As Victor Calise, Director in Walmart Belonging for Walmart’s Accessibility Center of Excellence, said, “accessible design cannot be born in a bubble.” Involving people with disabilities at every stage of innovation is the only way to build a truly accessible society. Hofstra University is introducing a new program this fall that aims to address this issue.
The Human Factors and Usability Studies program will focus on human physiology, psychology, and its technological applications in software development and engineering design. To kick off this new program, Hofstra hosted a summit with speakers including Calise; Sara Czaja and Walter Boot of Weill Cornell Medicine; Greg Hlibok, a Hofstra alumnus who serves as Chief Legal Officer for ZVRS and Purple Communications; and Linda Boyle, the Vice Dean of Research and Professor of Civil and Urban Engineering at New York University. These speakers represent the interdisciplinary nature of Human Factors and Usability Studies, something academia has been embracing within the past ten years.
Human Factors and Usability Studies, the study of how humans interact with the environment in which they live, is synonymous with disability advocacy. We’re coming up on the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but in that time, it seems we’ve been fighting to fix people with disabilities rather than create accessible solutions. This new field aims to deconstruct this narrative by encouraging collaboration across various fields to achieve true accessibility. This involves partnerships among engineers, computer programmers, fashion designers, architects, news reporters, psychologists, doctors—and arguably most importantly, users with disabilities.
Also known as ergonomics, Human Factors and Usability Studies has been integral to design practices since the earliest human creations. Unfortunately, many people subscribe to the philosophy that if something works for them, it works for everyone.
During the Industrial Revolution, machines were designed with the expectation that workers would adapt to them without difficulty, often excluding those with disabilities who were unable to operate the equipment. This concept evolved during World War II when poor design began limiting human capabilities, particularly in the case of malfunctioning aircraft, which would be fatal. In 1949, the Ergonomics Research Society (ERS) was formed in Europe, originating the term “ergonomics” and focusing primarily on human productivity. Historically, the field of ergonomics unintentionally led to development of machines that favored productivity, discarding those who couldn’t keep up. It is exciting to see the field now expanding to focus on accessibility, rather than being a barrier that contributes to the issue in the first place.
To dive deeper into this topic, Hofstra’s summit featured a panel on designing for disabilities featuring Calise, a wheelchair user who previously served as accessibility coordinator for the New York City Parks Department and as Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, and Hlibok, a Deaf advocate who previously worked at the Federal Communications Commission as chief of the Disability Rights Office in the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, where he oversaw the implementation of the 21st century Communication and Video Accessibility Act.
Both speakers provided insight into past inventions that lifted up accessibility from the beginning, such as the iPhone. FaceTime, currently only compatible with Apple devices, has been instrumental for Deaf individuals to communicate using sign language. In fact, Hlibok highlighted a survey conducted at Gallaudet University that found that 85% of students reportedly use iPhones over other brands. This is a prime example of how accessibility can boost sales, creating incentives in a capitalist society, countering the argument heard in high offices about the cost of accommodating disabilities.
Ultimately, the goal of Hofstra University’s Human Factors and Usability Studies program is to produce innovators who design with accessibility in mind, rather than addressing inaccessibility from two steps behind. It isn’t enough to simply have an accessible campus; universities should teach students how to bring accessibility into their futures.