Designing for Collective Access: In Search of a Solution to Accessible Communication in a Mixed-Ability Non-Profit

2026-05-11

AI Summary

This study examines how organizations with mixed abilities navigate the diverse—and sometimes conflicting—accessibility needs of their members. Through six months of participant observation and in-depth interviews with a cross-disability nonprofit organization that originated as a blind sports group, the research reconceptualizes “accessibility conflicts” not merely as technical barriers but as critical opportunities to expose power dynamics, foster accountability, and enact restorative practices. The findings illuminate the dynamic interplay among technological constraints, role diversity, communication norms, and organizational objectives, offering a theoretically innovative and practically valuable perspective for inclusive design.

Abstract

As mixed-ability collaboration has become increasingly focal within accessibility research, managing varied, and sometimes conflicting, access needs has become a key consideration in designing for access. When an accessibility feature or practice benefits some people while constraining others, how should designers navigate these trade-offs? This paper responds to this question by analyzing how a mixed-ability nonprofit worked to make communication accessible to its members as it grew from a small blind-focused athletic group to a larger cross-disability organization. Based on a six-month study that combines interviews and field observations, we show that working with conflicting access needs is not just a technical 'problem' but a generative process that sparks reflection on technical constraints and preferences, diverse roles and communication norms, and organizational demands. We therefore argue for rethinking "conflicts" in access as key sites for revealing power structures and creating opportunities for accountability and repair.

Problem

• accessible communication
• mixed-ability
• conflicting access needs
• collective access
• accessibility

Innovation

• mixed-ability collaboration
• accessible communication
• access conflicts
• generative design
• organizational accountability