Designing for Collective Access: In Search of a Solution to Accessible Communication in a Mixed-Ability Non-Profit

TL;DR

This paper explores how a mixed-ability nonprofit navigates conflicting access needs in communication, highlighting the importance of reflection and organizational context in designing accessible solutions.

Contribution

It offers a new perspective on managing conflicting access needs as opportunities for organizational reflection and accountability, rather than just technical problems.

Findings

Conflicting access needs can be catalysts for organizational reflection.

Designing for access involves navigating power structures and norms.

Conflicts in access are opportunities for accountability and organizational growth.

Abstract

As mixed-ability collaboration has become increasingly focal within accessibility research, managing varied, and sometimes conflicting, access needs has become a key consideration in designing for access. When an accessibility feature or practice benefits some people while constraining others, how should designers navigate these trade-offs? This paper responds to this question by analyzing how a mixed-ability nonprofit worked to make communication accessible to its members as it grew from a small blind-focused athletic group to a larger cross-disability organization. Based on a six-month study that combines interviews and field observations, we show that working with conflicting access needs is not just a technical 'problem' but a generative process that sparks reflection on technical constraints and preferences, diverse roles and communication norms, and organizational demands. We therefore argue for rethinking "conflicts" in access as key sites for revealing power structures and creating opportunities for accountability and repair.