Hassan is an administrative assistant in the College of Business. One of his assigned duties is to post notices for his office regarding managerial announcements, new policies and other college-wide communications.
During a regular staff meeting, several colleagues' express concerns with Hassan, that while his posters are beautifully designed and thoughtful, his choice of font and color is not accessible to the reading and visual needs of the entire team. The group highlights Hassan’s frequent use of “Stencil” and “Script” fonts as an impediment to folks with dyslexia and visual impairment. They also note that his color schemes make the text difficult to discern for folks who are not able to see the full color spectrum.
Hassan is disappointed and discouraged. He is very proud of his postings. In addition to his appreciation for his design, he doesn’t know how he can ensure his postings are visually accessible. After taking a few days to reflect, he researches online and finds a distance learning course on accessible visual communications. He approaches his supervisor about getting resources and time release to participate in the course. Hassan’s supervisor agrees. Within a week of completing the course, he has developed checklists to assess all of his postings to ensure their readability.
- The Issue: Managerial announcements are designed and displayed in ways that are not accessible to all staff and students. The lead administrator for the postings, Hassan, is not sure about how to alter their design and distribution.
- The Deliberation: Hassan works through his feelings of disappointment and incompetence and seeks resources online and at his institution to explore solutions.
- The Growth: Hassan realizes that he can resolve the issue through his own continued learning and development, and constructs a systematic framework to ensure legibility and comprehension of future postings.