John Willis

AccessMakers: A Platform for Inclusive Innovation

This paper focuses on the feasibility of deploying collaborative user networks to address accessibility challenges faced by people with disabilities. It describes the creation of AccessMakers, a multi-­‐stakeholder design process and online community that supports organizations to identify opportunities for innovation by engaging stakeholders who face access barriers. The author, a designer with low-­‐vision, describes his practice-­‐based research journey from the development of a theoretical model of access barriers as a type of breakdown in service systems, to his effort to re-­‐frame accessibility as a user-­‐, or customer-­‐, experience (UX/CX). The paper includes a review of emerging collaborative practices including open innovation, user innovation, and co-­‐production/co-­‐ creation in public services to demonstrate the feasibility of moving beyond regulatory and legalistic approaches to accessibility. Finally, the author describes how he prototyped a storytelling technique to capture access barrier experiences for collaborative networks, and used it as the kernel of the AccessMakers platform. http://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/303/