Thursday, November 14, 2019 marks the fifteenth year of World Usability Day (WUD).
The annual worldwide event brings together people from all walks of life to focus on a single objective: ensure that the services and products important to life are easier to access and simpler to use.
Conferences, hands-on workshops, and public events will be held around the world as people discuss, celebrate, and learn about usability and how it impacts our daily lives through the products we use.
Earlier this month I wrote about the 2019 World Usability Day at Michigan State University. If you’ve already registered, I hope you have a wonderful time.
Sadly, not everyone has a World Usability Day event happening nearby or are unable to get away from work.
But you still can participate in World Usability Day!
I’ve researched and discovered an excellent event you can join online. For free!
Read on to learn how you can attend World Usability Day from the comfort of your office or work area.
Livestream of the World Usability Day at the University of Minnesota
Shout out to the University of Minnesota World Usability Day organizers who are offering a livestream option for people to attend their event.
Hosted by the Information Technology Department at the University of Minnesota, their free all-day World Usability Day livestream event offers workshops, panels, and discussions.
The focus of their event sessions are content, accessibility, usability studies, WordPress, and more.
The University of Minnesota event will be held 8:30am to 4:30pm Central Time. (time zone converter for University of Minnesota event)
Their schedule includes a keynote to kick off the morning and afternoon sessions, along with multiple tracks throughout the day.
Note: pre-registration for the livestream is required.
From what I read in their overview, livestream is available for two of the tracks.
Here’s a selection of some of their sessions:
- 9:00am to 9:50am: Morning Keynote: How Silos Learn: Lessons from the Idea Factory, presented by Amanda Costello, Content Designer at 18F
- 10:00am to 10:50am: Designing a Mobile Future for All of Us: A Panel of Mobile Users with Disabilities, panel discussion with Sue Ann Rodriquez, Director of Accessibility Services at WeCo Accessibility Services, Maureen Pranghofer, Tester at WeCo Accessibility Services, and Chad Koch, Tester at WeCo Accessibility Services
- 2:00pm to 2:50pm: Guten Tolerance: Optimizing a block-based authoring interface for novice users, presented by Matt Ryan, User Experience Designer
- 3:00pm to 3:50pm: From Ableist to Ally, presented by Ashley Oolman, Disability Inclusion Consultant at Lifeworks
Summary
Whether you can’t get away from work or there isn’t a local World Usability Day event nearby, you can attend a World Usability Day event in person by participating in the University of Minnesota WUD event.
With a range of sessions and multiple tracks, you’re bound to find an interesting session to learn more about usability and how it can be applied to your work projects. Register for the livestream today!
