STC Usability SIG Newsletter
Usability Interface

New Accessible Web Design Program
at Northeastern University

by P.J. Gardner and Lori Gillen

Web accessibility is a hot topic, and now there is a brand new place to gain the knowledge and credentials you need to succeed in this increasingly important field.

Northeastern University, in Boston, Massachusetts-- already well known for its technical writing program-- is now offering a graduate certificate program in Interactive Design. This new program, one of the first in its kind, focuses specifically on topics surrounding web accessibility and design for interactive media of all kinds.

The Interactive Design program, offered through Northeastern's University College, is the brainchild of Rose A. Doherty, Assistant Dean and Director of Liberal Arts and Criminal Justice Programs.
"My interest in this area was ignited by a 1999 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education titled "Interactive Design: a Profession in Search of Professional Education." Janet H. Murray, who was then at MIT, pointed out that work in interactive design is distinct from computer programming and from visual design. She asserted that these new professionals would need visual and verbal skills and an understanding of cognitive processes.
"We added the accessibility focus to the graduate certificate because we realized that designing for universal use would increase people with disabilities' access to everything the web has to offer, would make good business sense for all organizations, and would give professional technical writers, graphic designers, programmers, e-business managers, and others an additional skill to offer an employer."

The four-course graduate certificate program teaches information delivery professionals the principles of designing accessible human-computer interfaces, anticipating the needs of the growing number of people needing accessible accommodations, and creating more universal web sites.

As the catalog states, this program helps technical communicators to:

• Develop skills to help your organization reach more people more effectively.
• Learn to apply the cognitive theory behind all human-computer interaction.
• Apply communication theory to writing and designing for interactive Web sites.
• Make federal and private accessibility guidelines work for your organization.
• Discover how functioning as part of a professional interactive design team will leverage skills for your career growth.

The Interactive Design program consists of two conceptual courses, "Communication for Interactive Media" and "Human Factors and Interactive Design", and two hands-on courses, "Accessibility and Interactive Technologies" and "Interactive Project Development."

• The course in "Communication for Interactive Media" focuses on the relationship between communication principles and interactive design, and on making information more accessible to a wide range of audiences.
• "Accessibility and Interactive Technologies" relates design principles to interactive sites through analysis of existing sites, and through the development of individual and group sites. The course pays special attention to using adaptive technologies to enhance accessibility.
• The "Human Factors and Interactive Design" course presents how humans and computers interact by exploring human cognitive processes, and examines how disabilities affect human-computer interaction.
• "Interactive Project Development" considers the coordination and collaborative efforts of cross-functional teams in creating effective accessible interactive projects.

Neil F. Duane, Technical Communications Consultant and Advisor, and instructor of "Accessibility and Interactive Technologies" puts it this way:
"Completion of the courses required for this certificate will prepare and encourage our technical writers, programmers, and designers to address interactive design and accessibility for the first time as a collaborative endeavor. This is a truly unique concept that should find wide acceptance within the ranks of graduate professionals."

A wide variety of motivations bring people to this program.

• After a career in technical communications, P.J. Gardner recently formed her own business developing accessible web sites for businesses, professionals, and individuals. "There are so many tradeoffs in balancing accessibility, browser compatibility, and good design principles, I want to absorb as much as I can so that I can do a better job of meeting people's needs in delivering and viewing information using Web technologies."
• Lucille Blaschke, who developed Web content for an audience over 50 at AARP for several years, became motivated in addressing the accessibility issues that will affect internet users as they age. "The more research I did, and as I age myself, the more interested I became in Web accessibility. It is important to address the accessibility issues aging Internet users are facing in order to retain our audience."
• Anne Russo-Quinn, a visual designer with extensive experience in paper-based and online communications, wants to increase her understanding of the needs of people with disabilities and to communicate ideas more effectively. "I am hoping this program will fill in the gaps in my understanding of the needs of end users and also communicating successfully to my intended audience."

Due to her own hearing impairment, Lori Gillen, founder of the Boston chapter of the STC's Special Needs SIG, is passionate about raising awareness concerning the barriers that people with disabilities experience in processing information every day. "My mission is to spare people the pain that I suffered through the years when I blamed myself totally for all the wrongdoing of bad design."

This brand new program just completed its first course, "Communication for Interactive Media", taught by Michael J. Salvo, Assistant Professor in English at Northeastern University, who says:

"Professional communicators often represent users in the process of designing and developing technology, charging us with ethical responsibilities to accurately and meaningfully assert user needs during technological development. I want students to think beyond technology-centered development and towards human-centered development of technology."

Now that the students have completed their first course, they are eager to continue examining how universal design principles can be applied to creating more accessible and usable information products, and in advocating for the value of accessibility in the workplace.

As Michael Salvo, says, "I think the market for writers and designers with expertise in accessibility will grow, and with it, the need for experts trained in accessibility issues."