Michael Rabby‘s recent article, “Inclusive measures: Establishing audio description tactics that impact social inclusion and public health,” co-authored with Brett Oppegaard (University of Hawai’i Manoa), appears in Amplifying Voices in UX: Balancing Design and User Needs in Technical Communication, a collection of essays and articles edited by Amber Lancaster & Carie S. T. King and published by SUNY Press.
“The field of technical and professional communication is young, and research related to it—and specifically usability—is constantly growing. Usability and user-experience researchers are broadening research into studies involving social issues, accessibility, reconciliation, and user advocacy. Amplifying Voices in UX explores the theme of balance in design and UX in three main areas: curriculum design that includes empathy, service learning, and design justice; design and balance for effective medical and health communication; and design to create balance in labor, social, civic, and political movements.”
— SUNY Press
Dr. Michael Rabby began researching how people talked to each other over e-mail in 1995, and has continued investigating various facets of internet relationships ever since. He was one of the first researchers to study the actual content of e-mail messages, the subject of his Master’s thesis, and to use the Internet as a tool to collect survey data for his PhD. This research path has led him through areas such as mobile apps, online and offline romantic relationships, online relationship maintenance, online impression management and self-presentation, improving audio descriptions for the blind and visually impaired, the use of social media by deployed troops, and adoption of tablets for journalism. Through it all, the ultimate question of his research has involved the use of technology to include and connect.
At WSUV, Dr. Rabby leads the social media program in several facets, including a certificate for matriculating students, as well as a separate certificate geared for professionals and continuing education students. He has more than twenty different classes, and created and developed classes in Washington and Florida.