The Accessibility User Research Collective (AURC) provides customized user research services connecting product developers with people with disabilities.

Person typing on a braille keyboard
Smiling woman in a wheelchair doing design work on her Microsoft laptop with her colleagues behind her
Smiling adolescent boy in a wheelchair and neck brace wearing Microsoft headphones and using the Xbox Adaptive Controller to play video games with a friend.
Computer keyboard with a glowing, green “Accessibility” key
Blind man listening to his cell phone as he speaks with a Disability Answer Desk representative at Microsoft using the Be My Eyes app

The Accessibility User Research Collective (AURC) is a U.S.-based national community of people with all types of disabilities interested in helping make technology, health, and consumer goods companies more accessible and usable. 

The AURC is organized and maintained by assistive technology & accessibility researchers at Shepherd Center.

Visit https://www.shepherd.org/research to learn about current research projects at Shepherd Center.

People with disabilities join the Accessibility User Research Collective (AURC) to:

  1. Become part of our research collective by taking a short survey.

  2. Participate in usability studies conducted by AURC staff and receive participation incentives.

  3. Help shape the accessibility and usability of consumer technology and products by providing valuable feedback.

People working together at a table on various types of devices (laptops, tablets, cell phones) with an overlaid network of white, overlapping vectors connecting multiple electronic profile icons. Symbolizes the expanse & impact of a social netwo…

Create a Network

Smiling man in a wheelchair working on his Microsoft laptop in a sunny home-office while having a conversation with someone on his cellphone

Provide User Feedback

UX/UI designers collaborating on a whiteboard (with sticky notes, colored markers, story-boards, process-flow-charts, and concept sketches) for the ideation phase of a mobile app development and interface design project

Inform Product Development

Every effort has been made to make this website accessible. If you encounter any difficulties using our website please contact us.

Let the AURC help you build better products.

We’ve partnered with major companies to help them achieve their accessibility and usability goals for their products. We can quickly deploy full-scale research projects with people with disabilities so that you can develop a deep understanding of your customer, uncover hidden market share, or meet federal accessibility regulations.