Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Mar 2018 OA PDF

Exploring Transformative Usability in the Business and Professional Writing Classroom

Danielle Nielsen Murray State University

Abstract

This article addresses the importance of teaching transformative usability and accessibility concepts through the lens of disability studies in general business and professional communication courses. It argues that when students learn to analyze audiences, include diverse users, and foresee accessibility before the final draft because they practice user-centered design, their documents become more accessible for all users and situations. It presents a four-unit course plan that integrates disability studies and usability, including legal requirements. The unit plan advocates considering disability and diverse users and uses at the beginning of the design process.

Journal
Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
Published
2018-03-01
DOI
10.1177/2329490617748690
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
OA PDF Bronze
Topics
writing pedagogy teacher development technical communication professional writing disability studies
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (6)

  1. Ptacek et al. (2026)
    Integrating Mediated Reflexivity in the Classroom to Build Positive Communicati…
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  2. Butler (2024)
    A Profession of Accessible Conversations: Convo Communications
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  3. Bennett et al. (2022)
    Transforming the Rights-Based Encounter: Disability Rights, Disability Justice,…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Palmer et al. (2021)
    Reimagining Business Planning, Accessibility, and Web Design Instruction: A Sta…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  5. Moshiri et al. (2020)
    An Updated and Expanded Nationwide Study of Business Communication Courses
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
Show all 6 →
  1. Obermark (2019)
    Making Space for the Misfit: Disability and Access in Graduate Education in English
    College English

References (46) · 7 in this index

  1. 10.28945/691
     ↗
  2. Banning-Lover R., Purvis K. (2016, June 22). Disability rights around the world: From 1944 to the present day…
  3. 10.1007/978-3-319-06163-4
     ↗
  4. Breuch et al. (2001)
    Usability Instruction in Technical Communication Programs: New Directions in Cu…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. 10.1002/ss.394
     ↗
Show all 46 →
  1. 10.1016/j.jbusres.2008.06.017
     ↗
  2. Chiu M. (2013, March 14). The occupations of workers with disabilities [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://ww…
  3. Colton J. S., Walton R. (2015). Disability as insight into social justice pedagogy in technical communication…
  4. Coombs N. (2010)
    Making online teaching accessible: Inclusive course design for students with disabilities
  5. Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund. (2017). International laws. Retrieved from https://dredf.org/lega…
  6. 10.18061/dsq.v35i2.4632
     ↗
  7. 10.2190/RAAC1
     ↗
  8. Goodley D. (2010)
    Disability studies: An interdisciplinary introduction
  9. 10.2190/RAAC4
     ↗
  10. Hulgin K. (2011)
    Review of Disability Studies
  11. International Organization for Standardization. (2014a). Annual report 2014: Taking standards forward. Retrie…
  12. International Organization for Standardization. (2014b). Guide 71: Guide for addressing accessibility in stan…
  13. 10.1177/1080569913493460
     ↗
  14. 10.2190/RAAC2
     ↗
  15. 10.1509/jppm.28.1.16
     ↗
  16. Lewin T. (2015, February 12). Harvard and M.I.T. are sued over lack of closed captions. The New York Times. R…
  17. Meloncon L. (2013)
    Rhetorical accessability: At the intersection of technical communication and disability studies
  18. Moshiri et al. (2014)
    The State of Business Communication Classes: A National Survey
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  19. 10.17265/2159-5313/2016.09.003
     ↗
  20. Nielsen D. (2013)
    CEA Forum
  21. 10.7330/9781607324850.c006
     ↗
  22. Orrick Herrington, Sutcliffe LLP. (2014, December 24). The next frontier in ADA litigation: Website and app a…
  23. Oswal (2014)
    Participatory design: barriers and possibilities
    Communication Design Quarterly
  24. 10.2190/RAAC7
     ↗
  25. Palmeri (2006)
    Disability Studies, Cultural Analysis, and the Critical Practice of Technical C…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  26. 10.2190/RAAC6
     ↗
  27. Redish (2010)
    Technical Communication and Usability: Intertwined Strands and Mutual Influences
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  28. Roy E. (2015, September n.d.). Elise Roy: When we design for disability, we all benefit [Video file]. Retriev…
  29. Sandhu J. S. (2011)
    Universal design handbook
  30. Steinfeld E., Maisel J. (2012). What is UD? Retrieved from http://www.universaldesign.com/what-is-ud/
  31. Still et al. (2010)
    Editorial: Technical Communication and Usability Studies
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  32. Straumsheim C. (2016, February 23). Harvard accessibility lawsuit moves forward. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved …
  33. 10.1145/947226.947227
     ↗
  34. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). 3:1 Comply with section 508. Retrieved from http://guid…
  35. U.S. Department of Justice. (2009). A guide to disability rights laws. Retrieved from https://www.ada.gov/cgu…
  36. U.S. Department of Justice. (2014). Effective communication. Retrieved from https://www.ada.gov/effective-comm.htm
  37. Walters (2010)
    Toward an Accessible Pedagogy: Dis/ability, Multimodality, and Universal Design…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  38. World Health Organization. (n.d.a). Disabilities. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/topics/disabilities/en/
  39. World Health Organization. (n.d.b). World report on disability. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/disabilitie…
  40. World Wide Web Consortium. (2005). Introduction to web accessibility. Retrieved from https://www.w3.org/WAI/i…
  41. Zdenek S. (2009). Accessible podcasting: College students on the margins in the new media classroom. Computer…
CrossRef global citation count: 6 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Pedagogy Oct 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy advanced composition creative writing writing across the curriculum graduate education two-year college service learning teacher development technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions archival research multimodality artificial intelligence literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies literary studies editorial matter
  2. Pedagogy Apr 2022
    Contributors ↗
    rhetorical criticism writing pedagogy creative writing writing across the curriculum teacher development collaborative writing assessment writing program administration technical communication professional writing digital rhetoric literacy studies gender and writing disability studies literary studies book reviews editorial matter
  3. Pedagogy Jan 2022
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis african american rhetorics decolonial rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy basic writing writing across the curriculum graduate education teacher development argument collaborative writing transfer assessment portfolios writing program administration writing centers peer tutoring technical communication professional writing archival research digital rhetoric social media grammar and mechanics literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies public rhetoric community literacy literary studies editorial matter
  4. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Mar 2026
    Teaching Radical Love: Implementing Critical Positive Communication Pedagogy in the Classroom ↗
    Vincent Russell; Grace Cheshire; Gabriel Wisnewski-Parks
    writing pedagogy teacher development professional writing race and writing gender and writing disability studies
  5. Prompt: A Journal of Academic Writing Assignments Jan 2026
    A Murder Most Technical: Gamification, AI, and Rhetorical Genre Studies in the Technical Writing Classroom ↗
    Justin Cook
    genre theory writing pedagogy service learning teacher development argument collaborative writing technical communication professional writing