In the hybrid work era, approaching task management remotely means embracing the internet’s distractions. One approach to unbuilding and rebuilding these digital walls is through universal design inspired by accessibility, according to Deque Systems’ Chief Information Accessibility Officer Glenda Sims.

Simply put, the concept of universal design is ensuring that something can be "accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability," according to the National Disability Authority. Deque Systems follows this method and works toward digital accessibility for a slew of clients across the tech and telecom sectors – partnering with telecom operators like Verizon to ensure that the growing impact of 5G networks are able to be realized by all.

Sims’ research "Making Content Usable for People with Cognitive and Learning Disabilities" is all about approaching human needs from a digital design perspective, which has become even more prevalent post-COVID-19.

Sims has been working in digital accessibility since the 90s. “It's phenomenal how far things have come,” she told SDxCentral. I wouldn't have thought that a mobile phone could be usable by a person that's blind. Apple invented that, and now it's just commonplace.”

“It's not just about leveling the playing field for people with disabilities, but it's actually designing so thoughtfully that you can lose any one of your major senses and the design still holds true."

When it comes to digital accessibility for people with disabilities, Sims says most people think of groups who are vision or hearing impaired. “If you're in the right spaces in digital accessibility, you have the opposite understanding.” Sims references the lesser understood world of cognitive disability.

As Sims dove deeper into the cognitive realm of digital accessibility – chiefly focusing in on areas like ADHD, ADD, and dyslexia – she saw the stigma surrounding cognitive diversity was the source of the problem, not the brain types themselves.

“There's nothing wrong with ADD brain – nothing.” Sims explained that the problem is that “we have a world that encourages you to do what? Shut up, sit down, be still, read, and answer in writing.”

That works well with what Sims described as the “farmer brain.” Sims herself is a farmer brain type – enjoying a long book in silence. Her son never enjoyed reading or sitting still, and while he was in middle school, she found out that he had ADHD, and there was a challenge to help “show his intelligence in a farmer school system.”

Today, her son works on an AI team at IBM. “He’s a hunter, not a farmer,” she said. The same problem goes with dyslexic brains: it’s a matter of the way a person thinks, not anything fundamentally wrong.

Sims referenced a Social Model animation that wittily flips the narrative around disabled and able-bodied people to point out that there’s nothing actually wrong with the disability, “It’s just that society excludes them," she said.

To approach the technological solutions is to first understand this. Within the report’s design goals to promote cognitive inclusivity, Sims’ drew particular attention to the objective of helping users focus. With a flick-through-feeds era of access to online information, focus has never been more tested.

According to the report, “Once users become distracted, they may find it difficult to remember what they were doing. Then they can no longer complete their task. This is especially problematic for users with both impaired attention and impaired memory,” like dementia, ADD, and ADHD.

The report also suggested avoiding using content and elements that can distract or interrupt users. “Provide clear headings and breadcrumbs to help users reorient and refocus if they lose focus,” the report explained.

This accommodation “helps users maintain focus on their task by telling them what information they may need to prepare at the beginning of the task,” and is essential to promoting productivity and task-management, which has become an increasingly important skill in online work environments.

Sims’ knowledge on accessibility has also tied into the broader DE&I world in tech, which she says “is going to be a tough nut to crack.”

At Deque’s DE&I group, Sims worked to get accessibility added to the acronym to make sure disability was being a focused priority.

The group was then named EDIA, rearranging the order to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility – which Sims says was a very intentional order. “Diversity is sweet, and inclusion is sweet, and accessibility is sweet. If you don't have equity, ya ain't there,” she said.

Sims said while there may be an invite to bring visual diversity to the table, if there’s not equity of power, it’s not real inclusion. “Hold somebody accountable, have some metrics, so that you can spot that discrimination in your org, look at pay equity, look at promotion equity,” she explained.

Examining an organization’s sponsorship for disability, looking at the actual diversity of the executive team, and seeing who’s in charge of the hiring process will be integral components to see equity take the lead in advancing diversity in tech.