On Accessibility Resources and PhD Salaries

I answer questions about UX, Information Architecture and other topics on Quora. A selection of these answers will be reposted on Medium with occasional, minor editing for clarity. Following are selected questions I answered in November.

What are the best, most credible, and reliable online resources for accessibility and UX/UI best practices?

Answered November 26, 2017

Because federal websites in the US are required to design to strict accessibility rules, Usability.gov is an excellent resource. Simple layout with best practices for accessibility. The Interaction Design Foundation has Accessibility resources (What is Accessibility?) that are more international in scope.

An expert in accessibility that I follow is Whitney Quesenbery. She wrote a book on accessible design for Rosenfeld Media and is a frequent contributor at UX Matters (Whitney Quesenbery).

What salary should I expect to discuss as a UX designer with a PhD plus eight years experience?

Answered November 16, 2017

I believe it depends on the role. Most of the positions I’ve seen that require a PhD tend to be more quantitative or have a data science component where a PhD would indicate competence. These positions pay higher salaries because of the quantitative requirement. For positions that’s do not have a heavily quantitative role, subject matter expertise or teaching experience from a PhD program could qualify you for higher pay or a more senior role.

There are several salary surveys which may indicate a base salary for UX designers with various degrees. These should give you a starting point.

Comparably

IA Institute Salary & Skills Research

UXPA 2016 Salary Survey Results

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.