Building Slack’s simplified layout mode

This event will be online on YouTube and in-person (New York City). The speaker and live stream starts at 7:30 pm ET. In-person attendees may arrive as early as 7 pm ET. If arriving late, please leave a comment on this page and someone will come down ASAP.

Description
Slack is a powerful hub for work and communication, but its dense and complex interface can be a barrier for users with motor, vision, and cognitive disabilities. To help more people use Slack effectively, we introduced Simplified Layout Mode on desktop and web. This preference transforms Slack into a single-column layout that is easier to navigate and has fewer distractions.

In this session, we will demo Simplified Layout Mode and discuss its evolution from an accommodation request by an ALS advocacy group to a feature that benefits multiple audiences. Along the way, we’ll share specific examples of how its design was shaped by our partnerships with disabled and neurodivergent users.

Attendees will learn ...

• How to collect and synthesize feedback from different groups of users with disabilities over the course of a feature’s development
• How to collaborate with internal employee disability groups to get feedback and build momentum around a feature

Presenter bios
Chris Xu is a director of product management of Slack looking after accessibility and design systems. Outside of product management, they have had a wide-ranging career focused on how technology and communities shape each other. They live in Brooklyn, NY and hold strong opinions about fruit.

Lena Wang is a frontend software engineer at Slack working on accessibility and design systems. Outside of engineering, she's usually mid-side-quest — whether that's walking the entire length of Manhattan on a whim, running a Taco Bell 5k, or competing in a city-wide scavenger hunt. She lives in Manhattan, NY.

Kaili Liang is a Software Engineer at Slack, working on accessibility and design systems. In her free time, she loves chasing new eats, diving into books, trying various arts and crafts, and traveling.

Accessibility
The presentation will have human captions [CC], not automatic captions. For ASL preferred speakers, learn about the Aira ASL App, and download it before the event.

For the Blind and Low Vision community, learn about the Aira Explorer App and download it before the event. To access the online webinar for audio description, use the A11yNYC Access Offer to call, or simply inform your Visual Interpreter that you'd like that offer applied when you connect.

For additional accessibility requirements, please email meryl@equalentry.com two weeks before the event.

Livestream
YouTube

Provided by Internet Society Accessibility SIG.

Location details
The event is at 72 Spring street on the 4th floor. Everyone must be accompanied to the event on the 4th floor. Because everyone needs to be escorted, please arrive early or on time. When you enter the ground floor, a representative from A11yNYC will be there to provide elevator access.

Transit
The building 72 Spring street is near several transit stops:

6 train

• Spring Street (non-accessible stop): 100 feet
• Canal Street (accessible stop): 0.4 miles

B/D/F/M trains

• Broadway-Lafayette Street (accessible stop), 0.2 miles

N/Q/R/W trains

• Prince Street (non-accessible stop): 0.2 miles
• Canal Street (accessible stop): 0.3 miles

M1 / M55 Bus lines

• Broadway/Spring Street stop: 500 feet

Cabs and rideshares can let passengers out right near the building entrance.

Finding the building
In Google Maps, find 72 Spring street. It shows the correct location of the entrance: on Spring Street, halfway between Crosby and Lafayette.
It’s also between the Glossier store and the Krewe Eyewear store.
Inside and over the reception desk in our building 72 Spring st, it says “Marc Jacobs.”

Traveling to the event?
We recommend Hotel on Rivington or Crosby Street Hotel.

Accreditation
All A11yNYC meetups are pre-approved for IAAP Continuing Accessibility Education Credits (CAEC).

Sponsors
Thanks to Aira, AKQA, Deque, Evinced, Equal Entry, and Fable for sponsoring. Want to be a sponsor? Contact meryl@equalentry.com