Consultation

My Process

I frequently review and annotate wireframes for accessibility fixes at that level. The tracking tools (Jira, Azure DevOps, etc.) and design tools (Abstract, InVision, etc.) vary, but in general I use the same basic method.

Review story/acceptance criteria where available.

Sample Jira story
Sample Jira story (illustrative only)

Context is key. By reviewing the story and its acceptance criteria, I have a better sense of what needs are being met with this specific effort.

Hold live UX office hours, individual review sessions, or request demos.

Portrayal of a collaborative design session.
Illustration of a collaborative design session.

Documentation and asynchronous communication methods are great, but many times it is most effective to sit with someone, in-person or virtually, to come to a better understanding of how to make a design as accessible as it can be, while still fulfilling the purpose of the product or feature.

Accessibility Review

Screen annotated with heading levels and other semantic HTML
Annotated screen.

I will give each design a final pass before it is handed off for development. Here I look at all designs, regardless of prior collaboration, and make final annotations with information on behavior and states at the code level where I am able. If necessary, I will return a story/bug/feature to the designer with feedback for rework.

Wireframing

Two sample screens from the "Create Matter" flow.
Two sample screens I created from the “Create Matter” flow.

Occasionally I will take on the task of creating a wireframe for a story, especially if there is a very specific direction I feel a design needs to go to make it most accessible. I generally use Adobe XD, and have familiarity with the other user experience design tools.

In this flow, there was an initial design for adding and removing users from a list that was not as accessible as it could be. I created a design for a transferbox within a modal, that included all necessary alert messages and opportunities for user to commit their changes. Designed in Adobe XD and the prototype is housed on InVision.

“Create Matter” flow prototype.