S1:E9 - How to Develop for Neurodiversity and Universal Design

DevDiscuss

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In this weeks episode of DevDiscuss, we confer on a subject that should be constantly considered in tech: Neurodiversity, or the active inclusion of all brains and their many, many variations.

The concept and field of neurodiversity acknowledges that theres nothing abnormal or wrong about having a brain or body that differs from what society considers the norm. In fact, neurodiversity calls us to reconsider what we deem normal altogether! Developers should design applications and websites that serve our entire landscape of abilities, neurodivergent brains included.

@ben and I were joined by two amazing guests who have deep expertise in this realm we think all DEV Community members can learn a lot from them!

Heidi Waterhouse is a Senior Developer Advocate at LaunchDarkly. Heidi was initially pursuing technical writing but, given her extensive speaking/presentation experience, she was guided towards a fascinating career change in interfacing between developers and the rest of the world.

Lydia X.Z. Brown serves as Policy Counsel for the Privacy and Data Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology. Theyre also an Adjunct Professor for Georgetown University's Disability Studies Program. Lydia has been an advocate educator in diversity rights and diversity justice for over a decade. Lydia has also worked in policy making and community/cultural work and founded/runs the Fund for Community Reparations for Autistic People of Colors Interdependence, Survival, and Empowerment.

In this episode, Ben, Heidi, Lydia, and I discuss

• What people often miss when thinking about universal design
• How algorithmic bias furthers inequality in unjust systems
• What tech could be doing better when it comes to universal accessibility.

Listen to Episode 9 of DevDiscuss: How to Develop for Neurodiversity and Universal Accessibility today! If you enjoy it, please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts. Well mail you a small thank you gift if you send us a screenshot of your review! All you have to do is fill out this form

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Huge thanks to @levisharpe for producing & mixing the show, and @peter and @saronyitbarek for their editorial oversight.

Thank you to our Season 1 sponsors who help make this show possible. If you're in the market for any of their services, please check out DigitalOcean, Heroku, CommerceJS, and Fastly.