Tactile Design For Accessibility--An Interactive Workshop

Tactile design is a useful collaborative tool when participating in inclusive design activities. The first half of the session will highlight design standards and best practices for producing discernible tactile graphics. It will also cover a recent tactile graphics use case, developed at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, of tactile circuit diagrams for greater access within maker culture. The second half of the session will provide hands-on experience by inviting attendees to design and produce their own take-home tactile designs using microcapsule paper and a fuser.

Presenter Bio:
Lauren Race is a Research Fellow at the NYU Ability Project, an interdisciplinary research space that spans clinical, engineering, and the arts. Her work focuses on the intersection between accessibility and design. She holds a BFA in Communications Design and Art History from Pratt Institute and a master's from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), where her thesis was on designing tactile schematics for low vision and blind makers. She has taught non-visual design workshops at Hunter College, NYC Media Lab's annual Summit, and frog.