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Inclusive research & plain language

We research with the people a service most often fails, including people with disabilities, and write content they can read the first time. Tech4Me went from 74 questions to 11, at a 3rd–6th-grade reading level.

11
questions, down from 74
5–10
minutes, down from 45–60
3rd–6th
grade reading level, in plain language

Schematic — client UI under NDA

  • One question at a time
  • Plain language
  • Tested with participants

Trusted by

  • State of Ohio
  • InverCap
  • Stanford University

Design for one, benefit everyone.

We start with the people a service most often fails — people with cognitive, learning, sensory or motor disabilities, older adults, people on a small screen in a hurry — and design for them first. What works for them works better for everyone else.

Tech4Me is the clearest example. Its assessment belongs to Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities and was co-developed with researchers at Ohio State’s Nisonger Center and the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. It asked 74 questions in clinical language and took 45–60 minutes. We researched with participants who included people with cognitive disabilities, rewrote it at a 3rd–6th-grade reading level and showed one decision at a time: 11 questions, 5–10 minutes, WCAG 2.1 AAA. The work took 1st place in Research for Social Good at the 2026 Optimal Experience Awards.

01What we deliver

Research and content people can use.

  • Research with people with disabilities

    Participants who reflect who uses the service, with dignity built into the research protocol.

  • Plain language

    Content rewritten to a reading level you choose and test, not guess: 3rd–6th grade for Tech4Me.

  • One decision at a time

    Progressive disclosure and shorter journeys, so long processes stop being barriers.

  • UX evaluations

    Where your portal, app or site breaks for the people using it, and a baseline to measure improvement against.

  • Information architecture you can test

    Content inventories and tree tests with real audiences, as we ran for the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services.

  • Design for every age

    Interfaces that work for older adults too, as in InverCap’s streamlined, accessibility-first redesign.

02How an engagement runs

From what people need to what they can use.

  1. Listen

    Interviews and observation with the people who use the service, including people with disabilities.

  2. Prototype

    A clickable prototype with the content written plainly from the start.

  3. Test

    Usability tests with participants, and reading-level checks on every screen.

    AI: research synthesis drafts the themes; researchers check them against the sessions.

  4. Hand over

    A design your team can build to, with the content and accessibility decisions written down.

03Results

Tech4Me, before and after.

Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, with Ohio State’s Nisonger Center and DODD, 2025–2026.

11
questions, down from 74
5–10
minutes, down from 45–60
AAA
WCAG 2.1 conformance
1st
place, Research for Social Good, 2026 Optimal Experience Awards

04

Related work

Bring us the hard problem.

Book 30 minutes with the senior people who would do the work.

Or write to info@base22.com