Accessibility doesn’t have to be boring

Back in 2011 when I was working on the Vodafone Foundation Smart Accessibility Awards, I didn’t have a clue about the world of accessible mobile applications. And I’m not sure that many other people had a clue either beyond a small group of enthusiasts. Much of the services I came across were ugly and institutionalised. The devices looked medical and screamed out ‘I’m disabled and helpless’. And I haven’t met anyone yet who wanted to be labelled in such a way. Not only that, but I discovered that some of our favourite household appliances, such as the cordless kettle, were first designed with disabled access in mind. That means that accessible design can appeal to and be useful to everyone.

I’m pleased to see that, a year or so on, things have improved somewhat from my first foray into the sector. Today, I stumbled across a couple of entries to this year’s Innovate UK’s digital inclusion contest and I really liked both of them so I’m sharing them with you.

First up is Novoda’s Tribble. It’s a prototype for a doorbell connected to your smartphone. Initially aimed at people with hearing impairments, but it’s clear from the concept that it’s useful for anyone and in other situations. Have a watch of the video (with subtitles).

 

Next up is Acuity Design’s concept for PaperRound. This is a news navigation system for those with visual impairments. Again, it’s a neat idea and one that isn’t restricted to those with visual impairments. Other people would find it useful too. The concept and design is explained in some detail in this blog post. If you’ve ever tried to use the internet the way a blind person has to, you’d find it pretty demoralising. PaperRound is one way to make the experience much more enjoyable.

Both these examples show that accessibility doesn’t have to be boring and it doesn’t have to scream out at you ‘I’m disabled and needy’. Best of luck to both companies in the contest. I’ll be keeping an eye out for other entries and to see who wins funding.

Three simple actions to redress the balance

I’m going to keep this one brief. I’m bored of writing about this old chestnut. I expect you’re bored of reading about it, but the whole issue of the lack of representation of women at tech conferences has reared its ugly head again. I guess I’m partly responsible so that’s one of the reasons for writing about it, yet again.

I happened to mention on my Facebook page that I liked the look of the upcoming Edge conference but was disappointed to see no female speakers listed at all at the time of posting. Not an unreasonable comment – especially given my history in talking about the subject for many years and being a seasoned event organiser. That generated some debate, some interesting links and some feedback and comments from friends and friends of friends. You can read it here https://www.facebook.com/helenkeegan/posts/314598241984232?comment_id=1594410 

Following being name-checked in a few tweets, I read a stern criticism of the Edge Conference speaker line-up here where the (male) writer considers it inexcusable that there are no female speakers listed and the unwillingness of the producer to comment on the process. I think the term ‘inexcusable’ is strong. I doubt it was deliberate, but getting more women involved just wasn’t a priority for the organiser. It usually isn’t. In fact, they’ve often not thought about it at all. That’s part of the problem.

Meanwhile, I’m reminded that CES is happening in Las Vegas and I watch this telling video from the BBC on the topic of scantily clad booth babes from the 2012 event and ponder if anything much will have changed. I feel it’s unlikely and shared my thoughts here. And it seems from this year’s Voco campaign to drive traffic to its stand, nothing much has changed at all. You can read about the campaign to boycott Voco here. Their campaign just makes me feel queasy.

I also read about The Atlantic’s idea about boycotting all male panels ‘Men: You can fix this. Refuse to participate unless there are women on stage with you.’ And a friend points me to this useful infographic explaining how women contribute to the entrepreneurial scene.

And finally, I stumble across this blog post and words fail me.

So why am I bothered about all of this?

Technology is a huge part of all of our futures and I want to make sure that female voices are heard so that we play a part in building that future, so that we have a stake in it. So that we can make the future a better place.

Mixed gender teams do better. That’s what the research tells us, over and over. You’re better off with an average ability mixed gender team than a high ability single sex team if you want to be more profitable, more productive, happier. My conclusion is that mixed panels and mixed line-ups will mean a better conference, a more productive networking event and more knowledge sharing. And more women in tech will mean we’ll have created a better future for ourselves.

And my hunch is that if we can get more women to participate, then we’ll get more of everybody to participate. This will make it better for everyone.

Maybe I’m naive. Maybe I’m idealistic. But I don’t think this is too much to ask. It also isn’t down to one group of people to fix this. We all have a part to play.

There are three simple things that, I believe, will help make the situation better. (I’ve talked about them on Facebook as well)

1. Conference and event organisers need to be more mindful about getting more female speakers involved and make a concerted effort on this. Different people need to be approached in different ways. Try new ways to get more women involved.

2. Women need to step up and get involved. Be counted. The more you do this, the easier it gets. Get on with it. [Need some tips on how to be a good speaker? There’s some great advice here.]

3. Men need to defer to their female colleagues once in a while. When you're asked to speak, why not suggest a female colleague instead so they can get the experience and exposure? Your company still gets the kudos. The knowledge is still shared.

In doing these three things, there will be a knock-on effect that more people will get involved from all aspects of our society and from all backgrounds. This is a good thing and I don't think it's too much to ask.

And finally. I know that getting more women into tech needs to be tackled in our schools as well. I fully support that. The two are not mutually exclusive. Every little action counts.

I sincerely hope, that this is the first and last time I feel compelled to blog about this in 2013. But it’s not up to me. It’s up to all of you out there to do your bit too. Are you in?

Chestnut photo used under Creative Commons License. Photo by PracticalOwl.

Linkage ‘n stuff

Inevitably over the Christmas and New Year holidays, I’ve spent quite a bit of time reading stuff rather than writing stuff or doing stuff so here are a few links I thought were worth sharing.

 

13 Things to remember for 2013 is a lovely post from Documentally. It’s a reminder of the things in our life that really matter and what he’s going to do about it. Well worth a look to inspire you to think about how you want to live your 2013. I know it gave me food for thought and I will be returning to it during the year. http://documentally.com/2012/12/30/13-things-to-remember-for-2013/

Why the past always seems happier than the present http://www.huffingtonpost.com/art-markman-phd/past-less-intense-than-present_b_987726.html?ref=tw I’ve had plenty experiences where I’ve not necessarily enjoyed them that much while they were actually happening, but I have enjoyed them a lot in retrospect. A bit weird that one, but maybe dining out on a story is sometimes more fulfilling?

Note to self: Productivity is about constraints and concentration. http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/productivity-is-about-constraints-and-concentration

The Anti-Social Era – Lessons learned from Vimeo’s founder http://pandodaily.com/2012/11/23/the-anti-social-era-lessons-learned-from-vimeo-founder-jake-lodwick/ There’s some good advice in this post. Worth a look.

Amazon is not a commerce company http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/30/amazon-is-not-a-commerce-company/ The author explains how Amazon is innovating and is a Big Data company and that businesses should be following its strategic path. Big Data seems to have appeared in a whole bunch of 2013 trends posts and when it comes to data crunching, Amazon probably has a head start.

Is retail going the way of newspapers, books & music?

This short piece in The Grocer suggests that UK retail is not in a good place. Retailers are finding it tough to find rents and rates with declining numbers of people heading to the shops and increasing numbers of shoppers choosing to do that from the comfort of their phone, tablet or laptop.

I started my career on the High Street. Firstly managing a family-owned restaurant and then in various women’s fashion outlets from Worcester to the West End. It’s where I learned how to do business and I learned about customers and merchandising and sales and probably lots of other things too. I still like to spend time in my local town centre and do shop locally a lot of the time rather than relying on online commerce. I still like to touch and feel my groceries before buying them and there is also the human contact element. I work from home a lot of the time with just my laptop for company. And although social media is great and I love chatting to friends and colleagues online, I do need to see real people from time to time. And the High Street is where I can do that. The greeting I get every time I go into my local newsagent is fantastic. It makes it a real pleasure to go in and spend money there. It’s where I top up my Oyster card. I figure I’d rather give him the business that do that online automatically.

The march to e- and m-commerce is unstoppable. Even if the government can put procedures in place to stem the tide a little bit, it won’t stop it. And that’s making the assumption that they can or want to do anything about it anyway. I do see that our High Streets and our communities need to evolve in the digital age. Having been in a recession for the last few years, I think we’re getting over the shopaholic tendencies we may have shown in previous times. Terence Eden is predicting the death of the High Street this year – well, in terms of Telco representation at least. And the Telegraph suggests prospects aren't that bright either and explains the results of some of the UK's largest retailers in this post.

At the same time, I’ve seen a resurgence of markets locally – first Brixton and now Tooting. I’m also seeing craft markets seem to be thriving and locally at least, there are plenty craft workshops going on in High Street premises, usually pubs, but it’s still the local High Street. Is this sustainable and is this the start of what our high streets will look like in the future – places to meet, hang out, learn stuff rather than participate in rampant consumerism?

Something I’ll be watching and thinking about in 2013.

So this is New Year..

It’s the 6th January 2013. I’m not a big one for resolutions. I think you can set those at any time. But a sunny January day in London is as good as any. And it is gloriously sunny today. So rather than talk about resolutions, I’m going to go public with a few of my goals for 2013. They’re in no particular order.

1. To make Heroes of the Mobile Fringe 2013 a great success.

This is a big one for me. The first festival last February was a bit of an experiment to see if the concept would work. It did. In spades! And on the back of that, I’ve enlisted the help of my long-time friend and Swedish Beers cohort, Jennifer Hiley, to make it even better than last time. We have some sponsors confirmed already, and will be on the case to get some more involved and to really create some great events and create value and good stuff for sponsors, attendees, volunteers and media partners alike. Get in touch if you’d like to get involved.

2. To continue Heroes beyond Barcelona

I’ve set up a separate company to manage Heroes initiatives and events. The plan is to have a mix of media and events happening throughout the year and we’ll be visiting different cities in the UK and beyond. Top of the list are San Francisco, New York, Singapore, London and Leeds. This will be no mean feat. Running events, for me at least, is an emotional experience. It’s not about the time spent, but about the heart and soul put into it and that’s a much higher price to pay. But I feel the time is right to do this and there are some great opportunities to continue the good work. I have friends, colleagues and supporters across the globe and I’d like to spend more time with them. This is a great reason to do just that!

3. To create more content

This is the year I’m going to learn about podcasting and video. I also plan to write more. I spend too long on twitter and don’t commit to screen what I’m thinking about in my head beyond 140 characters nearly enough. So Plan A is to change that. On the podcast front, if someone fancies helping me get started on the technical side, that would be marvellous. I have some ideas of what I want to do but need some help to structure it and to be able to manage it on my own when I’m travelling. Get in touch. If you’re interested, I’ve started a soundcloud for Heroes podcasts.

4. Continue to nurture my creative side

One of the best things about 2012 for me was my return to spending time making things. I’ve always had an interest in sewing and needlework. I used to make doll’s clothes out of the leftovers when Mum had her clothes altered to fit (she’s tiny, there’d always be leftover fabric). I started doing embroidery when I was 9 and completed a sampler. At age 10, I got my first sewing machine and started to make my own clothes. I’ve also dabbled in cross-stitch and needlepoint. Last year, I learned how to make fabric flower brooches, wet-felting, making fabric wreaths, printing with vegetables and then a successful linocut experiment. This year, I plan to do more felting and sewing and we’ll see what other crafts I end up trying. A big thanks to Gillian at Crafty Pint in Tooting for setting me back on this path. Looks like I might be trying mosaics and decoupage in the coming weeks…

5. To maintain my health

Some of you who know me well know that I had a really tough 2012 health-wise. I’ve managed to get myself back on track, but it took a long time. And it’s something I need to take better care of. I’m not twenty-one any more, alas, so my bounce-back rate is longer each time. So this isn’t about fad diets and detoxing for January. This is about maintaining a healthy lifestyle that works for me. I think I’ve got the knack for it now, but it’s something I’ll be keeping more of an eye on more of the time.

It’s 2013… what might be coming?

It seems to be the done thing to do a key trends post at the start of the year. It is something I think about but rather than coming up with my own key trends, I’m going to share MEF’s key mobile trends for the upcoming year. They canvassed their global membership and also looked at the results of their second annual MEF Global Mobile Consumer Survey (9,500 respondents) and have come up with their top 10. Let’s take a look at them.

1. Convenience becomes paramount: convenience will exceed entertainment as the primary mobile content and commerce driver globally.

I don’t think this is new for 2013. We’ve seen an increase in mcommerce in the last few years and convenience is the main factor. The smartphone (or tablet) is the nearest/most convenient / quickest to boot up device to get stuff done. It’s a good enough experience to make the shopping process successful. I find myself squinting at my tiny mobile screen for bargains on eBay, when clearly, my laptop or large tablet would be better for the job, but my phone is nearer and I can’t be bothered to move. I’m guessing I’m not only in this consumer behaviour. This can only get bigger.

2. Shift in Payments: operator billing will be overtaken by other mobile payment systems in developed markets.

This isn’t news to me either. At least not when looking at the UK market. The rise of iOS, Android, apps and mcommerce (as in shopping for stuff that isn’t mobile content) is all being done in the online way which is credit or debit card or PayPal. I have never really understood why operators thought they deserved such a huge amount in revenue share when it comes to mobile payments. The value exchange has never seemed fair to me, even less so now when the web is very real on mobile devices. It’s a tough gig for the operators. They’re losing control and/or money in all areas of the business, or so it seems. We still need them to make the infrastructure work but I wonder how they will create new value in the coming years when mobile payments isn’t it?

3. Big Data will drive mobile engagement: widespread rollout of personalised recommendations and alerts based on context and behavioural data enabled by mobile.

Big Data is the new black for everything it seems. Everyone I know who is in tech, and a lot of those who aren’t, are bandying around the phrase ‘Big Data’. I wholeheartedly agree it’s important but most businesses, even large ones with deep pockets, don’t really understand how to data mine in a meaningful way – at least not yet. Soooooo much data has been collected by our network operators, our loyalty card providers, our banks, our ISPs, our email companies, Google, Facebook, foursquare and more. How do you make sense of it all? So I wonder if the breakthrough in 2013 will be that we’ll begin to understand this Big Data thing better this year and make meaningful business decisions from it rather than the stabs in the dark I’ve seen to date.

4. Trust as a critical asset: consumer trust around privacy and data collection will become a critical asset for apps and brands in 2013.

This was an emerging theme last year. MEF covered this in their Heroes of the Mobile Fringe podcast session in Barcelona (blog post here). Security, data, privacy, trust are all murkily lumped together in the consumer’s eyes. They’re different things, but certainly overlap and these are most definitely very real issues. But they’re not just related to mobile or to tech. What we do in our offline worlds also matters in our online worlds and vice versa. Even the most clued-up of us can get caught out. Cloning is a very real issue and Android is full of holes – largely due to poor implementation by OEMs and lazy app developers. And also down to human nature. Ultimately, if your choice is to get instant gratification from a mobile app right here right now vs. not, the chances are, the average punter, will take a risk and download the app or game. How can you protect someone who is making that split second decision? And how can we track what data is being collected, by whom, when and where does it get stored, how is it used etc.? It is an absolute minefield. How do you correct it if it’s wrong, how do you remove it, what happens with it when you’re dead and buried? This one will run and run I think.

5. Usage Convergence: The dividing line between consumer and enterprise-focused services will melt, transforming the way companies use mobile.

I’m not sure what I think about this one. We’ve certainly seen convergence of devices in that business people have chosen to use iPhone as a business device and BlackBerry as a consumer device so I guess we’ll see something play out here when it comes to services. Anyone else have a view?

6. Growth in health and education services: 2013 will see a significant uptake in the use of health and education services, based on interactive mobile content and device penetration. Growth markets will drive this but also developed markets will complement and develop existing systems.

No question there is investment going into these areas. And where resources go, things tend to happen. This is no bad thing. Health and education are critical to modern society. I can see growth markets driving the education element, I’m yet to know where the drivers are for mhealth services. I’m certainly keeping an eye on both sectors.

7. Crowd-sourcing of mobile content: mass-curation of content, such as large-scale photo integration enabling crowd-sourcing of public events imagery, will emerge as a defining mobile apps category, but will experience scaling issues, including transparency and privacy concerns.

I’ve seen several services try to do this but have been unable to get any kind of critical mass to date. I’m not sure they will. For everyone at a mass event to use the same app to do something is going to be hard unless it’s something we all use already like Googlemaps, Facebook, or Twitter. Would I download an app so I could share a photo to a pool? Erm, no. But maybe I’m just too old for this. I’m also not convinced of the longevity of the app ecosystem. It’s seriously hard to make money with apps and the trend I’m seeing is a move to web and less of a focus on apps. But maybe I’m biased because I forget to use pretty much every app I’ve ever downloaded save for a handful that I use on a weekly, if not daily basis.

8. The March of Multi-Screens: In 2013 much of the mobile ecosystem’s energy will target the integration of multiple connected screens, such as TV companion services, to deliver a consistent and complimentary experience across every connected device. 

Seamless synchronisation seems to be talked about a lot but not delivered that well. Friends rave about how kindle has a seamless synch experience and I know many people would like to see that same attention to detail for other services but we’re not quite there yet. It’s tricky to do, but we will see it as we work out how to do this stuff better. And if our M2M world with our connected fridges and cars is to work, we really do have to sort this stuff out.

9. Third mobile ecosystems: Windows Phone 8, Firefox OS and BlackBerry 10 will make progress globally, especially in growth markets.

There is everything to play for when it comes to mobile ecosystems. I’ve had a play with all three of the above, and they all have their strengths and will appeal to different groups of customers. We have also heard that there’s an Ubuntu phone coming out (not sure why we need one, but hey, what would I know), Bada and Tizen are on the market, and I’m interested to see if Jolla can break through. Nokia’s N9 Meego device was a thing of beauty and maybe Jolla, son of Meego, may make headway. And with news that Samsung is moving from Android to Tizen, the game definitely isn’t over.

10. China is coming: Chinese mobile content and commerce vendors will expand into global markets, but will struggle with the complexities of mobile ecosystems and IPR.

China is most definitely coming. No question. I am most definitely not qualified to comment beyond that. Anyone else care to add anything on this point?

I also read Dean Bubley’s Telco anti-trends for 2013 which also make for an interesting read. 

Comments and discussion welcome.