Inclusive Research Needs More Than a Checklist

UX research is meant to remove guesswork from design, but it can easily produce a skewed picture when teams assume that different people will interact with a product in roughly the same way. Accessibility guidelines and checklists are useful, yet they don’t automatically translate into research that genuinely accounts for users with different abilities. Accessibility, in practice, is a deliberate effort to understand and include those differences.

That’s the starting point for Accessible UX Research, a new book by Dr. Michele A. Williams, now available for pre-order. The book is a practical guide aimed at making every stage of UX research more inclusive—from planning and recruiting to facilitation, questioning, avoiding bias, and building trust.

What the Book Covers

The book is not another compliance checklist. Instead, it offers concrete strategies for researchers who want to include disabled participants but aren’t sure where to begin or worry about making mistakes. Key topics include:

  • Planning research that accounts for disabled participants from the outset
  • Recruiting participants with disabilities
  • Facilitating sessions that accommodate various access needs
  • Asking better questions and steering clear of unintentional bias in research methods
  • Building team confidence in accessibility and inclusion practices

The book opens with a focus on disability mindset, arguing that inclusive research starts by confronting ableism and the assumptions researchers bring to their work. It then explores the diversity of disability, noting that accessibility isn’t only about blind screen reader users—broad disability categories help unpack the range of user needs. A dedicated section looks at disability across research stages, making the case that disabled participants belong in formative, prototype, and summative research alike.

Recruiting is treated as a solvable challenge: it may not always be easy, but there are strategies for finding participants. The book also addresses designing accessible research itself, facilitating studies smoothly through preparation and communication, and analyzing and reporting findings with accuracy and impact—framing the researcher as storyteller, educator, and advocate.

A final chapter widens the lens to disability within the UX research field itself, arguing that inclusion matters for colleagues, not only for study participants. That chapter is informed by the perspective of blind UX researcher Dr. Cynthia Bennett.

Illustration showing Smashing Magazine’s mascot Topple, a red, cartoon-style cat wearing a black sweater. It is smiling and holding a post-it note in its right hand that reads “New” as it is peeking from behind Michele A. William’s new book “Accessible UX Research”. The book has a teal cover that shows a three times three grid of windows in different architectural styles. Inside the windows, there are icons related to UX research, such as speech bubbles, a looking glass, a keyboard, and UI components. The text on the illustration reads: “Coming soon to the Smashing Library! Pre-order your copy now.”

Who Should Read It

The book targets UX professionals in industry or academia, as well as anyone in engineering, product, or design roles. It’s particularly relevant if you fit one of these profiles:

  1. You’re tasked with improving your product’s accessibility and need a starting point for doing that successfully.
  2. You want to establish a culture of accessibility in your organization but aren’t sure how to make it stick.
  3. You’re ready to move beyond WCAG/EAA compliance toward established accessibility practices, including in research.
  4. You want to deepen your accessibility expertise and become an Accessibility Specialist for your organization.

The print edition ships starting February 2026; the eBook is available for download now. Written by Dr. Michele A. Williams, with cover art by Espen Brunborg.

Illustration showing Smashing Magazine’s mascot Topple, a red, cartoon-style cat wearing a black sweater. It is smiling and holding a post-it note in its right hand that reads “New” as it is peeking from behind Michele A. William’s new book “Accessible UX Research”. The book has a teal cover that shows a three times three grid of windows in different architectural styles. Inside the windows, there are icons related to UX research, such as speech bubbles, a looking glass, a keyboard, and UI components. The text on the illustration reads: “Thanks for your kind support.”