Diya Chakraborti
Accessible text-to-911 for the Deaf community
I redesigned accesSOS’s emergency reporting flow, scaling it from 1 county to 100% coverage in two U.S. states. This redesign resulted in a 30% shorter reporting experience on iOS and Android (2023).
Timeline
Sept - Dec 2023 (4 months),
Live in CA & New Mexico
Team
1 product manager
1 full-stack engineer
5 designers
Contributions
Interaction design
Visual design
Project management
the problem with 911
Over 20% of Americans can’t access emergency help because 911 is voice and English-centric.
AccesSOS exists for these Americans: 37.5M+ are Deaf, 30M+ are non-English speakers, and millions more are in situations where calling 911 is dangerous,
Text-to-911
Outdated technology from the 1960s
❌ Only 48% of call centers have it
❌ No accurate location detection
❌ Not everyone can text in English
AccesSOS
Free app available in 5 languages
✅ Detect and share location with dispatchers
✅ Select medical, police, or fire
✅ Connect with dispatchers through text*
*Converts text to voice call in non text-to-911 areas
The problem with accessos
Reporting an emergency through accesSOS takes too long.
4.5 min
for users w/o disabilities to
complete flow
8 min
for users with disabilities to complete flow
20 min
for dispatchers to respond to
a text from accesSOS
DESIGN CHALLENGE
During emergencies, people panic and struggle to share relevant details. However, I learned the less dispatchers know, the more precautions they must take to stay safe. So, I asked:
HMW make contacting 911 fast, easy, and accessible while collecting the most crucial information for dispatchers?
🌟 Our north star: decrease flow completion time for the user
my role
Product design lead for accesSOS, a tech nonprofit
I led a cross-functional team to redesign the text-to-911 experience for people with disabilities:
- Co-wrote requirements and scoped a 4-month timeline with PM
- Led weekly project meetings + workshops on UX design, research, and accessibility
- Polished mockups + icon library, usability testing scripts, and Figma education materials for nonprofit
First team meeting :)
solution
I redesigned the text-to-911 experience, leading to a 30% shorter reporting experience on iOS and Android.
Core emergency reporting flow
End-to-end redesign on mobile
Icon library
For users to describe their emergency
IMPACT
AccesSOS has made significant impact nationwide.
When I first joined AccesSOS, it was only live in Berkeley, CA. Now, it’s available to everyone in California and New Mexico! My team’s work has helped the platform grow to new heights.
125+
Lives saved
100%
Coverage in
2 U.S. states
58K
Registered users
7.4M+
Social media
impressions
Press features and funding from nationwide
What users are saying
“Amazing app. I am very impressed by the work of the whole team to make such a wonderful product that can positively impact many lives. Great work!!!”
Ian M.
“The [accesSOS] app is very easy to use! Pictures describing the type of emergency are very clear and self-explaining, which may be very important for a non-English speaker who doesn’t understand all written text.”
Dianne P.
“My sister-in-law is Deaf and my mom just passed away. We are moving to Mexico to take care of Dad. accesSOS is life-changing for my sister-in-law because she is non-verbal and accesSOS gives her a voice in an emergency.”
Elena M.
“My mom has been Deaf her whole life and thankfully has never needed to call, but she will be using accesSOS if need be. You have no idea how grateful I am for this. I think about her a lot. She lives alone across the country. Thank you so much for this.”
Dave S.
“accesSOS would benefit everyone. I’ve been in situations where I’ve needed to call the police but was hiding from an intruder. Even whispering was too loud, especially when the operator insisted on making me repeat myself and spell my name phonetically multiple times.”
Cara M.
“I think the idea is absolutely necessary. I am encouraged by what I saw today, but I realize how high the stakes are to make sure users would get the help they need. I’m impressed how simple you’ve made it.”
Bill D.
“Yes! The accesSOS app is amazing, and could be used by others with disabilities like nonverbal Autistic people as well... This is what technology should be used for: to make the world more accessible for people with disabilities!”
Christa H.
reflection
What I learned as a design lead
Meeting Gabby (CEO) and Ashley (PM) in person!
Last team meeting in person :’)
Designing for a tech nonprofit
AccesSOS has a few full-time folks, and relies heavily on volunteer engineers and designers. Short-term projects means high turnover, so I learned how important design documentation is.
Biggest challenge = icon design
It was hard designing universally understood icons that are clear but not triggering – the best inspiration was Apple Watch workout icons!
Unconventional testing methods
If I could go back, I wish we were more creative with user testing, like simulating emergency conditions, or testing with more non-English speakers.
Check out my other work ☻
Accessible text-to-911 for the Deaf community
I redesigned accesSOS’s emergency reporting flow, scaling it from 1 county to 100% coverage in two U.S. states. This redesign resulted in a 30% shorter reporting experience on iOS and Android (2023).
Timeline
Sept - Dec 2023 (4 months),
Live in CA & New Mexico
Team
1 product manager
1 full-stack engineer
5 designers
Contributions
Interaction design
Visual design
Project management
the problem with 911
Over 20% of Americans can’t access emergency help because 911 is voice and English-centric.
AccesSOS exists for these Americans: 37.5M+ are Deaf, 30M+ are non-English speakers, and millions more are in situations where calling 911 is dangerous,
Text-to-911
Outdated technology from the 1960s
❌ Only 48% of call centers have it
❌ No accurate location detection
❌ Not everyone can text in English
AccesSOS
Free app available in 5 languages
✅ Detect and share location with dispatchers
✅ Select medical, police, or fire
✅ Connect with dispatchers through text*
*Converts text to voice call in non text-to-911 areas
The problem with accessos
Reporting an emergency through accesSOS takes too long.
4.5 min
for users w/o disabilities to
complete flow
8 min
for users with disabilities to
complete flow
20 min
for dispatchers to respond to a text
from accesSOS
DESIGN CHALLENGE
During emergencies, people panic and struggle to share relevant details. However, I learned the less dispatchers know, the more precautions they must take to stay safe. So, I asked:
HMW make contacting 911 fast, easy, and accessible while collecting the most crucial information for dispatchers?
🌟 Our north star: decrease flow completion time for the user
my role
Product design lead for accesSOS, a tech nonprofit
I led a cross-functional team to redesign the text-to-911 experience for people with disabilities:
- Co-wrote requirements and scoped a 4-month timeline with PM
- Led weekly project meetings + workshops on UX design, research, and accessibility
- Polished mockups + icon library, usability testing scripts, and Figma education materials for nonprofit
First team meeting :)
solution
I redesigned the text-to-911 experience, leading to a 30% shorter reporting experience on iOS and Android.
Core emergency reporting flow
End-to-end redesign on mobile
Icon library
For users to describe their emergency
IMPACT
AccesSOS has made significant impact nationwide.
When I first joined AccesSOS, it was only live in Berkeley, CA. Now, it’s available to everyone in California and New Mexico! My team’s work has helped the platform grow to new heights.
125+
Lives saved
100%
Coverage in
2 U.S. states
58K
Registered users
7.4M+
Social media
impressions
Press features and funding from nationwide
What users are saying
“Amazing app. I am very impressed by the work of the whole team to make such a wonderful product that can positively impact many lives. Great work!!!”
Ian M.
“The [accesSOS] app is very easy to use! Pictures describing the type of emergency are very clear and self-explaining, which may be very important for a non-English speaker who doesn’t understand all written text.”
Dianne P.
“My sister-in-law is Deaf and my mom just passed away. We are moving to Mexico to take care of Dad. accesSOS is life-changing for my sister-in-law because she is non-verbal and accesSOS gives her a voice in an emergency.”
Elena M.
“My mom has been Deaf her whole life and thankfully has never needed to call, but she will be using accesSOS if need be. You have no idea how grateful I am for this. I think about her a lot. She lives alone across the country. Thank you so much for this.”
Dave S.
“accesSOS would benefit everyone. I’ve been in situations where I’ve needed to call the police but was hiding from an intruder. Even whispering was too loud, especially when the operator insisted on making me repeat myself and spell my name phonetically multiple times.”
Cara M.
“I think the idea is absolutely necessary. I am encouraged by what I saw today, but I realize how high the stakes are to make sure users would get the help they need. I’m impressed how simple you’ve made it.”
Bill D.
“Yes! The accesSOS app is amazing, and could be used by others with disabilities like nonverbal Autistic people as well... This is what technology should be used for: to make the world more accessible for people with disabilities!”
Christa H.
reflection
What I learned as a design lead
Meeting Gabby (CEO) and Ashley (PM) in person!
Last team meeting in person :’)
Designing for a tech nonprofit
AccesSOS has a few full-time folks, and relies heavily on volunteer engineers and designers. Short-term projects means high turnover, so I learned how important design documentation is.
Biggest challenge = icon design
It was hard designing universally understood icons that are clear but not triggering – the best inspiration was Apple Watch workout icons!
Unconventional testing methods
If I could go back, I wish we were more creative with user testing, like simulating emergency conditions, or testing with more non-English speakers.
Check out my other work ☻
Accessible text-to-911 for the Deaf community
I redesigned accesSOS’s emergency reporting flow, scaling it from 1 county to 100% coverage in two U.S. states.
This redesign resulted in a 30% shorter reporting experience on iOS and Android (2023).
Timeline
Sept - Dec 2023 (4 months),
Live in California & New Mexico
Team
1 product manager
1 full-stack engineer
5 designers
Contributions
Interaction design
Visual design
Project management
the problem with 911
Over 20% of Americans can’t access emergency help because 911 is voice and English-centric.
AccesSOS exists for these Americans: 37.5M+ are Deaf, 30M+ are non-English speakers, and millions more are in situations where calling 911 is dangerous,
Text-to-911
Outdated technology from the 1960s
❌ Only 48% of call centers have it
❌ No accurate location detection
❌ Not everyone can text in English
AccesSOS
Free app available in 5 languages
✅ Detect and share location with dispatchers
✅ Select medical, police, or fire
✅ Connect with dispatchers through text*
*Converts text to voice call in non text-to-911 areas
The problem with accessos
Reporting an emergency through accesSOS takes too long.
4.5 min
for users without disabilities
to complete flow
8 min
for users with disabilities
to complete flow
20 min
for dispatchers to respond
to a text from accesSOS
DESIGN CHALLENGE
During emergencies, people panic and struggle to share relevant details. However, I learned the less dispatchers know, the more precautions they must take to stay safe. So, I asked:
HMW make contacting 911 fast, easy, and accessible while collecting the most crucial information for dispatchers?
🌟 Our north star: decrease flow completion time for the user
my role
Product design lead for accesSOS, a tech nonprofit
I led a cross-functional team to redesign the text-to-911 experience for people with disabilities:
- Co-wrote requirements and scoped a 4-month timeline with PM
- Led weekly project meetings + workshops on UX design, research, and accessibility
- Polished mockups + icon library, usability testing scripts, and Figma education materials for nonprofit
First team meeting :)
solution
I redesigned the text-to-911 experience, leading to a 30% shorter reporting experience on iOS and Android.
Core emergency reporting flow
End-to-end redesign on mobile
Icon library
For users to describe their emergency
IMPACT
AccesSOS has made significant impact nationwide.
When I first joined AccesSOS, it was only live in Berkeley, CA. Now, it’s available to everyone in California and New Mexico! My team’s work has helped the platform grow to new heights.
125+
Lives saved
100%
Coverage in 2 U.S. states
58K
Registered users
7.4M+
social media impressions
Press features and funding from nationwide
What users are saying
“Amazing app. I am very impressed by the work of the whole team to make such a wonderful product that can positively impact many lives. Great work!!!”
Ian M.
“The [accesSOS] app is very easy to use! Pictures describing the type of emergency are very clear and self-explaining, which may be very important for a non-English speaker who doesn’t understand all written text.”
Dianne P.
“My sister-in-law is Deaf and my mom just passed away. We are moving to Mexico to take care of Dad. accesSOS is life-changing for my sister-in-law because she is non-verbal and accesSOS gives her a voice in an emergency.”
Elena M.
“My mom has been Deaf her whole life and thankfully has never needed to call, but she will be using accesSOS if need be. You have no idea how grateful I am for this. I think about her a lot. She lives alone across the country. Thank you so much for this.”
Dave S.
“accesSOS would benefit everyone. I’ve been in situations where I’ve needed to call the police but was hiding from an intruder. Even whispering was too loud, especially when the operator insisted on making me repeat myself and spell my name phonetically multiple times.”
Cara M.
“I think the idea is absolutely necessary. I am encouraged by what I saw today, but I realize how high the stakes are to make sure users would get the help they need. I’m impressed how simple you’ve made it.”
Bill D.
“Yes! The accesSOS app is amazing, and could be used by others with disabilities like nonverbal Autistic people as well... This is what technology should be used for: to make the world more accessible for people with disabilities!”
Christa H.
reflection
What I learned as a design lead
Meeting Gabby (CEO) and Ashley (PM) in person!
Last team meeting in person :’)
Designing for a tech nonprofit
AccesSOS has a few full-time folks, and relies heavily on volunteer engineers and designers. Short-term projects means high turnover, so I learned how important design documentation is.
Biggest challenge = icon design
It was hard designing universally understood icons that are clear but not triggering – the best inspiration was Apple Watch workout icons!
Unconventional testing methods
If I could go back, I wish we were more creative with user testing, like simulating emergency conditions, or testing with more non-English speakers.
Check out my other work ☻