Welcomed by Design

Designers play an important role in how we experience the world and who gets to participate. At times, inclusive design can feel daunting. Inclusion covers many different lenses, from disability and accessibility to working against bias in algorithms. There’s much to learn. Enter Welcomed by Design: the show where we talk about the many ways to move towards a more inclusive future. Join us to hear from people working as advocates, practitioners, and researchers and learn how we can make every mind and body feel more welcomed by design. Cover art description: Open door emerging from sound waves. The door is giving off a path of light. On that path, text reads “welcomed by design” [end of description] (Cover art illustrated by Lynn Priestley) Meet the team: Host and producer: Lynn Priestley, Executive producer: Dr. Jessica FitzPatrick, Episode sound designer: Ashton McCool, Supplement sound designer & web developer: Chloe Dahan, Producer: Emily Kuntz, Transcriber: Shivangi "Teddy" Tiwari

E 08 - Dr. Jay Dolmage: “Designing through disability as an identity and culture” 12/14/2023

Torch Pass: The Next Era of Welcomed by Design 04/24/2023

S 07 - On muppets, penguins, & (responsibly) speculative spaceships! 04/24/2023

E 07 - Drs. Bess Williamson, Elizabeth Guffey, & Meryl Alper: “Access as an ideal” 04/24/2023

E 07 - Drs. Bess Williamson, Elizabeth Guffey, & Meryl Alper: “Access as an ideal” On this episode of Welcomed by Design, we sit down with Dr. Bess Williamson, Dr. Elizabeth Guffey, and Dr. Meryl Alper to discuss the past, present, and future of disability design. Our talking points include the “wiggly” nature of access, the way mindsets around accessible design (particularly around Universal Design methodology) have differed/evolved across time and place, and the nuances around disability and visibility. (Our guests’ guiding advice around responsible speculative design and thoughts on the potentials of crip technoscience/design were particular Welcomed by Design team-favorite moments.) (An unembedded link to the resource library, which includes transcripts, will be at the bottom of this description for anyone needing to copy and paste the link in a web browser.) (for terms and recommended readings) Host and producer: Lynn Priestley Executive producer: Dr. Jessica FitzPatrick Sound designer: Ashton McCool Producer: Emily Kuntz Transcriber: Shivangi “Teddy” Tiwari Our Guests’ Links: Our guest’s websites: Books discussed in our conversation: [coming out in June 2023] [coming out in August 2023] Sound credits: “” from Landmans Duet, by Blue Dot Sessions () “” from Cauldron, by Blue Dot Sessions () “” from Algae Fields, by Blue Dot Sessions () The rest of the audio comes from Freesound.org. Julesv4 - Door Creaking Rivernile7 - Writing on Paper Thatmisfit - Pages Turning Piermic - Children Playing Simone_DS - Pans Clanking TimothyD4Y - Bacon Sizzling Zrrion-the-Insect - Keyboard Typing Sounds 60013_qubodup - Whoosh If you have questions, guest suggestions, or comments about the accessibility of this podcast, please don’t hesitate to email us at . Unembedded link to above-mentioned resource library: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1unKUUqD_SH2Qi0C94s2j7WEuXdtP0k0e?usp=sharing /episode/index/show/29338976-abe4-476c-ae50-0eab5dff1ed0/id/26637162

E 06 (Part 2) - Unwell: Queer Horror Week Special 04/02/2023

E 06 (Part 2) - Unwell: Queer Horror Week Special On this episode of Welcomed by Design, we listen back to Fall 2022’s Queer Horror Week, coordinated by Pitt’s Horror Studies Working Group. Members of our team got to panel with many cool creatives, including the wonderful, BBC award-winning team of Unwell, to talk about accessibility and identity in the world of audio dramas! With a topic like that, there’s obviously going to be far too much good conversation to have a mere hour of footage. So we’re releasing a two-part special (which, given its patchwork of event audio clips, a lá Frankenstein’s monster, is thematically spooky in structure). In this part 2, we discuss inclusive world-building, from challenging what gets capital-O Othered and what is normalized, to some of the team’s favorite aspects of the world they’ve created. Be sure to check out part 1 for even more conversation, which focuses on real-life accessibility and inclusion in their production. (which we’ve annotated this episode, in honor of Unwell!) (An unembedded link to the resource library, which includes transcripts, will be at the bottom of this description for anyone needing to copy and paste the link in a web browser.) (for terms and recommended readings) , a fictional Midwestern Gothic Mystery podcast, about conspiracies, ghosts, and unusual families of blood and choice… Host and producer: Lynn Priestley Executive producer: Dr. Jessica FitzPatrick Sound designer: Chloe Dahan Producer: Emily Kuntz Transcriber: Shivangi “Teddy” Tiwari Sound credits: ” from Landmans Duet, by Blue Dot Sessions () “” from Cauldron, by Blue Dot Sessions () Some sound effects were sourced from Freesound.org. Julesv4 - Door Creaking Nettimato - Chain Keweldog - Crunching Scraping Mincedbeats - Gel Squelches TRP - Foot Squish Wet Mud Puddle Stratford Garzul - Analog Lazer fx Florianreichelt - Soft Wind The remaining sound clips used (except for the door opening sound clip), outside of spoken audio, were free sound effects from If you have questions, guest suggestions, or comments about the accessibility of this podcast, please don’t hesitate to email us at . Unembedded link to above-mentioned resource library: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1unKUUqD_SH2Qi0C94s2j7WEuXdtP0k0e?usp=sharing /episode/index/show/29338976-abe4-476c-ae50-0eab5dff1ed0/id/26419593

E 06 (Part 1) - Unwell: Queer Horror Week Special 04/02/2023

E 06 (Part 1) - Unwell: Queer Horror Week Special On this episode of Welcomed by Design, we listen back to Fall 2022’s Queer Horror Week, coordinated by Pitt’s Horror Studies Working Group. Members of our team got to panel with many cool creatives, including the wonderful, BBC award-winning team of Unwell, to talk about accessibility and identity in the world of audio dramas! With a topic like that, there’s obviously going to be far too much good conversation to have a mere hour of footage. So we’re releasing a two-part special (which, given its patchwork of event audio clips, a lá Frankenstein’s monster, is also thematically spooky in structure). In this part 1, we discuss accessible and inclusive production practices, on the “real life” side of things. We talked about everything from fun/snarky transcript comments to balancing the nature of scaring in horror with care in content warnings. Be sure to check out part 2 for even more conversation, this time on inclusive fictional practices. (which we’ve annotated this episode, in honor of Unwell!) (An unembedded link to the resource library, which includes transcripts, will be at the bottom of this description for anyone needing to copy and paste the link in a web browser.) (for terms and recommended readings) , a fictional Midwestern Gothic Mystery podcast, about conspiracies, ghosts, and unusual families of blood and choice… Host and producer: Lynn Priestley Executive producer: Dr. Jessica FitzPatrick Sound designer: Ashton McCool Producer: Emily Kuntz Transcriber: Shivangi “Teddy” Tiwari Sound credits: ” from Landmans Duet, by Blue Dot Sessions () “” from Cauldron, by Blue Dot Sessions () Some sound effects were sourced from Freesound.org. Julesv4 - Door Creaking Nettimato - Chain Keweldog - Crunching Scraping Mincedbeats - Gel Squelches TRP - Foot Squish Wet Mud Puddle Stratford Garzul - Analog Lazer fx Florianreichelt - Soft Wind Sound effects not listed above were sourced from If you have questions, guest suggestions, or comments about the accessibility of this podcast, please don’t hesitate to email us at . Unembedded link to above-mentioned resource library: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1unKUUqD_SH2Qi0C94s2j7WEuXdtP0k0e?usp=sharing /episode/index/show/29338976-abe4-476c-ae50-0eab5dff1ed0/id/26419542

S 05 - Science fiction is about the present. 03/03/2023

E 05 - Dr. Kelsey Cameron: “Empathy is suspect” 03/03/2023

E 05 - Dr. Kelsey Cameron: “Empathy is suspect” On this episode of Welcomed by Design, we sit down with Dr. Kelsey Cameron to discuss police body cams, the subjective nature of interpreting body cam footage, and why body cams fail as “perfect witnesses.” And we also talk about the design that goes into body cam operation: policy design affecting their use, how the footage gets handled once recorded, and the physical design of the cameras. This is a conversation that highlights critical nuances often left out of mainstream conversations around body cams, as well as why empathy might not always be what designers need to be seeking to design better. Content warning: In this interview, we discuss police body cams and their impact on policing and the criminal justice system. Given the nature of this topic we discuss systemic racism, police violence, body cams, and their footage. For an extended content warning, including a temporal locator of this interview, please refer to 0:00:00 - 0:01:21 of both the episode and episode transcript. (An unembedded link to the resource library, which includes transcripts, will be at the bottom of this description for anyone needing to copy and paste the link in a web browser.) (for terms and recommended readings) Host and producer: Lynn Priestley Executive producer: Dr. Jessica FitzPatrick Sound design: Ashton McCool Producer: Emily Kuntz Transcriber: Shivangi “Teddy” Tiwari Sound credits: “” from Landmans Duet, by Blue Dot Sessions () “” from Cauldron, by Blue Dot Sessions () “” from Algae Fields, by Blue Dot Sessions () The rest of the audio comes from . Julesv4 - Door Creaking DCPoke - Birds Singing 03 Jazbavac - Vibration Patchytherat - Whiney Meow 2 Sonically_Sound - Crowd at Cafeteria Zrrion-the-Insect - Keyboard Typing Sounds 60013_qubodup - Whoosh If you have questions, guest suggestions, or comments about the accessibility of this podcast, please don’t hesitate to email us at . Unembedded link to above-mentioned resource library: /episode/index/show/29338976-abe4-476c-ae50-0eab5dff1ed0/id/26122389

S 04 - “Welcome to gender!” 02/13/2023

E 04 - Drs. Victoria Grieve & Bridget Keown: “Demand time and be specific.” 02/13/2023

E 04 - Drs. Victoria Grieve & Bridget Keown: “Demand time and be specific.” On this episode of Welcomed by Design, we sit down with two Pitt professors, Dr. Victoria Grieve and Dr. Bridget Keown, to talk about gender inclusion. We discuss some gender-based “pain points” for designers to consider, how we live in the internet, and why diversity in the workplace can’t just end with hiring practices. This conversation spans everything from Starship robot families to statistics gone bad. (Seriously, the initial recording went for over an hour and a half. It was so much fun. Having to edit it down to under an hour and a half was less fun.) (An unembedded link to the resource library, which includes transcripts, will be at the bottom of this description for anyone needing to copy and paste the link in a web browser.) (for terms and recommended readings) Links from Bridget and Victoria: organized by Bridget and open to the Pitt community! Research, Ethics and Society Initiative coming soon It Could Happen Here podcast: Hormone Replacement Therapy and (featuring Victoria!) Host and producer: Lynn Priestley Executive producer: Dr. Jessica FitzPatrick Sound design: Ashton McCool Producer: Emily Kuntz Transcriber: Shivangi “Teddy” Tiwari Sound credits: “” from Landmans Duet, by Blue Dot Sessions () “” from Cauldron, by Blue Dot Sessions () “” from Algae Fields, by Blue Dot Sessions () Vivaldi - Symphony in G Major The rest of the audio comes from Freesound.org. Rivernile7 - Writing on Paper JulesV4 - Door Creaking Soundsforhim - Close Book Thatmisfit - Pages Turning If you have questions, guest suggestions, or comments about the accessibility of this podcast, please don’t hesitate to email us at . Unembedded link to above-mentioned resource library: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1unKUUqD_SH2Qi0C94s2j7WEuXdtP0k0e?usp=sharing /episode/index/show/29338976-abe4-476c-ae50-0eab5dff1ed0/id/25912821

S 03 - We love Dracula & Frankenstein’s interdependency. 11/30/2022

E 03 - Ellen Lupton: Sensory design as “key to function, communication, and accessibility” 11/30/2022

S 02 - Let’s talk about cardboard. 10/30/2022

E 02 - Adaptive Design Association: “Making acquiring adaptive equipment accessible” 10/30/2022

E 02 - Adaptive Design Association: “Making acquiring adaptive equipment accessible” On this episode of Welcomed by Design, we talk with Tamara Morgan, Adam El-Sawaf, and Eric Gottshall from the Adaptive Design Association (ADA). We discuss how cardboard helps democratize the adaptive design process, how the custom versus universal design debate has no right answer, and how the language around co-design doesn’t have to be so polar around “with” versus “for.” Plus, we get into how design with disability doesn’t always have to be so sterile or clinical. Fun colors and playful designs are welcome! (Note: the team was calling in from their studio, which has affected the sound quality of the interview. The audio was edited to be as clear as possible, but given the open nature of their work environment, some background noise was unavoidable. Our transcript is linked below for additional clarity if needed.) (An unembedded link to the resource library, which includes transcripts, will be at the bottom of this description for anyone needing to copy and paste the link in a web browser.) (for tools, terms, and recommended readings) More on the Adaptive Design Association: Meet the WbD team: Host and producer: Lynn Priestley, Executive producer: Dr. Jessica FitzPatrick, Episode sound designer: Ashton McCool If you have questions, guest suggestions, or comments about the accessibility of this podcast, please don’t hesitate to email us at . Sound credits: “” from Landmans Duet, by Blue Dot Sessions () “” from Cauldron, by Blue Dot Sessions () “” from Algae Fields, by Blue Dot Sessions () “” from Banana Cream, by Blue Dot Sessions () The rest of the audio comes from . Joedeshon - Film Static 03 Deleted User 7146007 - Construction Sounds Hammering a Nail Domiscz_04 - Saw Katolker - Bandsaw JulesV4 - Door Creaking Zrrion-the-Insect - Keyboard Typing Sounds 60013_qubodup - Whoosh Unembedded link to above-mentioned resource library: /episode/index/show/29338976-abe4-476c-ae50-0eab5dff1ed0/id/24845973

S 01 - Fact checks & favorites & clippies, oh my! 09/30/2022

E 01 - Reginé Gilbert: “You’re never done learning, really.” 09/30/2022

Introducing: Welcomed by Design 05/28/2022

Welcomed by Design

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