The Misread Signal
Has an apparent disability that doesn't align with common disability stereotypes, leading others to make incorrect assumptions or overlook their actual needs. Often encounters irrelevant support from systems designed around more familiar patterns.
"People see that I'm different, but they don't understand what I need, so they either over-compensate or ignore me completely."
Disability Characteristics
- Origin
- Whether the disability was present at birth or developed later in life.
- Range: Congenital to Acquired
- Current value: Congenital
- Visibility
- Whether the disability is outwardly noticeable to others.
- Range: Non-Apparent to Apparent
- Current value: Apparent
- Prototypicality
- Whether the disability aligns with common societal assumptions of what disability looks like.
- Range: Non-Prototypical to Prototypical
- Current value: Non-Prototypical
- Prevalence
- How frequently the disability occurs in the general population.
- Range: Rare to Common
- Current value: Rare
Design Considerations
- Avoid one-size-fits-all access assumptions and offer flexible interaction pathways
- Build opportunities for co-design, feature requests and feedback loops
- Leverage multi-modal design for inputs and outputs (e.g. alternatives for speech, typing, gestures)
- Ensure systems don't rely solely on prototypical access profiles