Questioning the Candidate Consultants

The following questions may help you during the process of selecting a consultant, either when you are considering the possibility of using a consultant in the early phases of problem definition, or later when you are interviewing candidates based on their responses to your RFP.

You will no doubt have your own set of questions that you would ask any applicant, but when it comes to the actual design-for-accessibility process, you may be asking about topic areas with which you have had little experience.

Offering a set of questions that quizzes someone on specific design issues would not be very useful since this website is public, and all that a consultant would need to do is research this page. The following questions, therefore, ask about general concepts and strategies.

Question: Can you explain why the following requirement is included in the Section 508 / 255 standards? [insert any requirement]

Reason for question: Consultants who are experts in the field should understand both what the requirements are, how to implement solutions, and why a given requirement is included. You may have difficulty with certain legal requirements because it seems like the costs of meeting them are high. Consultants should be able to provide the reasoning, and the pros and cons of meeting a requirement, to aid you in your decision making process. If consultants also can offer reasonable explanations of the likely reasoning of the people who created the standard, then that may be an advantage to you.

Question: Describe a controversial issue in your field, your position on it, and why you feel that way.

Reason for question: There will always be controversial issues in the field of accessibility. Consultants should recognize these issues and be able to explain both sides of the argument. In most cases, it should be possible to verify the two sides of the position by searching for online references to the issue.

Question: Which companies, academic research centers, and publications are the leaders in this field?

Reason for question: Accessible Design is a rapidly growing field with new developments happening all the time. Consultants in this field should keep up with developments and be able to explain who the leaders are, and where they get their news of various advances. It should be possible to verify the positions of the consultants by looking at the websites of the various cited organizations, and also by seeing if those organizations are cited in many other places. There is no single definitive list of leaders in this field, but it should be possible for you to find the names of leading persons or institutions in the numerous collections of resources that can easily be found on the Internet.

Question: What approach would you have to resolving [specific problem]?

Reason for question: A systematic approach is needed to resolve most design problems. The approach does not need to be standardized or certified, but having an approach methodology is bound to be better than a "make-it-up-as-you-go" philosophy. For example, what is perceived as a potential problem by you may or may not be a problem for end users of your product or service, and the consultant should be able to demonstrate how they would go through a process to verify whether your perception is correct.

A note of caution here: You should not ask a consultant to begin designing the solution to your problem during the interview - that should be what happens when the consultant is working for you. You also should be wary of consultants who can present you with a solution before they fully understand your problem (i.e., they may just be pushing the same solutions to all customers because that is all they know how to do).

Question: How do you approach the issue of balancing disabled users' needs with those of non-disabled customers and other design constraints?

Reason for question: Extreme concerns for people with disabilities may "blind" some consultants to the other issues that are important to the success of your product or service. It is not helpful to receive suggestions that would run up your costs but not your revenue because your product would quickly become unprofitable. It can be the case, however, that someone may be so passionate about the needs of people with disabilities that they insist that their needs override any other concerns.

Next Step

• When you are ready to move on, click the Next link at the bottom of the page to review a list of questions to ask of your candidate’s references.