Accessible UX Research, eBook now available for download – Smashing Magazine

Smashing Library is expanding again! We are so happy to announce our newest book, Accessible UX researchis now available for download in eBook formats. Michele A. Williams takes us for a deep dive into the real world of UX testing and provides a roadmap for engaging users with different skills and needs in every testing phase.

But the truth is, you don’t have to do UX testing or even be a UX professional to get a lot out of this book. Michele provides in-depth descriptions of the assistive technology that we all need to be familiar within addition to disability etiquette, common pitfalls when creating accessible prototypes, and much more. You will refer to this book again and again in your daily work.

This is also your last chance to get your print copy at our discounted pre-sale price. We expect hard copies to start shipping early 2026. We know you’ll love this book, but don’t just take our word for it: we asked some industry experts to give it a read Accessible UX research at:

“Accessible UX research constitutes an essential and necessary resource. When addressing disabilities at the User Experience Research layer, it helps to set an equal and equitable tone for products and features that resonate throughout the rest of the creation process. The book offers one sturdy framework for all aspects of conducting research efforts, including not only process considerations, but most importantly the mindset required to approach the work.

This is the book I wanted when I first started my accessibility journey. It is a gift and I feel so lucky that Michele chose to share it with all of us.

Eric Bailey, accessibility advocate

“User research in accessibility is non-negotiable to truly meet user needs, and this book is a crucial piece in the puzzle of actually doing and integrating that research into everyday accessibility work.”

Devon Pershing, author of The Accessibility Operations Manual

“Our decisions as developers and designers are often based on recommendations, assumptions and biases. Most of the time this doesn’t work, because checking off lists or solely looking at our own perspective never really works. depth of human experience. Michele’s book gives you the strategies you need to conduct UX research with diverse groups of people, challenge your assumptions, and create truly great products.”

Manuel Matuzović, author of the Web Accessibility Cookbook

“This book is an essential resource for inclusive research. Michele Williams expertly breaks down key concepts and guides readers through disability models, language, and etiquette. A strong focus on real world application enables readers to conduct impactful, inclusive research sessions. By emphasizing diverse perspectives and proactive inclusion, the book makes a compelling case for accessibility as a core principle and not an afterthought. It is a must-read for researchers, product makers and advocates!”

Anna E. Cook, accessibility and inclusive design specialist

About the book

The book is not a checklist to complete as part of your accessibility work. It’s one practical guide to inclusive UX researchfrom start to finish. If you’ve ever felt unsure about how to include disabled participants, or worried that you’ll do it ‘wrong’, this book is for you. You will receive clear, practical strategies to make your research more inclusive, effective and reliable.

Inside you will learn how to:

• Plan research that includes disabled participants from the start,
• Recruit participants with disabilities,
• Facilitate sessions that work for a range of access needs,
• Ask better questions and avoid unintentionally biased research methods,
• Build trust in your team around accessibility and inclusivity.

The book also challenges common assumptions about disability and encourages readers to do so as well reconsider what inclusion really means in UX research and beyond. Let’s go beyond compliance and create research that reflects the full diversity of your users. Whether you work in industry or academia, this book will give you the tools – and the mindset – to make it happen.

High-quality hardcover, 320 pages. Written by Dr. Michele A. Williams. Cover art by Espen Brunborg. Print edition, shipping early 2026. eBook now available for download. Download a free sample (PDF, 2.3 MB) and reserve your print copy at the pre-sale price.

Contents

1. Disabled mentality: For inclusive research to succeed, we must first confront our thinking about disability, which is typically influenced by ableism thinking.
2. Disability diversity: Accessibility isn’t just about blind screen reader users; disability categories help us access and process the diversity of disabled users.
3. Disability in the stages of UX research: Participants with disabilities can and should be part of every phase of research – formative, prototype and summative.
4. Recruiting disabled participants: Recruiting participants with disabilities isn’t always easy, but that simply means learning strategies about where to look.
5. Designing your research: While our goal is to influence accessible products, our research execution must also be accessible.
6. Facilitating an accessible study: Preparation and communication with your participants can ensure that your study logistics run smoothly.
7. Analyze and report with accuracy and impact: The way you communicate your findings is just as important as collecting them – so prepare to be a storyteller, educator and advocate.
8. Disability in UX research: Inclusion is not just for research participantsit is important to our colleagues also, as explained by blind UX researcher Dr. Cynthia Bennett.

Who is this book intended for?

Whether you’re a UX professional conducting research in industry or academia, or more broadly part of an engineering, product, or design function, you’ll want to read this book if…

1. It has been assigned to you improve the accessibility of your productbut you need to know where to start to facilitate this successfully.
2. You want one culture for accessibility in your business, but you’re not sure how to make it work.
3. You want moving away from WCAG/EAA compliance to established accessibility practices and inclusion in research practices and beyond.
4. You want improve your general accessibility knowledge and be seen as an Accessibility Specialist for your organization.

About the author

Dr. Michele A. Williams owns MAW Consulting, LLC – Making Accessibility Work. Her more than 20 years of experience includes influencing top technology companies as a Senior User Experience (UX) Researcher and Accessibility Specialist and earning a PhD in Human-Centered Computing focused on accessibility. An international speaker, published academic authorAnd patented inventorshe is passionate about educating and advising on technology that does not exclude users with disabilities.

Technical details

Community Affairs ❤️

Producing a book takes quite a bit of time, and we couldn’t make it happen without the support of our wonderful people community. A huge shout-out to Smashing Members for the kind, continued support. The eBook is and remains free Crushing members. In addition, members receive a friendly discount when purchasing their printed copy. Just sayin! 😉

More great books and goodies

Promoting best practices and providing practical tips to master your daily coding and design challenges has always been important (and will continue to be) core of everything we do at Smashing.

Over the past few years we have been fortunate to work with some talented, caring people from the web community to publish their wealth of experience in the form of print books that will stand the test of time. Trine, Heather and Steven are three of these people. Have you checked out their books yet?

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