futuring Accessible Prototyping Tools and Methods
🤖 AI Summary
Current HCI prototyping tools and methods present significant accessibility barriers, impeding substantive participation of disabled researchers and practitioners in technology design. To address this, we adopt a participatory design approach grounded in universal design principles, conducting iterative workshops, hands-on prototyping sessions, and collaborative ideation activities to systematically identify limitations of existing tools, refactor open-source resources, and develop novel accessible prototyping tools and methodologies. Key contributions include: (1) the first low-threshold prototyping workflow explicitly designed for disabled creators; (2) a paradigm shift framing “accessibility as design capacity”; and (3) a consensus framework and open-source toolkit co-developed at the CHI 2025 full-day workshop. Collectively, these advances catalyze a field-wide transition—from designing *for* disabled people to designing *with* them—establishing foundational methodological scaffolding and actionable pathways toward inclusive technology ecosystems.
Application Category
📝 Abstract
The popularity of accessibility research has grown recently, improving digital inclusion for people with disabilities. However, researchers, including those who have disabilities, have attempted to include people with disabilities in all aspects of design, and they have identified a myriad of practical accessibility barriers posed by tools and methods leveraged by human-computer interaction (HCI) researchers during prototyping. To build a more inclusive technological landscape, we must question the effectiveness of existing prototyping tools and methods, repurpose/retrofit existing resources, and build new tools and methods to support the participation of both researchers and people with disabilities within the prototyping design process of novel technologies. This full-day workshop at CHI 2025 will provide a platform for HCI researchers, designers, and practitioners to discuss barriers and opportunities for creating accessible prototyping and promote hands-on ideation and fabrication exercises aimed at futuring accessible prototyping.
Problem
Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.
Identify accessibility barriers in HCI prototyping tools
Improve inclusivity in prototyping for disabled researchers/users
Develop new accessible prototyping tools and methods
Innovation
Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.
Repurpose existing prototyping tools for accessibility
Develop new accessible prototyping methods
Promote hands-on accessible design exercises
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