Back in the 1980s Tipper Gore. Susan Baker, and several others created the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) with the intent of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to have violent, drug-related or sexual themes. They used their influence as “Washington Wifes” to push for regulation of the music industry. By 1985, 19 record companies agreed to put "Parental Guidance: Explicit Lyrics" labels on albums to warn consumers of explicit lyrical content.
Analogies have been a major part of how we explain usability, user experience and/or design thinking to audiences and clients (and potential clients). Many of these analogies involve automotive technology ( see e.g. Crash-test dummies and the Usability of EHRs http://www.theusabilitypeople.com/thought_leadership/crash-test-dummies-... ).
We've often blogged about Section 508 compliance as a means to convince very engineering-centric developers to consider their users.
While watching the video feed from the recent ONC annual conference we were very glad to see the closed captions because we were able to watch and understand while multitasking on one of THOSE conference calls that seemed to go on and on forever.
Accessible designs work for everyone - see also Universal Design. Ever use a curb-cut?
It was a pleasure to work with you, as you and your team made this process a more pleasant experience for our team and the participants.
Karen Perry
I just want to tell you that I value people relations more than money. I remember how you were friendly and helpful not going against policies and contractual obligations at the same time, not using your power to make us feel stupid and small. It was a very rare and big experience for me. Really. I will always remember this.
Alex
The Usability People are all individuals that you can become friends with very easily. They have a lot of different interests and are a pleasure to work with. I was writing a PRD/MRD for a billing solution and worked with The Usability People in defining the user interface. They are receptive to ideas and are able to mold the user interface from an end-user's perspective. I really liked the idea of putting end-user photograph & short biography around the office to help understand the users
