Feedback on Deaf/Hard of hearing section of poster

[fruitbagel]

I'm an employee at Microsoft and our C+AI Accessibility team has been printing these posters and hanging them up around on campus.

First, thank you so much for creating these resources. However I was surprised and concerned by some the tips in the Deaf/hard of hearing section (I’m Deaf myself) and wanted to share feedback.

Tips # 2 (captions) and 5 (accommodations) are great, but #1, 3, and 4 give off a strong vibe that UI needs to be “dumbed down” so that Deaf/hh people can understand. It advises designers not to use “complicated words”, “complex layouts”, or “long blocks of content”.

I am imagining that these tips are a relic from the past where Deaf/hh people were not expected to be able to read past 5th grade level. Or perhaps it (incorrectly) assumes that any Deaf people who use sign language are weaker in English. Either way, the poster implies that all Deaf/hh folks struggle with reading and comprehension. If anything, those tips would be better off in a “best practices” section for simplified UX, not the “Designing for users who are deaf or hard of hearing” section where it perpetuates unfair stereotypes. I would be unhappy if my colleagues saw this poster and made assumptions about me or other Deaf people, especially our users.

I have seen similar issues posted, with a suggestion that Tips 1,3,4 should be general best practices for simplified UX. I agree. The reply was that these tips fit in the Deaf section because they were intended for users who sign first, but I still think they give a very negative and inaccurate impression of Deaf user abilities.

I would suggest keeping Tip 2 and 5, and removing 1, 3, and 4. You could consider more suggestions like allowing users to customize the layout of captions, ability to download transcripts, and avoiding conveying information (alerts, error messages) via audio only. Another comment – Deaf is often capitalized with a “D” when a user is culturally deaf so a more appropriate and inclusive section title would be “Designing for users who are Deaf or hard of hearing”.

Thanks! Katie

[Teej42]

I want to echo agreement with the above poster on this. Eliminate Tip #1, #3, and #4 as an UI design decision for Deaf people.

I would also revise tip #2 don't - "put content in audio or video only" - to "put content in audio only". It is a struggle among Deaf people to help other folks better understand the limitation - there have been reports that Deaf people being given braille menus and transcripts, with the assumption that our limited hearing also affects our vision. It falls under the same stereotype that Deaf people can't do certain things, when their limitations are really just to hear.

Tip #5 is also iffy, particularly in United States of America and Canada, where there are full access to Relay Service (including Video Relay Service) for telephone service. Granted, limiting yourself to only telephone for support is illogical in today's society where huge number of people prefers messaging services instead of phone calls. I do not know what UK's accessibility is regarding this point, but it should be universal for Deaf people to have equal access on the phone.

[carmacleod]

@SueSpevack It would be great if this issue could be addressed, and the original “Designing for users who are Deaf or hard of hearing” poster could be redesigned. People are passing these posters around (which is great because many of the points made in other posters are useful and valid), however despite what is recognizably the best of intentions, some of the points on the Deaf/HoH poster miss the mark, and can be offensive to people, so it would be for the best if this misinformation was not propagated.

[dawnchandler]

I am hearing, but know a bit more about the Deaf/HoH community than the average person. (I've taken ASL classes with Deaf instructors.) I had the same concerns as described above when I first read this poster.

I'm disappointed that this issue was opened more than 2 years ago, but has still not been addressed. As mentioned above, this poster perpetuates misunderstandings about the abilities of Deaf/HoH individuals, but people are still sharing and using it because they're not aware of these problems. :/