Assistive technologies, comprising computing technologies of all kinds, are intended to help people with disabilities accomplish everyday tasks. Yet, assistive technologies are traditionally designed exclusively with functionality in mind, rather than with consideration for social situations that are increasingly common with widespread mobile and wearable technology use. A result of this function-first focus is that assistive technologies are often ”medical” in appearance and socially awkward to use, leading to misperceptions about these technologies and their users. Misperceptions lead to feelings of self-consciousness when people with disabilities use assistive technologies in public, ultimately impeding access and leading to abandonment. In this talk, I discuss multiple projects that blend social science methods and technology design approaches for improving the accessibility of computing technologies, expanding awareness in design thinking to include the socio-technical experiences of people with disabilities. I describe empirical studies that investigate the social implications of assistive technology use, and that conceptualize socially accessible design. In a study in which I taught technology design to students, I examine how to effectively incorporate aspects of socially accessible design into common user-centered design techniques for promoting diversity in design thinking. Finally, I demonstrate how we can augment existing design practice, particularly within computing and human-computer interaction, to increase our awareness of social situations when designing accessible computing technologies. My work culminates in a perspective shift in what we consider “accessible,” to broaden functional considerations to incorporate social considerations as well. The contributions of my work are primarily empirical and methodological, applying new knowledge to improve the perspectives and practices around the design of accessible computing systems.