37th Annual CSUN Assistive Technology Conference Has Concluded

Future of Digital Accessibility: Mental Health Overview

Date & Time

Thursday, March 17, 2022 - 10:20 AM PST

Location

Platinum 7-8

Description

Traditionally, mental health has not been discussed often in digital accessibility subject. However, mental health is the single largest cause of disabilities in the world, and the mental and addictive disorders affected more than 1 billion people globally in 2016 while 1 in 4 adults in America suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder. During the pandemic, adults in the U.S. who have reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder have almost doubled according to CDC National Center for Health Statistic, and it is only predicted to increase even further after the pandemic is over.

The mental health aftereffect of the pandemic has already begun and will rise even further. However, digital accessibility field has not been prepared for this rapid rise of mental health concerns. Even at W3C, there is only 1 issue paper that broadly touches upon a few mental health disorders, and it is only this year that W3C COGA team formed mental health sub-group to start researching about mental health accessibility.

To address this rapid rise of mental health concerns globally the presenter will discuss the possible impact of mental health disorders on using technology and how we can best prepare for them. The presenter's experience combined with his accessibility knowledge and work will demonstrate the relationship between mental health disorders and digital accessibility. The key elements of the presentation will cover the user personas and case scenarios of mental health disorders, triggering design patterns, and the solutions to digital accessibility of mental health disorders.

This Presentation Link is provided by the Presenter(s) and not hosted by the Center on Disabilities at CSUN. The Center on Disabilities has confirmed, as of April 1, 2022, content linked is relevant to the presentation, but has not been reviewed for accessibility nor will the Center on Disabilities attempt to remediate any accessibility issues in the linked content. Please contact the Presenter(s) with any accessibility concerns.

Audience

Information & Communications Technology
Disability Specific
Healthcare & Rehabilitation
Entertainment & Recreation
Media & Publishing

Audience Level

Beginning

Session Summary (Abstract)

Mental health is the single largest cause of disabilities in the world and yet, it was never properly addressed in digital accessibility field. Until now. This presentation will cover the topics of digital accessibility for users with mental health disorders such as ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, OCD, and PTSD.

Session Type