Frank Spillers
Free Lesson

Beyond User Advocacy: How to Advocate for Disabled Users

30 min
Sep 3, 2026 12:00 PM

What you'll learn

Bring disabled people into the work

Learn how to advocate for meaningful disabled-user involvement throughout research and design.

Advocate beyond the interface

Learn how to trace exclusion across touchpoints, journeys, and organisational systems.

Turn disability evidence into action

Learn how to challenge assumptions and secure accountable decisions. Move accessibility from tactical to strategic.

Why this topic matters

Designers are encouraged to be user advocates. But that does not transfer to disabled users. This risks exclusion, mismatching the goals of accessibility. Yes, WCAG provides an essential technical baseline. But, compliance alone misses the journey view. Barriers can appear: support, documentation, authentication, physical spaces, org policies, or inaccessible recovery routes. Disability advocacy gives us the tool to improve access work.

You'll learn from

Frank Spillers

Frank Spillers

Award-winning Design Leader with 25+ years (Nike, Microsoft, Gov UK, World Bank)

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