White-hat Attention Jacking for Accessibility, Fun and Profit

GOTO Copenhagen 2019

Attention: we don’t have a lot of it, and it’s very easily squandered. The picture gets even worse for those of us with attentional problems or poor memory, those who are getting older … and those who just didn’t sleep well last night. When we build software, or make things for web, these are the users who need most help!

Here we’ll explore some common methods of information overload and misdirection, and what is really going on there from a psychology perspective. We’ll look at how time and space affect people’s ability to perceive information, and how we might use or misuse these dimensions to good/bad effect. We’ll also talk about how to avoid disadvantaging vulnerable groups when we build things.

This session is suitable for anyone, but will be especially useful for front-end developers and those creating content. It’s also a good introduction to (some) accessibility issues.