Case Study: Accessibility & Universal Design
Partner: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS)
Focus: Public Health Messaging, Universal Design & Narrative Editing Deliverables: Educational Video, Interview Production, Editorial Restructuring
We should all be concerned with accessibility because people who are able-bodied are only temporarily so. Disability is often invisible; are the things that we are doing and creating accessible for people with disabilities? Accessibility is an intersectional concept which includes privilege, power, and oppression.
The Context
Discussions around accessibility are often reduced to physical accommodations, obscuring the deeper, systemic challenges faced by individuals with disabilities. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) required a communicative asset that could unpack the nuance of universal design—demonstrating that accessibility is about the ability to “reach, obtain, use, understand, and process.” The challenge was taking complex themes of ableism, invisible disabilities, and intersectional oppression and making them universally digestible for a broad public audience without losing their gravity.
The Approach
stemstories approached this project with a focus on authentic, conversational expertise. Rather than relying on a scripted, clinical voiceover, the strategy centered on long-form interviews. The critical work for this piece happened in the post-production phase, relying heavily on precision editing to distill a wealth of information into a natural, impactful narrative that guides the viewer from relatable, everyday examples into deeper systemic insights.
The Execution
- Interview Production: Facilitated an environment that allowed the subject to speak candidly about the troubled history of the medical system and the intersectional reality of living with a disability.
- Precision Narrative Editing: Meticulously carved down extensive interview footage into a tight, two-and-a-half-minute narrative. The editing process focused on removing conversational filler while strictly preserving the speaker’s natural cadence and emotional weight, ensuring the final piece felt both concise and effortlessly spoken.
- Thematic Sequencing: Structured the video’s flow to hook the audience with a universally understood concept—how automatic doors originally designed for disabilities benefit parents and distracted walkers alike—before bridging into heavier discussions about how design dictates who gets to navigate society.
The Impact
The final video provides MDHHS with a highly accessible, human-centric educational tool. By leveraging rigorous editorial restraint, Stemstories transformed a complex public health dialogue into a concise and engaging narrative. The piece effectively invites viewers to recognize the prevalence of inaccessibility in their daily lives, driving home the core message that universal design ultimately benefits everyone.
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