The Masking Tax: How Workplace Products Charge an Invisible Cost on Disabled Employees
at UX Australia 2026
Type
talk
Josephine Abbatangelo uses her experience of invisible disability to examine exclusion in workplace products and design practice. She discusses challenging standard assumptions, adapting discovery and design, and recognising patterns that fail disabled users.
People
Josephine Abbatangelo
Methods
Inclusive DesignInclusive design identifies who an experience excludes and involves people with different abilities and perspectives in shaping it. Start by examining assumptions and mismatches between a person and the product or environment. Work with people who experience those barriers, then explore solutions that address their needs and may benefit others. Use this approach throughout product and service development, including decisions about interaction, communication and participation. Revisit whose perspectives are missing as the design evolves.