19: Engineering for Accessibility

We’re often focused on features that improve the experience for users — letting them do something better, faster, smarter. But if you don’t consider accessibility issues, many users won’t be able to use the feature at all. From color contrast and text size to alt text for enabling screen readers and voice commands, accessibility issues can affect everyone, whether you have a permanent disability or just an armful of groceries. So how do you get developers and designers to adopt an accessibility mindset and make it a fundamental part of the development process?

Host Dave Zolotusky talks with Dani Devesa Derksen-Staats, an iOS engineer on Spotify’s accessibility team. We’ll hear how Dani went from a five-year computer science program, where accessibility wasn’t mentioned even once, to becoming so passionate about the topic, he wrote a book on it. They also talk about the basic things we forget to consider when we don’t consider accessibility; how we can all benefit from accessibility improvements, whether that’s getting up a curb in a wheelchair or while pushing a stroller; and ways to address accessibility issues into the development process, from adopting a multimodal approach to UX design to integrating accessibility tests into your CI/CD.

Spotify recently introduced an Accessibility Center. Have questions or concerns about accessibility? Contact us:

• Email: [email protected]
• Write to us at: Spotify USA Inc., 150 Greenwich Street, Floor 62, New York, NY 10007, USA

More on accessibility from Dani:

• His book: Developing Accessible iOS Apps (GitHub)
• His 2023 talk for Accessibility NYC: Creating Accessible iOS Apps: An Action Plan
• His 2022 talk at NSSpain X: 365 Days of Accessibility

Read what else we’re nerding out about on the Spotify Engineering Blog: engineering.atspotify.com

You should follow us on Twitter @SpotifyEng and on LinkedIn!