How Exygy is bringing accessibility and inclusivity to our projects right now.
Our team’s experience developing products in the civic space allows us to deepen our investment in creating a set of accessibility standards.
Bloom is a modern system that helps people learn about, apply for, and gain access to affordable housing. The goal of Bloom is to provide people, developers and housing staff with a one-stop shop for all housing-related needs.
When it comes to affordable housing, many residents have limited choices and means, so it is important to design a product that works for as many people as possible. While creating our first Bloom Housing product, DAHLIA, The San Francisco Mayor’s Office connected us with local city representatives, including those who embedded in the disabled community.
We engaged with LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco on an ongoing basis to ensure that we were designing and building an accessible product for people with visual disabilities. Some highlights included:
- The Access Technology team at LightHouse San Francisco served as advisors providing early feedback on the core user experience when in early prototyping.
- Meeting with access technology experts to access features as they were developed before being released to the public.
- Working with people with visual disabilities from a number of backgrounds to provide feedback on the product.
LightHouse San Francisco uplifts folks who are blind or low vision by training them to be digital accessibility advocates. The closer organizations are to individuals with disabilities, the better the product design will be for everyone!
We also met with staff at The Arc to review how to make updates to site content and user experience for people with learning and developmental disabilities. We implemented many new features including:
- Breaking up a long application process into a collection of simple pages with a clear indication of progress.
- Writing a more inclusive reading level which benefits people with cognitive impairments.
- Utilizing empty space to break up sections and draw attention to the priority content.
Recently we worked with the City of Oakland to redesign their website which delivers critical city services to its residents. We helped the city draft a new accessibility statement, which states:
“To ensure a seamless user experience for all our users, our current efforts are focused on delivering digital experiences that will work for people with auditory, cognitive, neurological, physical, speech, and visual disabilities. This is a journey we will forever be committed to and continuously improve on, as we value each person that takes the time to visit our website.”
To uphold the above statement, over the last few months of our engagement we:
We continue to work with the City of Oakland to expand accessibility standards and move oaklandca.gov’s needle of impact to more closely embody their accessibility statement.
Get in touch with Exygy for more resources & support.
We recognize that this can be an overwhelming process to begin. Our team of designers and technologists are invested in supporting others in their journey to increasing accessibility and inclusion in digital spaces. If we can provide additional support, or if you have feedback for us, please reach out: [email protected].
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