Accessibility and Plain Language with Abby Bajuniemi

Abby Bajuniemi joins us on this week's show to kick off a month all dedicated to accessibility! Abby has a Ph.D. in Hispanic linguistics, and sits down with us to talk about accessibility, using language more effectively, and the problem with chatbots.

Included in this show:

• Why should designers, product managers, marketers and developers care about conversation and conversation theory?
• The damage that can be done using automated voice assistants incorrectly
• How we create meaning using language, and how it's much more than just the words being used
• How the internet has created new ways for us to use language (both good and bad)
• The wide definition of being "accessible"
• Use of plain language, and how jargon and flowery language is damaging our communication
• How the educational system contributes to poor communication
• The difficulty of automated translations
• Use of chatbots, and how to think carefully about implementing them in an accessible way
• The importance of thinking critically about who your audience really is (they're not all just like you)
• Using guerrilla usability testing to test language and messaging to ensure you're serving your audience correctly
• Why chatbots should just own up to being robots, and stop pretending to be people
• And much, much more!

Join us on the show by emailing us at [email protected]. Whether you'd like to come on the air and give us your thoughts, ask us a question, or just provide your feedback via email, we'd love to hear from you!

You can also give us a call at 813-485-4866 to join us on the show each week.

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