Welcome back. Accessible design is spreading from major tech powers to web-design platforms used by small companies. Companies need to be thoughtful about how they position their chatbots to customers. And the waiting-room experience is in for some changes.

Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 20 turned up several new user features from technology companies aiming to make their products more accessible to people with disabilities, Katie Deighton writes for the Experience Report.

Leading the pack was Apple, which unveiled a raft of new features including the ability for users to control their Apple Watch with hand gestures such as a pinch or a fist clench. The AssistiveTouch innovation was designed to let those with upper-body limb differences use the smartwatch without having to touch the display or controls, but once it launches, all users will be able to switch it on.

Joe Devon, a co-founder of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, said companies’ interest in accessibility has patently grown since he first established the event in 2011.

“Part of the reason is that there is a big movement toward equity and inclusion, and if you’re excluding people with disabilities, you can’t really be inclusive,” he said.

Big Tech may be investing in accessibility, but smaller players may need some help to deliver similar features. So Wix, the provider of web-development services, developed a tool that scans customers’ websites to find potential issues for people with disabilities and impairments, reports Ann-Marie Alcántara.

The Accessibility Wizard from Wix surfaces potential issues such as images that lack alternative text, which is essential for screen readers to work.

Tools like these end up improving and helping everyone on the internet, not just people with disabilities, said Nir Horesh, head of accessibility at Wix.

Other companies, such as IBM and Webflow, have released similar tools in the past year.

Making chatbots seem too smart could alienate users, but making them seem too dumb doesn’t encourage people to use them, Cheryl Winokur Munk reports.

That’s based on the results of three studies that described chabots differently to participants, from like a toddler to the equivalent of a “shrewd travel executive.”

The research suggests companies need to be mindful of how they portray their chatbots to the public. Are they hyping them in a way that could be perceived as arrogant or too humanlike and therefore setting users up for disappointment?

It’s a fine line companies have to walk, said Ranjay Krishna, a Ph.D. candidate in the computer-science department at Stanford University and one of the researchers involved. Companies shouldn’t set expectations too high, but they “can’t set too low an expectation or people won’t bother to interact,” he says.

Healthcare providers around the country are looking at changing every aspect of the waiting-room experience, from the furniture to the fish tank, Chris Kornelis writes.

A new clinic in Phoenix is building long, linear waiting spaces with large windows looking out on the desert, for example, and a variety of isolated areas for seating.

And an orthopaedics office in San Antonio includes a lobby with high ceilings, lounge chairs, and seating behind the counter that is elevated so staff can see patients at eye level. Returning patients no longer need to arrive early, thanks in part to a software program called Clinic Q.

“I wanted our staff to have this position of feeling like they were a concierge to the patient,” said Chris Kean, the practice’s chief operating officer, “not a receptionist.”

IHOP is expanding its Flip’d fast-casual, scaled-down restaurant concept to include the suburbs, not only the urban areas originally planned. [Restaurant Business]

Subway is looking to rewire its mobile-ordering technology and processes to improve customer experience amid a surge of digital sales. [WSJ] 

Snap unveiled the company’s latest version of augmented reality glasses [The Verge]

Peloton issued a software update to improve the safety of its treadmills under recall, for those who choose to keep them, with features including a four-digit password to start the machines. [Athletech News]

Google will let you add a password to protect your search history. [Android Police]

Google also plans to open its first ongoing brick-and-mortar store. [WSJ] 

Dating apps including Tinder and Bumble are unlocking premium features to users vaccinated against Covid-19. [Axios] 

Zoom weddings might be gone, but virtual wedding planning could last for the long term. [WSJ]