Information flows like water. Water flows downhill. The work of a blind reader to get access to print/visual information is like swimming up a river. There are just so many rivers to swim, and sooner or later you can choose to go with the flow and take in the information that comes pouring past you in a form you can use.
So the work of accessibility is energy expended moving against a gradient. Blind or not, most computer users also experience the energy demands of working against a gradient, a usability gradient. If a web site takes more than a few seconds to figure out how to use – click – you’re off to the next link which had better work or – click – again. In our attention economy, there is too much information for any human to keep up with. You do not have to waste time pushing against a gradient to get information unless you choose to do so.
Accessibility/Usability Gradient . I like the pairing of these terms. Pairing the ideas allows you to probe accessibility with another concept that a wider audience can relate to. And so, this fits what I’ve been thinking about with Lifehacks: new geek metaphors that can be applied to the phenomenology of disability.
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